Maritime University: Reps Urged To Respect Rule Of Law

WARRI—THE Omadino Management Committee has challenged the House of Representatives to live up to its role as a legislative body by refusing to succumb to the temptation of allowing the rule of force to triumph over the rule of law in the consideration of the submissions and arguments placed before it in the on-going public hearing with respect to the bill for the law to establish the Nigerian Maritime University, Okerenghigho, wrongfully
and illegally cited as Okerenkoko.

According to Dr. Eyeokosi-Uwatse, R. A. Chairman of the Management Committee recently inaugurated by the Omadino Council of Elders with the blessing of His Majesty, Ogiame Ikenwoli, the Olu of Warri Kingdom, “it will amount to a negation of civilisation for a set of people to be consistently allowed to force the hands of government backwards every time with the aid of the threat of violence. To encourage such development is to drive our society back into the state of nature reminiscent of the Thomas Hobbes analogy.”

He emphasised that the Omadino people of Warri, who are the legal owners of the expanse of land on which the university is proposed, are not adverse to the establishment of the university; they only ask that the university is properly named as “Okerenghigho” in line with the Supreme Court Judgment already at the disposal of the House.

Dr. Eyeokosi-Uwatse further argued that it, “it is wrong for anyone to insinuate that we do not want the establishment of this citadel of knowledge. Contrary to that insinuation, we do as a people want it and challenge the government to establish it with the name known to law. Nigeria should not be represented to the world as a lawless state; we cannot have the highest court in the land make pronouncement and the House of Representatives make legislative decisions that contempt that pronouncement. It will be the greatest error in this century for the legislative body to act in contempt of not just a court of law but that of the Supreme Court for temptation of fear of lawlessness.”

He said that the Management Committee has already initiated a petition with the United Nations in respect of the incessant disrespect for court judgment gradually reducing this country to a state of nature. The community it is reported have lodged a petition of 200 pages with the Office of the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights on the failure of the Nigerian State to provide effective mechanism for prevention of and redress for actions which have the aim or effect of dispossessing the Indigenous People of Omadino (Warri South Local Government Area of Delta State of Nigeria) of their lands, territories and resources; all of which complaint is founded on the ground of article 8 (2) (b) of the United Nations Declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples, resolution 61/295; 1/2of 29 June, 2006.

Culled From Vanguard NGR