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

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