Varsity degree should be qualification for president – Adegboruwa

Activist lawyer, Mr Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, has urged the 9th National Assembly to amend the constitution such that the minimum academic qualification for Nigerian President would be a university degree rather than the current evidence of having attended secondary school.

Adegboruwa said in the 21st century, the current system where anyone running for the office of the President of Nigeria is only required to show evidence of having attended secondary school is a joke.

He urged the lawmakers to consider the recommendation, saying it would ensure that the Nigerian leader is equipped with “the requisite intellect to manage a modern society such as ours.”

Adegboruwa made this recommendation in a paper he delivered recently at the Law Week of the Benin branch of the Nigerian Bar Association.

He spoke on the theme, “Advancing the Nigerian Democratic Outlook: The Role of Law.”

He identified some of the ills facing Nigeria as executive/legislative recklessness; selective obedience to court judgments; attempts by the executive to emasculate the legislature and the judiciary; as well as abuse of fundamental rights of Nigerians.

The lawyer said Nigeria also faced the problem of weak institutions coupled with a docile citizenry.

As part of the solutions to these problems, Adegboruwa called for the strengthening of the electoral process to ensure the emergence of credible leaders.

He said, “There is an urgent need to tinker with the electoral laws and the constitution to firmly entrench the deployment of technology in the electoral process.

“Besides, it is a joke that in this 21st century all that is needed to be President of Nigeria is a school certificate or its equivalent.

“Lawmakers of the 9th Assembly must, as a matter of urgency, initiate amendments in this regard to a minimum of a university degree, with a minimum diploma in law or political science.

“This is to equip the leader with the requisite intellect to manage a modern society such as ours.”

Adegboruwa, who will later this year be inaugurated as a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, called on the judiciary to remain fearless in holding the government accountable when it flouts the law of the land.

Culled from Punch