The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, has called for the review of extant definition of the federal character in the Nigerian constitution.
The Speaker, who made the call on Saturday in Abuja while declaring open the Young Parliamentarians Forum (YPF) National Strategy Meeting and Retreat, said the review of the law was pertinent, especially in the face of the present realities in the country.
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The strategy meeting, which was to bring together the young elected lawmakers in the National Assembly, was themed “Rethinking Youth Development in Nigeria” and jointly organised by the YPF, Yiaga Africa, Centre for Legislative Engagement (CLE), Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD) and ActionAid Nigeria (AAN).
He said that as presently defined in the constitution, federal character is at variance with the nation’s realities as it limits national opportunities to geographical location alone without consideration for gender, persons living with disabilities (PWDs) and age classification.
The Speaker also challenged the young legislators on charting a course in preparation for the Nigerian youth taking the mantle of leadership at all levels of government in the country.
“In thinking outside the box, I think we should consider an amendment in the constitution to the definition of federal character because when we talk about federal character within the context of appointments, infrastructure and the rest of it in the constitution, federal character as it is, is limited to where you are from, like your ethnicity.
“In other words, the constitution says that appointment and all those other things shall be based on federal character and federal character as we know it now, we have the Igbos, we have the Hausas, the Yorubas. There should be a Geographical Spread.
“I think it’s time that we expand the definition of federal character because the character of a Nation is not just based on your tribe, it’s based on religion, it’s based on where you are from, it’s based on your sex, it’s based on your age.
“So, when you are talking about federal character, you look at all those things and they are what make up the Federal Character.
“You talk about so, so percentage of women, so, so percentage of youth, that is the true meaning of Federal character and I think that is what should be reflected in the constitution,” Gbajabiamila said.
On bis part, the Clerk to the National Assembly (CNA), Arc. Olatunde Amos Ojo, who commended the young lawmakers, noted that there was no better time than now for the retreat considering the nationwide youth restiveness that followed the #Endsars protests.
He also urged the group to chart a result-oriented course that would be of benefit to Nigerian youths.
Buhari is interested
In his welcome address, the Chairman of YPF, Rep. Kabir Tukura, noted that the forum visited the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives and it was agreed that the YPF should come up with a white paper to be submitted to President Muhammadu Buhari.
According to him, Nigerian youths deserved a voice in the country and deserved to be treated fairly, adding that treating young people fairly is to treat the citizens fairly as the youth constitute 70 percent of the population.
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