 The Barrawa Old Boys Association deserves a commendation for hosting these lectures on national development through the years. Indeed, just looking through you will notice that as from 1986 almost consistently with a few breaks here and there we've had this series of lectures on issues of national development. But more so, they deserve a commendation for the choice of subjects of the lectures that have all been focused on how to hold our nation, our society and its leadership to the promise of higher and nobler standards. Our leadership, our society, our nation must always be held to that promise of higher and nobler standards. This great college, Barrawa College has nurtured some of the brightest, most courageous and most patriotic minds that our nation has ever seen. Great visionary, Sir Amadou Bailou Sadauna Sokoto, who is responsible for ensuring the galvanization of northern Nigeria into the federal system that our nation has become. His incredible foresight has led to a lot of the occasional development that northern Nigeria has experienced, especially in those early days. Nigeria's first prime minister, Elijah Tafau Bailou, the golden voice of Africa, his vision for a united Nigeria which stood the challenges of time and also today his vibrant words of unity continue to echo and resonate amongst us. It was he who said, and I quote, we must recognize our diversity and the peculiar conditions under which the different tribal communities live. The federal system is under the present conditions the only sure basis on which Nigeria will remain united. And of course Sir Kashim Ibrahim, first indigenous governor general of northern Nigeria. And of course Malamanin Aminu Khan, perhaps Nigeria's most articulate proponent of a pathway for social justice, especially in a desperately poor society. And I'll come back to that. And General Rotala Mohamed who was killed as he courageously led an attempt at a Nigerian and African ethical and moral rebirth. And of course today's chair and former head of state who by the share hand of God led the country when there was an existential need to declare to a divided country that there was no victor and no vanquished. Alaji Shea Wushabari, Nigeria's first executive vice executive president. Frankly I do not know of any other Nigerian institution whose products have so definitively defined the cause and content of Nigeria's history such as variable causes. That sort of pervasive influence has its positives and negatives, but that is for another day. The fact that the substance and tone of the lectures in these series have sought to focus the nation's mind on the most potent challenges and its greatest opportunities for remedy or redemption gave me very high expectations of the lecture on the challenges of the judiciary to democracy. The Nigerian perspective, the lecture so brilliantly delivered by His Royal Highness Alaji Laohazan Goum, retired justice, retired chief judge of the high court of federal capital territory. And his lordship likely makes those expectations as he clearly makes the point about the importance of separation of powers, the centrality of the rule of law, and the importance of respect for the adjudicatory conclusions of our courts whether they are palatable or they are not palatable. His lordship expectedly gives a pass mark to the judiciary, his own constituency. And I quote him where he says, by and large over the years the judiciary has remained faithful to the constitution and by extension democracy by ensuring fair hearing and guarding against violations of democratic norms. Ultimately the aim of the judiciary is to maintain cohesion in a society by abetrating between man and man as well as man and state. In Nigeria I have no doubt that the judiciary has done a long way in achieving this, not withstanding the enormous challenges in encounter. I believe that his lordship is right that the judiciary has served the most useful purpose. I'm not entirely certain though that his lordship has been as fair to the executive. Certainly I do not believe that his lordship's entire conclusions on the executive have been entirely fair. So perhaps there is a need to correct some of the promises upon which his royal highnesses observations are based so that we do not end up diminishing the very crucial points that his lordship makes. My lord's assertion that nothing, and I am used to calling his royal highness my lord, so please excuse me because as you know, if you appear before their lordships you just get used to my lord. I mean any time I have to say royal highness I get stuck with my lord. My lord's assertion that nothing has changed with regard to democratic conduct even in this administration is not in my respectful view borne out by the facts. For with respect the relationship of the executive and the national assembly and I think it's fair to say that the executive, especially this current executive, has refrain from interfering first with the national assembly's choice of his leadership and the conduct of its affairs. Even though sometimes there are those who will argue that that is detrimental and has considerably slowed down the work of the executive but it has afforded us a valuable learning process. There has been no more attempt under this government to stampede the legislature. It's easy to forget that Nigeria had five senate presidents between 1999 and 2007. Very easy to forget. Several governments in the years gone by were forcefully impeached by legislatures acting on the presumed behest of the federal government. Many of us remember Joshua Derry impeached by five legislatures at about 6 a.m. in 2006. The five man house of assembly met under tight security and impeached the governor immediately after that Michael Botman was sworn in as governor. Peter Obie, the same Peter Obie, was impeached by legislators who moved into Oka at 5 a.m. and began sitting shortly thereafter. The house of assembly members arrived at about 5 a.m. and made short order of impeaching the then governor of a number of states. Same as Chris Ngige was abducted by police officers, I'm sure many of us will remember. There are a number of state parliaments claiming, in fact they are at that time, you know, it was said that the governor had resigned. And the chief judge was promptly ordered to swear in his deputy, Okechuku Ude, who immediately at the time assumed the functions of the state governor. Although the police later claimed at some point that they were taking the governor into protective custody, the embattled governor reiterated that he was abducted as hundreds of the supporters from the 21 local governments at the time welcomed him back to state house. The truth of the matter is that there have been several different violations, violations of that honored relations between the executive and the judiciary. Many of us remember Rashid La Jogia, who was also impeached in 2006. His impeachment was obtained by the Supreme Court. Perhaps my lord may be excused for forgetting the assault in 2014 on the National Assembly by the then executive. My brother, his excellence in the governor of Sokoto State, will not forget. He was the right honorable speaker and many of his colleagues resulted to acrobatics to scale the walls, to scale the walls of the National Assembly, which was then blocked apparently by executive order. When my lord excused that government from any forms of misbehavior, I was surprised. I was attorney general in Lagos when the executive withheld the funds due to our local government and due to our state. We were not able to recover it despite the Supreme Court's order until after we had left office. In the same period, and when I say the same period and I refer again to 2013-2014, and I make these points because my lord had mentioned that perhaps only that the governments of Umaru and Sherry are as well as Jonathan should be excused. That same period, 2013-2014, if you recall, the governor's forum came under severe executive interference just upon the governor's forum. If you remember the whole controversy as to whether 16 is greater than 19, indeed 16 was held at the time to be greater than 19. You will agree with me that a lot of what we are seeing today, and if you recall also the executive at the time, the national executive, how it besieged the River State Government House. All of this took place in very recent history. You'll agree with me that a lot has changed, at least with respect to that. The government has also taken, and if you recall, in more recent times significant steps in terms of police reforms, and we hope that these police reforms are coming to fruition. Under President Buhari, the National Assembly is, in my view, perhaps at its most independence since 1999. These changes are being brought about through democratic processes, and to some extent despite the tensions that must always exist between the executive and the legislature. These changes, and all of these changes, are still done, and they're still being made. Unsuccessful attempts have been made in the past to bring about a holistic financial autonomy of the legislature and judiciary in Nigeria. It is, however, under this administration that we have ensured that that financial autonomy has been extended to state judiciaries and state houses of assembly. Also appeared to be a bit dissatisfied with the slogan that change begins with the individual. He says instead, and I do agree with him, that the change must also begin with us, that is to say, the executive. But it was the great Mahatma Gandhi who charged us all to be the change that we want to be, to want to see. Any change that we want to see in this world, the great Gandhi charged us to be that change. It is a call to civic responsibility, and it's not an excuse, and I agree entirely, but the bloodshed is not an excuse for leadership to share its own responsibilities. But permit me to say that the change in our nation may not be as difficult to see as all that. Clearly, all of what we expect to see is not, we have not seen all we expect to see. But today, if we were to ask our brothers and sisters in the northeast who watched Boko Haram see 14 local governments as of 2014 and hoist their flags in 14 different local governments, and they saw schools and major roads closed and could not even celebrate salad or Christmas for many years, then perhaps we will find that they will say that they have seen some change. If we were to ask the farmers who are the 720,000 farmers who today are enjoying the credit and support and agricultural inputs being made by the anchor boroughs program and getting a more stable supply of fertilizer because of the Presidential Fertilizer Initiative and also getting it as significant in cheaper prices, perhaps they might say that there has been some change. If we were to ask the 500,000 graduates who have been employed under the MPR program and this MPR program is direct government employment and they are trained using a tablet such as the one I'm holding in various entrepreneurial skills, full writing and all sorts of things to be useful to themselves even after the period of their employment. If we were to ask them, perhaps they might say that they've seen some change. If we were to ask the pensioners, the Niger Airways staff, Delta Steel Company staff, ex-Biofora police officers, etc. who before now receive no pensions after several years of abandonment, perhaps they might say there is some change. I'm the petty traders who are getting micro-credit from the federal government. Many of them, hundreds of thousands, by doing two million who are getting direct credit, they were long ignored. Nobody ever paid attention to the poorest in the value chain, to the poorest of our people. No one ever paid attention to their welfare. Today they are getting some credit. They are opening bank accounts on account of the government program. Perhaps they might say that they have seen some change. Or better still, if we were to ask the 9.2 million school children and their parents in 48,000 schools and 26 states nationwide who are eating one meal a day, see some change. 297,000 Nigerians in 20 states now receiving monthly stupends under the conditional cash transfer program. 297,000 of them. Each of them and their families and the families that they represent, they wouldn't know that there is no change. As the contractors who have returned to size since 2060, because our project for roads has grown 24 since then, as the artisans and laborers who have found jobs on the many road, railroad projects and housing projects, there is no state, not a single state. And the minister of work, power works and housing here in Sokoto today, is here today. Not a single state in Nigeria is undergoing, not one state, is there not a major federal government project today. As things presently start, it is of course possible to say that politicians have not been to show for the lessons of the failure of the first and second republics, as my lord has argued. A lot of that impunity has come to define a lot of impunity and I must say respectfully that a lot of impunity that has come to define public office in Nigeria in terms of corruption, especially grand corruption. The stealing of the property, the writing of the treasure, we explained in the past few years. Today, as well as the other case, the day we didn't know how the situation where a government of 292 million dollars is taken from the treasure in one day, 292 million dollars, and it simply is the end. 292 million dollars, all of the money we are giving to 2 million, to 20 billion, if you look at what that should be, a hundred million dollars is 36 million. All which is a hundred billion, what we are talking about, take it and share it. If we have a hundred billion to give to our people, it is to be a different man. The deal of 4 billion dollars was much twice. We are 3 billion dollars over this amount. And it is not paid by, even if it is paid by, it is probably not paid by. So all of these, the days of the disaster, why sort of money? At least that has stopped. We have stopped grand corruption. We are not supposed to stop by factor of corruption. We haven't even got to that point. And you should do the extension of the problem. Should you not think about all of these? So what do you have to know? I've told you what I'm trying to say. I've told you my chance. I've told you my chance. Your regular commitment in respecting this act of security, has helped with security, but the regular government has helped you do it. And then, I don't want to be involved in all of that. And all of what we have seen, all of what we have seen in the biggest ways by which we are trying to ensure the lives of all of us. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. This day, the government is achieving its power. We are adding 60% less than the pre-government. 60%. And we are spending 2.7 trillion in our own infrastructure, on capital. And like this, capital is spent. And the history of our country is like the history of our country. We have strong lessons to learn. And I think it's very quick to go on to say that it is the era of justice that we have, perhaps some of the most important challenges. And when I say justice, I mean even our definition of justice. The truth is that the national enemies see the justice from the window view of how we are inter-treated. So if a member of our country, a member of our group, when I say our group, I express to the political, the religious and the military in today, we start to begin to shout, injustice, injustice. Justice for the majority of our people who are poor, who are dispossessed. This is my movement. And this is why, as the lawyer, I am quickly inspired by the thoughts of my middle man. And I think that I'm quickly inspired by his thoughts because we understood what the concept of social justice is. What is the point of justice when hundreds, when millions of our people express a type of thought that makes it difficult to describe a machine what does it have to do with it? The Indian force, the Indian supreme force, in defining what it is to have the right to a life, when the Indian court talks about the right to a life, is saying that what a right to a life has been denied is a blessing of what have access to social justice. If a blessing of what have access to health, to health care, to education, what right to a life have been denied that is the view of how I'm going to come back. That our country must provide for the esteemed people that justice, especially what the concept of this is really justice, the concept that underline the right to a life of thought of what kind of woman is going to short the world terribly. That is justice. And we must ensure that that form of justice becomes the norm in our nation. Then again, thank and commend my role for this, for this lecture. I will look at this again in greater detail now that I have a full copy. I will look at this in greater detail. I'm still right, my thoughts. I'm saying that you will do well. I would like to thank you very much for your time. Thank you.