A Professor of International Law and Jurisprudence at the Faculty of Law , Enugu State University, Agu Gab Agu has  called on the Federal government to consider setting up a Commission of Inquiry to look into all agitations and restiveness in the country with a view to finding lasting solutions that would help achieve lasting peace and national integration in Nigeria. He recalled that the Sir Henry Willink Minority Commission of I nquiry was instituted at the Constitutional Conference held in London in 1957 by the colonial masters to investigate agitations of the minorities in the Niger Delta Region of Cross River and Rivers States(COR) over maginalization  and its report made recommendations to the development deficiencies in the area, but, however regretted that 60 years after,  the challenges of the region have not been totally addressed.

Professor Agu wondered why a similar commission of Enquiry would not be set up to investigate the restiveness of the Independent Peoples of Biafra(IPOB) and that of the Yoruba nation to achieve national peace and cohesion. He strongly recommended that the report of the National Conference held during the President Goodluck Jonathan administration which had far reaching recommendations one of which was restructuring of the Federation, be looked into to guarantee national rebirth and rebuild trust amongst the citizenry.

  In a paper titled: National Integration, Peace and Security– Reopen Conversation, Rebuild Trust, he delivered at a Nigeria Institute of Public Relations Southeast colloquium on insecurity held at the Enugu Sports Club, recently Professor Agu  observed that attempts to forge  national integration in Nigeria would continue to be elusive until we as a people address the fractures that are fundamentally ingrained in our psyche that have been difficult to cement. These include illiteracy, economic difficulties, mutual suspicion, clan divisions, insecurity and lack of peace.

According to Professor Agu massive Civic Education, Trust Management and invocation of proactive education curricular that encourages compulsory courses in basic Philosophy in governance and techno-managerial focus should be introduced to move the nation forward.

Citing India as a country where National Integration has been amply show cased, with over 250 languauges and dialects and 22 languages identified in her constitution as national languages, he called on Nigeria to emulate India’s ‘unity in Diversity”. Professor Agu said that Nigeria has already incentives and parameters conduced in her 1999 Constitution for National Integration. They include equal Fundamental righs as contained in Chapter 4 which provides 14 fundamental Rights of right to life; Right to dignity of human persons; Right to personal liberty; fair Hearing; Freedom of Expression, Press freedom , among others. Others constitutional provisions include secularity of the nation, Identical Symbols and Equal fundamental duties.

The Professor of law opined that when national integration is achieved it “ would increase the feeling of brotherhood; reduce differences about religion, race, culture; reduce murders, massacres and riots etc; support national development and unity among peoples”.

For the country to achieve national integration and move forward and away from the present uncertainties, he recommended for the introduction of Civic Education in our educational institutions from primary to tertiary levels;  adherence to the Rule of Law with an independent judiciary and obedience to court decisions by government and its agencies;  establishment of strong public institutions with standards across board; eradication of nepotism and ethnicism in the running of government at all levels; swift prosecution and stiff penalties for corrupt public officials and tax evaders; checking of insecurity and insurgencies in the country; revision of some government policies that are inimical to national development; and for the country to operate true Federalism and not on paper as it is presently with all strata of government operating independent of each other. ‘We actually need to act fast”, Professor advised.

Source: Drumnewsonline