Osinbajo blames tension in Nigeria on poverty, hunger

The Acting President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, has attributed the agitation and social tension in the country to increasing hunger and poverty among citizens.

Osinbajo stated this on Monday at Awka, the Anambra State capital while declaring open the Nigerian Association of Law Teachers Conference (NALT) holding at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University.

He said political leaders and of the various region in the country have failed to equitably share the resources due to their areas from the centre for the good of the people.

“Most of the security problems of the nation are self-inflicted through corrupt practices. The Boko Haram in the North East, militants in the Niger Delta, herdsmen and farmers clash were as a result of poverty,” Osinbajo said.

Continuing, the Acting President said: “A lot of these agitations were centered on the failure of the state to create an inclusive society. Constant agitation for national resources was a product of individual deprivation and this was taken up by ethnic nationalities as a group agitation. Political elites who failed the people by embezzling their funds are at the forefronts of these agitations because they make it look as if the problem was because of the ethnic nationality”.

Osinbaio, who said he had been a law teacher since 1981, charged them to brainstorm on the principles of Law and proffer ways to make it strong.

He said they should find solution to problem of protracted litigation involving corruption cases in Nigeria, lamenting that the delay in concluding such cases was the handiwork of Nigerian lawyers and this tactics was robbing the legal profession some measure of credibility.

“I found no reason why it is easier to prove a case of a man who stole small amount of money than the case of a civil servant who earns, say, N200,000.00 a month in whose account is found billions of Naira. How does it take so long to convict a man in whose account as a civil servant is found billions of Naira? We must redefine the offence of corruption because it is worse than homicide”, he said.

He commended the theme of the conference “Law, Security and National Development’, saying it was apt because it was reflective of the challenges of the country at the moment.

In his speech, chairman of the occasion and Chief Justice of Nigeria, Hon. Justice Walter Onnoghen, said Law has a big role to play in achieving the highest level of security for individuals in any society.

Onnoghen, who was represented by Hon. Justice Amina Augie, said it was necessary for the existing laws to be efficient and the right attitude to its implementation.

Professor Joseph Ahaneku, Vice Chancellor Nnamdi Azikiwe University in his remarks, said NALT should maintain the unity that had bound them for over 50 years.

Earlier, Governor Willie Obiano of Anambra State had expressed worry over the rate criminals were aided by lawyers to be granted bail. He condemned the ugly trend and called on the delegates to take advantage of the conference to proffer lasting solution to the ugly situation.