First female Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Chief Folake Solanke called for the establishment of a registry for recovered national assets which will regularly publish information on the amount of stolen loot and goods recovered and what the money is being disbursed for.
Solanke who noted that Nigerians were oblivious of such information said such registry will ensure accountability, transparency and integrity in the strides of the current administration to hunt down persons who had looted the nation’s assets over the years.
This was among the positions advanced by Solanke, on Wednesday, in Ibadan, at an event to commemorate her 85th birthday.
“Nigerians need urgent information on a regular basis on: how much has been recovered from the looters? Where is the recovered money being kept? Is it in the Central bank of Nigeria? How is it being applied? Is it being utilized for the payment of monthly allocations to states?
“I recommend that a registry for recovered national assets be established. The Registry will publish regularly, maybe monthly, details of recovered stolen goods both in the traditional media and online. The Registry should also publish information on how much is being disbursed and for what. Such important information is currently lacking pity.”
“There should be strict rules on how funds are recovered. The whole operation should be on video in order to ensure that stolen funds are fully accounted for after transportation of the humongous loot from the place of crime,” she said.
She also bemoaned that Nigerians had become so traumatized hence laugh rather than weep over the failure of successive failures of successive governments.
“People are now so traumatized that they cannot even recognize the standard expectations of a normal society in the 21st century. They laugh when they should weep over the failure of successive failures of successive governments in Nigeria. Imagine there was a power outage at the airport and the place was thrown in pitch darkness, and all that some of the airport authority staff did was to laugh and say, “Welcome to Nigeria” as if no light is an accepted norm. No, it is not. It is catastrophic that Nigerians do not even expect anything better.”
“No lamentation for a near-failed state situation after successive governmental failures to fix the power debacle. We cannot laugh off our disaster, disgrace and the mockery of foreigners arriving at our borders. We must demand better governance and not throw up our arms in capitulation. The time is now to address the current disparity in the income of those who have everything and those who have precious nothing,” Solanke added.
The event which saw the presentation of two books: “An updated edition of Reaching for the Stars: The Autobiography of Folake Solanke” and “New Essays on Law and Societal Issues”, had in attendance Ondo state governor, Rotimi Akeredolu and his Ogun counterpart, Ibikunle Amosun; Governor Abiola Ajimobi represented by secretary to the state government, Mr Olalekan Alli; and Chief Judge of Oyo state, Justice M. L. Abimbola, who chaired.
The list of guests also included the Alake of Egbaland, Oba Adedotun Gbadebo; Professor Olu Akinkugbe; Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Saliu Adetunji, represented by Agbaakin Olubadan of Ibadan land, Chief Adebayo Akande; , Oyo Attorney General, Mr Seun Abimbola; and Chief Wole Olanipekun.
In his remarks, Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo state said, “As long as she is alive, we must learn all we can from her whether by inviting her to give lectures on etiquette, so that judges and lawyers can learn. We must learn the fundamentals she represents whether her carriage, dressing, diction.”
In the same vien, Governor Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun state remarked, “She is so brilliant, articulate, eloquent, very deep, very organized. There is a lot to learn from her, little wonder she was first to be female SAN. She is a pride of Ogun state. We pray she celebrates more good health in good health.”
Furthermore, Chief Wole Olanipekun stated, “Mama is exceptional in all aspects. Is it in terms of elegance, mentoring, behavior, character, intelligence, being courteous, her relations with others, fear of God, professionalism? I see her as a national asset. She is a woman that we covet. To me and my family, mama is a gracious mother. People like her come once in a generation; you don’t have her type so often, in terms of policies that are unique. She is a wonderful and beautiful specimen of humanity.”
Book reviewer, Dr Mofe Atake remarked that the book raised historical and contemporary issues on gender, ethics and morals for lawyers and judges, among others.
He lauded the fact that the story was written in clear and simple prose, and an easy read for all strata of the society.
Ms Funke Aboyade, in her review of the second book, “New Essays on Law and Societal Issues”, said the prose showed concern for the girl-child especially those living in poverty, etiquette for legal practitioner, and was written with clear logic.
She added that the book was an excellent prose written with good judgement and full of great allegories.
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