Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, has said that the judiciary is not only important to the strengthening of the nation’s democracy, but also the sustainability of its economic development.
In his goodwill message at the Body of Benchers Nigeria Award Night, held weekend in Abuja, Saraki stressed the need for a concerted drive towards consolidation of democracy, liberalisation of the economy, and ensuring the rule of law.
Specifically, the Senate President maintained that the Body of Benchers Nigeria have a great role to play in instilling confidence in the nation’s democracy.
Saraki said: “No two ways around this. In the next few decades, the population of Nigeria and the continent – including the Youth demographic – is set to increase exponentially.
“The challenge ahead is to see how we can reduce poverty and create jobs for the youth whose numbers will treble in the coming years.
“They are not a generation that will sit idly by and watch their aspirations fade. Without inclusive government that creates jobs and opportunities, we are sitting on a time-bomb.
“We must act fast, and the Judiciary has an important role to play in ensuring sustainable economic success that is predicated upon a more democratic environment.
“The job creation stimulus we are seeking requires investment, and this depends on democratic stability. It follows, therefore, that the types of government that emerge must be through a democratic process that builds on the confidence of the people.
“Our ability to produce effective solutions has never been more in demand. From the threats and opportunities of information development, sharing, management, manipulations aided by technology to the changing dynamics of terrorism, we must remake a judicial process that is integrity assured and delivers in good time.
“This requires the legislature and the judiciary to engage more and share ideas, more than is currently the case. We must have a society where truth and justice are seen to prevail, where men and women will believe that the system will always stand by the truth.
“Politicians and business people must know that power and money cannot trump truth and justice, and that the law bends for no one. It must be clear that the corruption of money will always lose out.
“Benchers are key to instilling that confidence. Inconsistency will only create problems further down the line. Fear of man cannot be the driving imperative of what we do.
“It must be the Constitution. In any case, history has shown us that power is transient. Posterity is the goal”.
