Nigeria’s democracy is not genuine – Falana

Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana SAN, has declared that Nigeria’s democracy cannot be said to be genuine until insecurity is resolved.

He made the remark yesterday at a protest organised by the People’s Alternative Front, held at the Gani Fawehinmi Freedom Park in Lagos.

Falana called for adequate funding of the Nigeria Police Force to resolve the intractable problem of insecurity in the country.

According to him: “Nigeria is in a crisis of terrorism, banditry and armed robbery. And unless these problems are addressed, we cannot have genuine democracy in our country.

“There is no democracy in the country and so, we are not in the position to join public offices at the stadia today to celebrate democracy.

“Section 14 of the Constitution provides that the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government.

“We want the Nigerian Police Force (NPF) to be adequately funded, equipped and motivated so that the security of our people can be guaranteed.”

Falana also bemoaned the military’s involvement in the internal security of the country, stressing that the dictates of the constitution should be strictly adhered to.

“We do not want military involvement in the security of the country. Under the Constitution, the Military is to defend the territorial integrity of the country, while the Police Force is obligated to discharge internal security.

“It is part of the legacy of Military dictatorship that the government has abandoned the Nigerian Police Force and is currently using the Armed Forces to secure the country, including the management of elections,” he said.