Former Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) President Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN), has called for the amendment of Section 251 of the 1999 Constitution to give concurrent jurisdiction to State High Courts on matters only heard by the Federal High Court. Olanipekun described the scenario as a consequence of what he called “unitarisation of the Judiciary” which has emasculated high courts and stripped them of jurisdiction in relation to matters concerning the Federal Government, its ministries and agencies. The lawyer regretted that the virus of the defective federalism has infected the Judiciary, creating a situation where federal courts have taken over every imaginable jurisdiction. He was delivering the 22nd Convocation Lecture of Ekiti State University (EKSU), Ado Ekiti, with the theme: Breaking the Jinx-The Cyclical Nature of Nigeria’s problems. Olanipekun said: “One is very much disturbed by the clamour from some quarters calling for the creation of another Federal Government-controlled court to tackle corruption. Maybe that court would be called Federal Anti-Corruption Court? “As time goes by, it would seem as if the high courts all over the country, with the exception of Lagos and, maybe Rivers, would be completely starved of jurisdiction, or would be contented with agrarian disputes, chieftaincy, land and tenancy.” Olanipekun also called for an amendment of the Constitution to allow cities and states establish their police to combat crime wave in the country. He argued that multiple policing is the answer to the security challenges, which have overwhelmed the federal command structure being currently operated by the Nigeria Police Force The legal luminary identified the challenges to include terrorism, insecurity, ethno-religious killings, kidnapping, militancy by armed militias, kidnapping, among others. Olanipekun said: “In spite of the crisis staring us in the face, we still deceive ourselves by pretending, through a constitutional fiat under Section 214 of the 1999 Constitution, that Nigeria shall not have more than one police force. “As a matter of urgency, Nigeria is in dire need of as many police formations as possible. With a land mass of 923, 768 square kilometers by stubbornly insisting that a single and unitarised police formation can take care of our security needs and fairly cover the surging and mounting challenges in 36 states including FCT, Abuja. “Lagos alone deserves not more than 10 police formations; and nothing stops each of the states, as well as major towns and cities in the country from having their own police formations. “It is part of dictatorship at the centre that a uniform and unitary police force, which is incapable of maintaining security in the country, is being foisted on us. We should stop deceiving ourselves by styling state governors as chief security officers of their respective states when they do not control security apparatus.” He regretted that the cardinal problem bedeviling Nigerian federalism today arises from the over-concentration of powers in the Federal Government thereby “creating an all-powerful, overbearing and domineering centre.” EKSU Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of Council, Prince Dayo Adeyeye, called for devolution of more powers to states and local governments to make the nation’s federalism more workable. Vice Chancellor, Prof. Samuel Bandele, said the lecture laid bare the ills afflicting Nigeria and commended the lecture to political, judicial and civil institutions for implementation.]]>