("So, unless the judiciary stands up to protect the weak, there will be no polity. Look at what happened in the United States. President Trump has already signed his ban on people, but the judiciary stopped him and said this is not the law of America and he made a U-turn. I call on the judiciary; no matter the circumstance, no matter the treatment or condition, they should stand up and defend the rule of law. They should defend the constitution that they have sworn to uphold, because these are things that make democracy very beautiful.")
Former Governor of Abia State, Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu Kalu, wants President Muhammadu Buhari to push his economic team harder to evolve the right strategies that can effectively resuscitate the economy and bring it out of the ongoing recession.
Kalu spoke to aviation correspondents over the weekend at the international terminal of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos, on his way out of the country. He said it would amount to an exercise in futility trying to operate a successful democracy in Nigeria under a climate where there is no rule of law and where citizens’ rights are arbitrarily breached and not respected.
The former governor advocated a strong and independent judiciary, as panacea for the sustenance of Nigeria’s democracy.
President Buhari, after a long time abroad, has returned. What is your take on his return and how will this stabilise the polity?
Well, I think as Nigerians, we should be very happy that Mr. President is back. It is only in Nigeria where you find people wishing their leaders death, but this ought not to be so, no matter what any leader has done. I know that the President has done so well in the area of defence and pursuing Boko Haram. I congratulate him as Commander-in-Chief. I also praise the service chiefs, the Chief of Army Staff, the Chief of Air Staff and the Inspector General of Police as well as the Director of the DSS for their back-up operation on Boko Haram. It was a collective effort.
Now that the president is back, I am very happy. We have been praying. Both Christians and Muslims have been praying because the country has been so polarised that the fabrics of our nation have been eaten with tribalism and religion. I am very happy that the President is back and he should listen to his doctors and continue to take his medications if any. He should work less and put more effort on the economic team so that the economic team will be able to address the issues of the Nigerian economy. This is very important to the Nigerian people; I guess if the Nigeria economy is good, the president himself will also be happy. He took over when there were a lot of doubts on the economy; he took over when the oil prices went down very sharply and whenever your expenditure is more than your income, then there is already a recession. So, I am not sure that recession is just going to end so soon. They need to put up a very strong strategy that will bring back Nigeria to where we are supposed to be.
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Judiciary must protect the weak –Kalu
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