Kwara State governor, Abdulfatah Ahmed, has said the ongoing national dialogue has the capacity to heal age-long national wounds and strengthen the tenets of national development and cohesion.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the 2014 Biennial Law Week of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Ilorin branch, on Tuesday, the governor said lawyers needed to play greater role in the process, despite the NBA's reservations on the composition of its membership.

"As our country makes another attempt at dialogue through the national conference, the role of the legal profession in this process is pivotal, not only in capturing the letter and spirit of the decisions reached at the conference, but also in ensuring that such outcomes comply with the laws of our land.

"Indeed, the national conference is recommended by its capacity and potential to heal our country's woes and give her constituent nationalities a greater sense of belonging in the way our affairs are conducted," he said.

The governor added that the problem of democracy in the country did not arise from the perceived shortingcomings of the 1999 Constitution, but due to penchant of the political class to exploit the loophole of the constitution.

"Although the legitimacy of the 1999 Constitution is often challenged due to its military origin and the lack of popular participation in its emergence, I hold that the problem is not with the Nigerian Constitution.

Rather, the challenge lies in our tendency to circumvent constitutional provisions and statutory laws by exploiting loopholes and unintended ambiguities," he explained.

Governor Ahmed also said that the theme of the conference: "A Centenary of Legal Practice in Nigeria (1914 - 2014): Legacies and Lessons for the Next Century" was timely, in view of the role of the bar in national development, as the legal practice in the last century had been robust and remarkable, especially in the light of the legal issues thrown up in the country's recent political history.

He counseled the judiciary to live above board as the nation moved towards the 2015 general election, as myriad of conflicting court cases and decisions were bound to arise from election litigations.