By Ogar Monday and Blessing Ola
Listen To The Report
The Calabar branch of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, has commenced activities for its 2022 bar week-themed, “We the People: Agenda for National Consensus,” with a city walk.
The walk is the first in a schedule of activities that hopes to raise the political awareness of residents in the State, said the NBA Calabar branch Chairman, Attach Ochinke.
Ochinke, a former Attorney-General in the State, told CrossRiverWatch in an interview that lawyers were taking a break from the courtrooms and gathering to examine burning national issues.
He said the bar will re-evaluate the citizen’s relationship with those in governance for a more informed society. He further explained that lawyers will, during the bar week, “review national issues” and “examine the role of the people in democratic governance.
“We are saying after exercising your vote and people are elected into offices, what else as a citizen can you do to ensure democratic governance, to ensure that the government works for us?
“To what extent can we participate in the democratic process, in governance, beyond voting in elections. Because, what has been happening so far is that when we elect people, they tend to believe that having assumed office, any intervention from the ordinary citizens amounts to meddling in the affairs of the Government. Or, you are interfering with what they call constituted authority.
“So, we are saying we the people remain the constituted authority in any democracy. We are more powerful than the Government, and if you are doing something wrong as an elected official, we should be able to say it without waiting for four years before we go and say it at the election,” he said.
The panel discussions and plenary will commence at 10:00 AM on Tuesday and Wednesday, the 5th and 6th days of April 2022 at the Transcorp Hotels Calabar.
Other activities are a visit to the Medium Security Custodial Center, Afokang, dinner, and fundraising for the NBA’s secretariat.
Below are images of the itinerary and from the city walk.
