A delusionary Constitution review

By Fassy Yusuf

Since January 15, 1966, our nation has been under pseudo-federalism leading to a voodoo structure. The first military Head of State, Major General J. T. U. Aguiyi-Ironsi imposed unitary federalism on us, and ever since we have been in delusion or illusion.

Successive administrations and the hegemonic power seeing that unitary federalism served their mundane and parochial interests perpetuated the obnoxious structure to the detriment of the country’s social, economic, and development well-being, and cohesiveness.

Generals Gowon, Mohammed and Obasanjo’s military administrations accentuated this ignoble system of government.

The 1979 Constitution operated by President Shagari did not change anything. General Buhari, Gen Babangida, Chief Shonekan, General Abacha, and General Abubakar could not salvage the situation as they saw nothing wrong with the nebulous concept peculiar to Nigeria.

Alas, a toxic Constitution was smuggled in by the administration of General Abubakar for Nigeria and Nigerians to operate from May 29, 1999!

Everything about the current Constitution is fraudulent. Its preamble or commencement states: “We the people of the Federal Republic of Nigeria: Having firmly and solemnly resolved: To live in unity and harmony as one indivisible and indissoluble Sovereign Nation . . .

And to provide for a Constitution for the purpose of promoting the good government and welfare of all persons in our country on the principles of Freedom, Equality and Justice, and for the purpose of consolidating the Unity of our people: Do hereby make, enact and give to ourselves the . . . Constitution.”

Nothing could be farther from the truth. Which body or who worked to produce this document? How did it evolve? Did it follow the process of constitution making? Was it debated and considered by the component parts of the country?

How could some privileged but insignificant fraction of people take millions of people for a ride? Are we that gullible that such cotton wool could be used to cover our faces?

In any case, we took the ‘instrument’ handed over to us by Abdul-Salam Abubakar, via Decree No. 24 purportedly made on 5th May 1999, hook line and sinker as our ‘Supreme document’.

Regrettably, the country has not known any peace ever since. Peace, concord, harmony, trust, togetherness, understanding, development, economic determination and development, and other indices of development have been eluding us!

The administrations of Obasanjo, Yar’Adua, and Jonathan could not help our perilous situation! The current ruling party, pursuant to the change it promised, set up the El-Rufai committee on true federalism. What came out of it? Like others, it was consigned to history.

Like its predecessors, the current National Assembly has embarked on what it termed ‘the process of amending the Constitution.’ If precedents are anything to go by, the process or the exercise is another delusion or illusion as attempting to build legality on illegality cannot stand any logical test. It is bound to be an exercise in futility.

The contradictions in the Nigerian nation have brought us to where we are today- hegemonic power, ethnicity, corruption, poverty, militancy, insurgency, corruption, cronyism, religious intolerance, unitary coexistence, political rigmarole, economic misadventure, under development, and a near collapse of the entire system.

The country is bleeding as most of our leaders have refused, failed and or neglected to perform their responsibilities. Consequently, “things continue to fall apart.”

The present attempt is to all intents and purposes a “jamboree” as it is not only a waste of our scarce resources but a time wasting exercise that is better used to address more fundamental issues.

The issue our National Assembly should address is how to fashion out a new Constitution and not amending or reviewing the obnoxious and toxic one. Most stakeholders are of the view that the purported 1999 Constitution lacks legitimacy and it is, therefore, incurable.

The Afenifere, the apex Yoruba socio-political organisation, was not convinced that the National Assembly was doing the right thing.

The Ohanaeze Ndigbo, standing for the eastern bloc also aligned itself with the position of Afenifere. Also joining them to demand for a new Constitution were the Middle Belt Forum, the Niger Delta Forum, and some other ethnic nationalities, aside from those groups currently benefitting from the lopsided structure of the country.

Early this week, the Afenifere, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Middle Belt Forum, and Niger Delta Forum, among others distanced themselves from the ongoing attempt to review the vexed 1999 Constitution.

They were unanimous in their declaration that: “In the obnoxious constitution, the governors are named as the chief security officers of their respective states with all the security apparatus in the hand of the Federal Government, how do they deploy personnel to curb security challenges?” This is just one of the contradictions in the 1999 Constitution.

The issue of resource control has led to a lot of agitation. The Niger Delta region cannot control its resources. Taxes, especially Value Added Tax are collected and dispensed using a formula that is unjust and inequitable.

Appointments to key positions at the Federal level are badly skewed in favour of North West and North East. According to Kennedy Iyere, “the country is at a crossroads, and on the verge of witnessing another civil war and forceful disintegration.”

He further stated that: “The strident call for constitutional restructuring and power shift in 2023 have attained a feverish pitch, compelling urgent intervention to douse existing tension and rescue Nigeria from the precipice.”

The National Assembly, and the Executive Branch should listen to the people of this country. Immediate steps should be taken to convoke a constitutional conference devoid of the present political actors.

Each State should send equal representatives, between three and five to the Constitutional conference and a draft Constitution should be produced within six months following the principle of true federalism.

Nigerians should decide how they want the draft to be ratified. From this angle, we can embark on zero-based democracy with the outgoing administration preparing to have a date with history.

The new Constitution to be produced should exclude past and present political actors, otherwise, the pollution and toxicity would continue.

We must, as a matter of urgency jettison the obnoxious and ‘covid’ infested 1999 Constitution. The Constitution has done so much damage to the nation to the extent that any attempt to continue using it would be spelling more doom for the country.

The 1999 Constitution is incurable. And, according to the Nigeria Christian Graduate Fellowship (NCGF), “As a fundamental document constituting a state, a Constitution cannot normally be modified or amended by the State’s normal legislative procedure .

. . the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is purely and literally a military enactment that was singlehandedly decreed into law by General Abdul-Salam Abubakar as Decree 24 of 1999 and foisted on Nigerians without public input, without public debate, and without public vote on it.”

With over six attempts to review the Constitution, it is apparent that the current one is an exercise in futility, a time wasting venture, a misuse of resources, and a directionless exercise.

It is, therefore, expected that the National Assembly would put a halt to the exercise and liaise with the Executive Branch to do the people’s wish. Nigeria must be restructured through a people’s Constitution. The time to act is now and not tomorrow.

The delusionary or illusionary Constitution review must stop. Enough is enough.