The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Ilorin branch has thrown its weight behind between June 11 and 13 calls for a national conference to discuss the multifarious problems facing the nation.
The association described the convening of a national conference as an inevitable exercise which if carried out would assist in the maintenance of peace, progress and unity of the country.
The NBA stated this in a communiqué issued after its Biennial Law Week held in Ilorin with the theme: “Federalism and Quest for National Integration and Development in Nigeria”
In the communiqué signed by its chairman, Rafiu Balogun and chairman of the Week, Akin Akintoye II said the national conference, “is a panacea to the growing agitations and increasing outbreak of conflicts in the country”.
It said the conference should be held so that “the various constituencies in the country would come together to negotiate the terms of the Nigerian union and deal with all the contentious issues that have bedeviled the country over the years.”
The communiqué stressed that the concentration of power in the centre should be reduced and redistributed to the states and local government areas to enable the country to have proper federation.
It said that the country must find an integrative frame work to erase artificial territorialism within the country
The communiqué added, “that in order to consolidate Nigeria’s unity, we must have a true federal structure that will give each catchment area a breathing space and sense of belonging and allow healthy competition and an opportunity to develop according to the ability and resources of the federating units.”
It called for the control of the police and other security agencies to be within the concurrent legislative powers of the Federal and state governments under the 1999 constitution rather than being within the exclusive legislative powers of the federal government? and said that? this was important for the purpose of a more efficient and effective policing.