Open letter on restructuring to National Assembly, Buhari and Nigerians

Let me start by saying I love Nigeria and I truly believe in the unity of this great nation. Nigeria is an amazing country with so many beautiful and diverse people and an abundance of natural resources but our current system is not working effectively. We have to restructure our current system for our greater good.

Some Nigerians keep saying that we need a new constitution, they say the Military gave us our constitution, yes General Abdulsalami’s Government gave us our constitution but it was done with the involvement of Nigerians. There was a Constitution Debate Coordinating Committee headed by Justice Nikki Tobi that worked on the constitution, this is in the public domain. The committee received suggestions and memoranda from Nigerians in and outside Nigeria. There were debates in five cities, the general consensus was for us to adopt the 1979 Constitution with some amendments.

Even if we were to adopt a new constitution today, not every single Nigerian will be involved in the process, so the argument for a new constitution should cease. The constitution of the United States of America starts with “We The People” as well, it wasn’t written by the people but by the Elite, you don’t hear Americans clamouring for a new constitution.

I like the majority of our constitution, it’s not a perfect document but that’s why we have a National Assembly. The National Assembly is the only body that can amend our laws, the constitution and restructure our current system with inputs from we the people of course. It’s imperative that our Representatives start holding town hall meetings in their constituencies on a regular basis.

Restructuring our current system for me starts with amending our constitution, devolution of powers and the proper representation of every Local Government at the National Assembly. I don’t believe the solutions I am going to list below will solve all our problems but it will make our system more efficient and put us on the path to our zenith.

My suggestions are as follows:

Our development have to centre around Local Governments. Politicians always say politics is local or starts from the grassroots, the same should apply to development. Development should start from our Local Governments. It’s time for land rights and mineral rights to revert to Local Governments. The only exception for now should be oil because it’s the country’s main source of revenue.

Giving land rights and minerals rights to Local Governments gives Local Government Councils the ability to grow their respective economies, create new jobs and increase their revenues exponentially. This will also enable each Local Government effectively carry out all of its functions as stated in schedule 4 of our constitution I.E economic development, the provision and maintenance of primary, adult and vocational schools, the development of agriculture, the provision and maintenance of health services, the establishment and maintenance of markets, motor parks and public conveniences, the construction and maintenance of roads, streets, street lightings, drains, gardens and parks.

Our Local Governments should only pay royalties on revenue generated within their municipality to their respective States and the Federal Government. Land and mineral rights reverting to Local Governments will not place such a preponderance of power and blame of underdevelopment on the Federal Government anymore.

I don’t believe in Regional Governments and I am vehemently against the creation of more States or Local Governments but we do have a constitutional process in place if a certain people within our nation want a new State created.

It’s unfair and discriminatory that the Niger Delta region has a Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) and an Amnesty Office while other regions don’t have the same and I am from the Niger Delta but I am a Nigerian 1st and I believe in equality. The Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, NDDC and the Amnesty Office should be merged into one body and renamed Ministry of South South Affairs. We should have a Ministry of North West, North Central, North East, South West and South East Affairs as well, all headquartered in said regions to be closer to the people.

There is no limit to the number of Ministers we can have according to our constitution. Our President should have Ministers representing those Regions. Our President should also eliminate Ministers of State or what some refer to as Junior Ministers. There is nothing like Minister of State or Junior Ministers in our constitution, the constitution only states that there shall be a Minister from every State.

We need to whittle down the items in the executive list. Aviation and airports, insurance, mines and minerals except oil, prisons, power, railways, tourism, formulation and dissolution of marriages and the registration of business names should move from the executive legislative list to the concurrent list.

I believe in freedom of religion but we need to eliminate sharia law from the constitution and the Nigerian state, it’s archaic, inhumane and barbaric. Archaic religious laws should have no role in our democracy. Most of the Muslim Elite that commit crimes in States where we have sharia law don’t get tried by Sharia Courts, it’s very clear sharia law is meant for the common man.

Section 16(2)(d) of our constitution should be amended. It currently states that suitable and adequate shelter, suitable and adequate food, reasonable national minimum living wage, old age care, pensions, unemployment, sick benefits and welfare of the disabled are provided for all citizens.

The Government does not have the ability to provide every citizen with what is listed in section 16(2)(d) of our constitution. In my opinion there should be a reasonable federal minimum wage, I am glad the National Assembly has at least suggested N30,000 per month. The People, State and Local Governments should be involved in this process. If any State can afford higher than the federal minimum wage they should go ahead and do just that.

The federal minimum wage should be reviewed every two years by the National Assembly and the minimum wage in our States should be reviewed every year by our State Houses of Assembly. Unemployment benefits, health insurance, sick benefits, vacation and pensions should be guaranteed for every Government employee and every employee working at any corporation. Subsidized housing for university students, the elderly, the disabled and Government employees should also be guaranteed.

We need to tinker with section 18(3) of our constitution, it currently states that Government shall strive to eradicate illiteracy; and to this end government shall as and when practicable provide
(a) free, compulsory and universal primary education;
(b) free secondary education;
(c) free university education; and
(d) free adult literacy program

Yes we should be making every effort to reduce our illiteracy rate drastically but it will never be practicable for our Government to provide all 4 listed above, this section should be tinkered with. Local Governments should be responsible for public primary and secondary schools and our State Governments should be responsible for public State universities. Federal universities should be handed to States when they become more viable economically.

Section 35 (3) of our constitution should be amended, it currently states any person who is arrested or detained shall be informed in writing within twenty-four hours (and in a language that he understands) of the facts and grounds for his arrest or detention. Any person arrested should be told when being arrested the facts and grounds for his/her arrest.

We should amend section 39(2) of our constitution. No Government, Local, State or any branch of the Federal Government (Executive, Legislative or Judiciary) should own mediums like blogs, newspapers, radio stations or television networks that will spread or disseminate information, ideas or opinions. These can be used as propaganda tools or for misinformation. All Government owned radio stations, television stations and newspapers should be privatized.

We need a unicameral Legislature as opposed to having a bicameral National Assembly, we need to eliminate the Senate. Nigeria should have 774 Representatives in the National Assembly, every Local Government in Nigeria should have a voice in the National Assembly. Having a unicameral Legislature will result in a more efficient and effective National Assembly. Bills and laws will pass quicker, we eliminate having to reconcile bills from the Senate and House and we diminish the power of the few that control our National Assembly. One group or caucus will not be able to control 774 individuals. I also believe salaries, wages, allowances and the number of legislative aides should be drastically reduced to accommodate this new reality.

We need to amend section 91 of the constitution, it currently states that the House of Assembly of a State shall consist of not less than 24 and not more than 40 members. A State House of Assembly should have members totaling the number of Local Governments in said State. For example, Nasarawa state with 13 Local Governments will have only 13 members in its House of Assembly as opposed to the 25 it has right now. Edo state with 18 Local Governments will have 18 members in its House of Assembly as opposed to the 24 it currently has. Kano state with 44 Local Governments will have 44 members in its House of Assembly as opposed to the current max of 40, so on and so forth. This will result in Nigeria having 774 House of Assembly members.

A Chairman/Chairwoman, a Member of the State Assembly and a Member of the unicameral legislature representing each Local Government will make for better representation, better synergy, better legislations, quick passage of bills, it will also speed up development.

N500M should be earmarked for every single Local Government for development in the Federal Government’s annual budget. N500M to each of our Local Government equates to only N387B annually, that’s only 5% of our current budget. It’s very unfair and discriminatory that Principal Officers in the National Assembly get more money earmarked for their constituencies than others. Every constituency in Nigeria is equal and should be treated as such by the Federal Government. This will reduce the notion of marganilization, it will also lead to speedy development all across Nigeria.

Section 55 of the constitution has to go. It states the business of the National Assembly shall be conducted in English, and in Hausa, Ibo and Yoruba when adequate arrangements have been made therefore. The business of the National Assembly should be conducted in English only. Ibo, Yoruba and Hausa’s should not be made superior or be seen as superior to other groups in Nigeria. Everyone is equal according to our constitution.

We need to move the Nigerian Police from under The Ministry of Interior and make it truly independent, answerable to an Independent Attorney General of the Federation. The office of the Attorney General of the Federation and the Attorney Generals in our States should be the only authorities deciding what cases submitted to them by the police to prosecute.

I don’t believe we are ready for a State Police system just yet. A State Police system will not work in Nigeria until we have independent Attorney Generals in our State’s elected by the people. We would need to amend the constitution to eliminate Commissioners of Justice being appointed by our State Governors.

We cannot afford to have a State Police Force with the Commissioners of Police answerable to our Governors or to Commissioners of Justice selected by our Governors. This will result in abuse of power and in some cases obstruction of justice. We need to reform, reorganize and better fund our Police Force, the Nigerian Police Force is pitiful, incompetent, ineffective and inefficient as is.

Section 144(a) of the constitution needs to be amended, the Federal Executive Council appointed by the President should not be the body that declares that the President or Vice President is capable or incapable of discharging the functions of his/her office. Section 189 (a) needs to be amended as well, this is the same as 144 (a) but this applies to the case of a governor or a deputy governor.

Section 145 of the constitution needs to be amended, there should be a stipulated amount of time when the President can be on vacation. Section 190 as well, this applies to the Governor of a State.

Section 221 of the constitution needs to be amended. It currently states: No association, other than a political party, shall canvass for votes for any candidate at any election or contribute to the funds of any political party or to the election expenses of any candidate at an election. All campaign support groups in Nigeria since the inception of our current democracy have been violating our constitution.

We need to eliminate State Electoral Commissions. The Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) should be the only body conducting elections in Nigeria.

We need independent political candidates in Nigeria, this will take campaigning by an independent political aspirant straight to the people. The people of Nigeria are not involved in the primary process by political parties. Currently, the political parties picks our candidates for us, the people get to choose from the choices we are given and most of the time they are usually bad choices.

Independent candidacy will also eliminate corruption in our political process. Instead of political candidates spending millions, sometimes billions lobbying delegates or the leaders of the political parties to be flag bearers of their party, the candidates will bypass all that bribery and lobbying for votes and take their cause directly to the people from the beginning of the campaign cycle.

Our presidential candidates should not belong to any political party. This will give the Nigerian people an opportunity to properly vet and vote for our President devoid of political affiliations. It also gives our President the opportunity to run the country effectively and efficiently devoid of political idiosyncrasies. His/Her cabinet and our Government will be an all inclusive Government with the brightest and most qualified technocrats running our country and economy, as opposed to having politicians being rewarded with positions in Government for their patronage.

Any mention of secret society needs to be eliminated from our constitution.

The constitution presently only has male pronouns. He, Him, His, Himself, there are no female pronouns at all. The pronouns in the constitution needs to change to He/Her, Himself/Herself, His/Hers, Him/Her.

Last but not least, We Nigerians need to change our mindset, some of us have to do away with our superiority complex. We need to stop saying Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba are the major tribes, there are no major tribes or minority groups in our constitution. We need to eliminate the belief or thinking that some tribes are greater than others. We are all equal, we are all one, it’s time for all Nigerians to come together in unity so we can march towards our zenith.

Written by Nosa Eweka

Nosa Eweka is an Entrepreneur and a Member of the Benin Royal Family, he can be reached at nosaeweka@yahoo.com.