We Must Entrench Rule of Law, Due Process to Make Nigeria Work’
Emmanuel Ugwu-Nwogo in Umuahia
The President and Chief Executive Officer of Cosmo Base Consortium Limited, Benson Ezem, has proposed that the time has come for all genuinely patriotic Nigerians to come together and insist that the rule of law and due process must be entrenched in the national ethos.
He made the call while baring his mind on Nigeria’s progress since attaining independence 63 years ago, “with little or nothing to justify our self-rule.”
Ezem told THISDAY that Nigeria has paid huge and unpleasant prices in development due to the absence of the rule of law and due process in governance.
According to him, “There must be respect for due process and rule of law in government businesses, political governance, and even corporate governance before the country can start making a headway.”
Ezem, who is a renowned architect and infrastructure development expert, was exasperated that after over six decades, Nigeria is still groping in the dark and couldn’t get things right in any sector of the economy.
He lamented that: “At 63 our governors are going to Kigali (Rwanda’s capital) to hold a meeting on how to get things working in their states. Promises are made and not kept. There is a lot of deceit in the system.”
The businessman said the people just do things their own way because people have not imbibed the culture of keeping to rules and regulations even when nobody is watching them.
Ezem said: “Any development-minded person will tell you what he wants to do, and lay out the outline and timeline for accomplishing it,” he said, adding that political leaders just make promises they don’t keep.
According to him, government businesses have become free for all with a plethora of “portfolio contractors” that contribute nothing to both infrastructure and national development.
He stated that the portfolio contractors move about in government circles to buy and sell contracts without executing any contract, yet “they become billionaires without a verifiable source of income.”
Ezem further lamented that the country’s economy has been bastardised so much so that the naira is spinning out of control while the federal government appears helpless.
“It’s so painful that the naira’s uncontrollable fall is a cause for concern because our country is just going down helplessly,” he said.
The expert noted that the free fall of the naira has exposed the economy as very unstable, hence, foreign businesses are pulling out while the local ones are in a quandary.
Ezem, who is also a minister of God, called on Nigerians to return to God with sincerity of heart, saying with genuine fear of God, both the leaders and the followers would work for the overall interest of the country.
