April 05, (THEWILL) – Former Nigerian Ambassador to Uganda and ex-member of the national assembly, HRH Etubom Nya Asuquo, says the nation’s constitution is faulty without roles for traditional rulers.
Etubom Asuquo, a member of the Obong of Calabar Traditional Council and Chairman of the occasion, said this fault has made the country keep having problems.
He made this known at the sidelines of the Bar Week of the Calabar Branch of the Nigerian Bar Association.
The bar week had a theme, “We, the People: Agenda For National Consensus.”
In his words, “One of the failures of the Nigerian constitution is that no role is given to traditional rulers.
“All of us know that traditional rulers are the closest to the people, the downtrodden, people in the villages and so forth.
“Without giving the traditional rulers a role, the constitution is not holistic and that is why we keep having the problem of insecurity.
“How are traditional rulers expected to work to prevent insecurity when they have no role?
“I hope the national assembly looks into this as they are working on amending the constitution as it is absolutely important they are given roles”, he said.
On the bar week, HRH Etubom Asuquo said the theme for this year is apt because the bar and bench are the tap root of the society.
He also stressed that it is possible to reach a consensus in Nigeria in terms of how we want to be governed.
He, however, expressed reservation about consensus in terms of selecting who rules the country saying it is not possible and even unwelcome in a democracy.
He expressed optimism that with the quality of lectures and the resource persons, Justice will be done to the topic and they will synthesise all the conclusions and proffer workable solutions to the nation’s problems.
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