Interact With Legal Community, Banire, SAN Urges Technocrats

The former Chairman of Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), Dr Muiz Banire, SAN, on Thursday called on technocrats in the public service to persistently interact with the legal community, if they are to survive the muddy water of politics in the country.

Dr Banire sounded this warning while delivering a lecture tagged “Navigating the Delicate Balance Between Politics, Law, Media Pressure and Public Perception: The Burden of a Nigerian Technocrat in Public Office”, at the annual lecture of the National Association of Judiciary Correspondents (NAJUC), Lagos Chapter .

Enumerating several factors that constitute a burden on Technocrats in public offices, and inhibit their performances, Dr Banire said Technocrats must be conscious of the environmental and legal restrictions that limit their abilities while in office.

The learned Silk enumerated several factors affecting the Technocrats, such as due process, red-tape, administrative bottleneck, public perception, legislative interference, media pressure, and cultural as well as religious considerations.

The former Lagos State Commissioner for Environment and Transport, further stated that all these factors place a great burden on Technocrats in public office in Nigeria, citing the case of in-house Technocrats (Civil Servants), he said these species of Technocrats are now in a more precarious situation.

“ln-house Technocrats are now in a more precarious situation. They are not only demoralised by the insecurity of tenure, terminal growth for them is becoming an illusion. They therefore, hardly have much to look up to again. Worse still, their remuneration package has pushed them into penury. Politicians treat them as dregs, affording them no serious recognition. Consequently, not the best in recent times, is derivable from the in-house Technocrats who now have joined the bandwagon of politicians, to scoop whatever they can access while in office. This is the country’s story.’’

To overcome these challenges, Dr Banire urged Technocrats in public offices to be vigilant and make sure they ‘put in their best’, and ensure that they make inputs when laws concerning their areas/offices are being enacted. To achieve this, Technocrats must work and collaborate with the legal community, be above board, and ensure that their dealings in office are ethical and transparent.

Earlier in his remarks, the Chairman of the occasion, George Etomi, said for democracy to thrive, the country needs strong and vibrant media and Judiciary. Mr Etomi said, looking at Nigeria, the level of patriotism is very low, adding that, hardly can you see an American/European running down their countries in social media, while the contrary is the case in Nigeria.

He added that: “It is we, Nigerians, that can build the country, and we can’t build it by running it down in the media”. He said media, politics, and the Judiciary are interwoven, in the building of a strong democracy.

Also speaking at the event, human rights Lawyer, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, SAN, who received an Award of Excellence for his outstanding contributions and dedication to legal practice, media freedom, and human rights enforcement in Nigeria, lampooned President Bola Tinubu for deviating from his people-oriented stand when he was the leader of the opposition, to now running an anti-people government.

Two versatile journalists, Joseph Jibueze of The Nation Newspaper and Joseph Onyekwere of The Guardian Newspaper, who have since become Editors in their respective organisations, were also honoured for their contributions to the media profession and the Association