JAALS 6.0 CONFERENCE
"At least forty five percent of democracies around the world practice bicameralism whilst roughly fifty five percent have unicameral legislatures. Like us in Nigeria, virtually all federal entities have bicameral legislatures - Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Russia, Spain and the United States to name a few. Even some countries with unitary constitutions also have bicameral legislatures, the most prominent of which is the United Kingdom, France, Belgium, the Netherlands and South Africa to name a few. If these countries are experiencing democratic recession or encountering bad governance, the explanatory factors may not necessarily be found in the type of legislative practice they have. It may just be on account of the deficit that has accompanied the wave of populism around the world or for other reasons unconnected to types of legislature.
I'm equally not suggesting that all countries with bicameral legislatures pass the test of good governance. In fact; in fact, I'm known to have argued sometime in 2019 at the Nigerian Economic Summit Group annual conference that Nigeria should seriously look into the possibility of scrapping one of our legislative chambers as already done by countries like Senegal and New Zealand. I suppose the kernel of my argument therefore is that context matters and practice also ought to underscore the direction of travel in matters of this nature." These were the words of the Former Ekiti State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi who was the keynote speaker at the 6th edition of the JAALS Conference where he advocated for a fundamental restructuring of Nigerian governance, calling for devolution of powers and reorganization of federating units. He emphasized that Nigeria's current federal system is not serving the country's best interests.
During the Conference JAALS Foundation in collaboration with Kiakia Cares Foundation unveiled The Green Pledge Initiative, this initiative signifies a crucial step towards addressing the environmental impact of legal practices, supporting global sustainability objectives, and showcasing leadership in sustainability and corporate social responsibility within the legal community.
