Eminent Nigerians, including former Secretary -General of the Commonwealth, Chief Emeka Anyaoku; Presidential Candidate of Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 General Election, Peter Obi; General Ike Nwachukwu (rtd), Dr. Obiageli Ezekwesili, have called for a new constitution for Nigeria, which will accommodate the country’s diversity, maintaining that and the drafting of the new document must be given urgent attention.
They made this call on Wednesday while speaking at a colloquium on June 12, themed: “Securing the future of Nigeria through a new democratic people’s constitution,” which took place in Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos, noting sadly that the Nigerian project was not working because the country operates a constitution that does not suit her numerous challenges.
Speaking at the event, Chief Anyaoku, who was chairman of the occasion, noted that Nigeria from onset had been facing the challenges of managing her diversity, but quickly recalled that the 1960 and 1963 constitutions were drafted to address the challenges until the military came in January 1966 and scattered everything.
He, however, warned that unless a courageous action was taken to give the country a new constitution, the country would continue to move towards collapsing as, according to him, some countries that failed to address their diversity, including Yugoslavia, Chesklolavia and Sudan had since disintegrated into several independent states, while other pluralist nations like Canada and India that addressed their diversity still remained intact.
Anyaoku argued that even the 1999 Constitution as amended still lacked the legitimacy to address the diversity, adding: “The 1999 Constitution, even as amended lacked the legitimacy, to address the diversity, therefore, we need to get a new legitimate constitution that will tackle the challenges facing the country.”
The elder statesman suggested that for a new people’s constitution to be fashioned out, a Constituent Assembly can be set up, saying that gathering should comprise of people democratically elected, and not on a political party basis.
According to him, membership of the Constituent Assembly should also put into consideration the 1960 ,1963 constitutions and the recommendations of the 2014 Constitutional Conference, “and if all those are put into consideration, the nation will have a legitimate constitution.”
General Nwachukwu, in his own remark, noted that attempts had been made in the past to return Nigeria to a true democracy, but quickly urged Nigerians should pray that the country have a constitution that can accommodate the wishes of the people.
Nwachukwu said what Nigeria needed now was a true federalist constitution that accommodates the country’s diversity as a nation, insisting that “time to make the change is now.”
“We must all be committed to democracy. We should make good promises made by our founding fathers and promises made by our leaders reflect in our diversity,” he said.
Also speaking, Dr. Ezekwesili, who is a former minister, said Nigeria was still struggling to have a democracy, stressing that the journey to have a democracy was premixed on the rule of law, which, according to her, the country lacked.
The former minister, who further stressed that “political freedom correlates to economic freedom and leads to productivity,” maintained that lack of democracy had made Nigeria to be backward.
She, however, suggested Nigeria needed to be rescued immediately from experimentation, saying that “it is time we have a new Nigeria, and not the one the whites will dictate what the country should do.”
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