Strict adherence to Rule of Law is the only way to prevent tyranny, oppression – Ekweremadu

The strict adherence to the Rule of Law is the only way to prevent tyranny and oppression in the country, says Ike Ekweremadu, deputy Senate President; adding such would also promote democracy.

Ekweremadu stated this at a public lecture in honour of late George Amadi, a professor at the Moot Court Complex, University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus, organized by the Faculty of Law, University of Nigeria and George Amadi Foundation.

Speaking on the topic: “Strengthening the Foundations of Rule of Law in Nigeria,” the deputy senate president stressed that the rule of law was indispensable in any society that craves for justice, equity, and fairness.

Ekweremadu, who is an alumnus and former lecturer at the Faculty of Law, UNN, however, added that to make the foundation strong every Nigerian has a role to play.

He advised that those who think that strengthening the rule of law is not their business should stop playing the dangerous game of the cockerel, which refused to attend a meeting of the animal kingdom, claiming it was not his business. But, sadly for him, it was agreed at the meeting that his lineage would be used as sacrifice to the gods. The cock and his kindred are yet to recover from that I-don’t-care attitude, he said.

Ekweremadu said that maintaining the rule of law is everybody’s business: “We must all be ready and willing to live by the spirit and letters of our laws, much of our problems are not about the laws themselves, but about our disrespect for them.”

“Indeed, a major difference between us and the developed world is that, while we choose which rules, laws, or court judgments to obey or not to obey, they command obedience to their laws through strict enforcement that does not respect persons,” he said.

Ekweremadu said Nigerians need to imbibe such attitude and culture in order to strengthen the foundations of the rule of law in Nigeria; and advised leaders at all levels to lead by example, noting that it was a sure way to entrench the rule of law in Nigeria.

“It is very clear, therefore, that impunity and lawlessness are contagious. If those at the helms of leadership have no respect for the rule of law, their subordinates are not likely to respect the rule of law also. If they by any means show that the law is meant to catch their opponents and perceived enemies alone, they have unwittingly licensed their purported friends to scorn the rules and break the laws. And certainly, as a leader, you cannot choose which law or court verdict to obey or which to disobey”, he declared.

According to him, “our government is the potent, the omnipresent teacher. For good or for ill, it teaches the whole people by its example. Crime is contagious. If the government becomes a lawbreaker, it breeds contempt for law; it invites every man to become a law unto himself; it invites anarchy.”

Drawing from the words of the American statesman and former president, Thomas Jefferson, Ekweremadu maintained that, even under the best of leadership, no man was good enough to exercise power outside the dictates of the Constitution or law, as that would amount to an invitation to tyranny and anarchy”.

Earlier the chairman of the event, Justice Peter Umeadi, the Chief Judge of Anambra, described Ekweremadu as an icon and a worthy alumnus of the UNN.

He emphasized the need for strict adherence to the process of arraignment, stating that there is nothing like “Holden Charge” under the Nigerian legal system. “The process of arraignment is a strict part of the law.