The president’s long awaited declaration of a state of emergency yesterday has continued to brew reactions from many quarters of the nation.
One of the prominent legal luminary and activist – in the person of Femi Falana has espoused on the recent declaration by the president of the federal republic of Nigeria, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan. In Femi Falana’s opinion as he spoke to 247ureports.com he clarified that “a state of emergency exists when the President adopts extra-ordinary measures to restore Law and Order. The deployment of a detachment of the armed forces via JTF, imposition of curfew, blocking of roads through check points etc are extra-ordinary measures approved by the President for the restoration of law and order“.
Femi Falana continued to add that, “the president has no power to remove a governor under the pretext of imposing a state of emergency in any part of the country. President Jonathan has had cause to impose a state of emergency in some local governments in Borno and Plateau states. On those occasions the elected chairmen and councilors were not removed from office. It is specifically stated in section 11(4) of the constitution that a governor shall not be removed because the National Assembly has taken over the legislative powers of a state during a state of emergency. A governor can only be removed by impeachment, resignation or infirmity of body or mind and NOT through the imposition of a state of emergency.”
But a commissioner from Borno State [Ndahi] pointed away from the state of emergency option as not the right solution to curtain the rising violence. He pointed to unemployment as the chief culprit. In his words, “the issue of insecurity in the north does not lay in declaring state of emergency alone. The fed government has to create jobs for the redundant youths and wipe away corruption otherwise the emergency rule will only b like promoting and extending other exploiters“
In Kano State, the former head of the Kano State Islamic police, [the Hisbah], Dr. Dukawa agreed with the president’s move to declare a state of emergency. He added that “If it is an option that can bring a lasting solution and it will be implored within the limits of law, I will have no objection to it.”
The founder of the All Progressive Grand Alliance [APGA] and the present Chairman of the United Peoples Party [UPP], Chekwas Okorie also chimed in on the issue. He rested the responsibility on the security agents to prove themselves. In his words, “It is now in the court of security agencies to rise to the occasion. They must not disappoint the government and the Nigerian people. I further recommend that the Jonathan administration should not shy away from seeking the assistance of friendly nations that have acquired the relevant technology to combat terrorism.”
