Rotary International President, Olayinka Babalola, has said Nigerians must have confidence in the country’s institutions to deliver justice, fairness and equity, warning that the absence of justice undermines the foundations of peaceful coexistence.
Babalola made the remarks during an interview on ARISE News on Friday while discussing the All Nigeria Road to Peace Summit, themed Good Governance, Justice and Equity: Foundations for Sustainable Peace.
He said public confidence in institutions was essential to ensuring that citizens pursued lawful means of resolving disputes rather than resorting to violence.
“You cannot have fairness, you cannot have equity, if there is injustice,” he said.
The Rotary International president stressed that people must be confident that the institutions established to protect their rights would deliver justice when disputes arise.
“One of the requirements is that people must feel comfortable and confident that the institutions that are available will deliver justice,” he said.
Illustrating the importance of institutional trust, Babalola said citizens would be less inclined to take matters into their own hands if they believed established channels could provide fair resolutions.
“If I know that if I have a problem with Rufai, I can go to Abati. Look at what Rufai has done, and I trust Abati will be fair. That is okay, he’s correct. I’m not going to carry cutlass to Rufai’s house.”
He added that guaranteeing fairness through institutions was necessary to strengthen public confidence in the justice system.
Babalola also pointed to Rotary’s Four-Way Test as a guiding principle for governance and the administration of public institutions, urging stakeholders to ensure that decisions meet standards of truth, fairness and goodwill.
“In fact, our expectation is that our four-way test, which I think is almost everywhere, people know it, that in everything that is concerned with governance and the running of our institutions that are involved with it too, that those elements, is it the truth? Is it fair to all concerned? Will it be good, better friendships?”
He said the principles should serve as a reminder to everyone involved in governance and institutional administration.
“We need to have a reminder to all the people who are involved in this.”
Faridah Abdulkadiri
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