Chuks Okocha in Abuja
The Edo State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Barr Oluwole Osaze-Uzzi, has called on Nigerians to massively participate in politics in order to ensure the entrenchment of transparent government based on the rule of law.
Speaking at a Public Lecture and Inauguration of New Chapter Exco/Awards organised by the Nigerian Society of Chemical Engineers (NSChE) FCT/Nasarawa Chapter on the theme, ‘Promoting A Stable Political and Legal Environment for Industrialisation,’ Osaze-Uzzi said for democracy to thrive, the rule of law must be upheld and everyone seen as equal before the law as provided by the country’s constitution.
“The rule of law is the legal principle that law should govern a nation, and not arbitrary decisions by individual government officials. It primarily refers to the influence and authority of law within society, particularly as a constraint upon behaviour, including behaviour of government officials.
“The development of the phrase “the rule of law” can be traced to Professor Albert Venn Dicey who wrote a book in 1885, titled: “Introduction to the Law of Constitution”, where he stated that the concept of the rule of law means that the state is governed, not by the ruler or the nominated representatives of the people but by the law and that government must be based on the principles of law and not of men,” he said.
The former Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Director, who was the guest speaker on the occasion, urged citizens to resist executive domination of other arms of government, noting that the executive arm of government has always dominated “the political space over and against the other arms of government and want the people to see it as superior over the other arms of government.
“Consequent upon that, the legislature and judiciary are portrayed as weak and failing in their responsibilities. The legislatures are weak because of the overbearing and the domineering influence of the executive arm of government,” he state
Outgoing Chairman of the NSChE FCT/Nasarawa Chapter, Onyekachi O. Onugu, noted that “there is no contravening the fact that politics and government policies backed by laws impact on the stability of the environment in question; using our country, Nigeria as a Case Study.
“Industrialisation is the way forward for the development of any nation and better welfare of her citizens. Our gathering here this morning is to espouse this way forward in this nascent regime of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu,” he added.
Chronicling the achievement of the chapter under his leadership, Onugu said: “Time will not permit me to begin to chronicle or catalogue our achievements but suffice to mention here that within the tenure of this administration, the Chapter maintained second position four times and came third two times in annual NSChE Chapters’ appraisal by NSChE regarding their contributions in NSE Group Dynamics which have seen our great society, NSChE, beating all other NSE Divisions and retaining the first position with wide margin since 2017.
“As we hand over to new Chapter Exco today, I want to congratulate them, pledge my loyalty and support and wish them a more fruitful and peaceful tenure. Leadership is all about commitment, sacrifice and perseverance when it becomes turbulent.
“I will like to see our new chapter chairman Salisu Ahmed migrate successfully from the traditional low level of positional leadership to result oriented level and even to the Pinnacle within his tenure of office.”
Speaking after taking over the leadership of the chapter, the new Chairman of NSChE FCT/Nasarawa Chapter Ahmed promised to maintain the excellent leadership traits exhibited by the former executives and improved upon previous performance.
Other newly inaugurated executive members are: Timothy K. Sheriff (Deputy Chairman); Robinson Ntiego (Secretary) and Olusola Michael Agbi (Assistant Secretary), among others
