1999 Constitution: Anyaoku, Obasanjo differ

A former Secretary-General of Commonwealth, Chief Emeka Anyaoku and former President Olusegun Obasanjo have expressed divergent views on the 1999 Constitution and suggested contrasting approaches to addressing Nigeria’s governance and development challenges. Speaking in Abuja yesterday at the national summit on the future of Nigeria’s constitutional democracy organised by the Eminent Patriots of Nigeria and […]

A former Secretary-General of Commonwealth, Chief Emeka Anyaoku and former President Olusegun Obasanjo have expressed divergent views on the 1999 Constitution and suggested contrasting approaches to addressing Nigeria’s governance and development challenges.

Speaking in Abuja yesterday at the national summit on the future of Nigeria’s constitutional democracy organised by the Eminent Patriots of Nigeria and Nigerian Political Summit Group (NPSG), Anyaoku described the 1999 Constitution as a fundamental obstacle to Nigeria’s progress, urging need for a new “people’s democratic constitution”.

He said the present constitution, as amended, was imposed by the military and does not reflect the diversity or aspirations of Nigerians.

“Nigeria is a pluralistic country. Like all successful pluralistic countries around the world, for its political stability and maximal development its constitution must address its pluralism by being formulated by elected representatives of its diverse peoples.

“Our present 1999 constitution as amended is not such. It was not democratically formulated, it was instead imposed on the country through a decree by the military administration” he said.

He said the governance system derived from the constitution is not only non-inclusive but also induces over-expenditure of the country’s resources on administration rather than on capital development.

“To those who say that the fate of a country depends primarily on its leadership, I say that the constitution from which the system of governance is derived largely determines the character of the people who get elected or appointed to govern the country from the three arms of government” he stated.

According to him, Nigeria is currently grappling with pervasive insecurity, worsening poverty, decaying infrastructure, and an eroding sense of national unity, issues he linked to the flawed constitutional framework.

“The present 36 federating units are obviously incapable of generating and sustaining the pace of national development achieved in the early years of the country’s independence.” he added.

He said that in organizing this national summit, “the Patriots are of the view that the incontrovertible facts I have enumerated can be more effectively reversed if our pluralistic country is given a more credible and a truly federal constitution democratically made by the Nigerian people; a constitution that would be in sync with the constitutions of successful pluralistic countries in all parts of the world”.

Obasanjo counters call for new constitution

In his own remarks, Obasanjo disagreed with the push for an entirely new constitution, saying that Nigeria’s problem lies more with the operators of the constitution than the document itself.

Obasanjo, who was represented by Secretary General, Eminent Patriots, Olawale Okunniyi, said, “From my experience in operating our constitution, I will be the first to point out some areas of our constitution that need amendment. However, for me, no constitution can ever be regarded as perfect.

“But whatever the strength or weakness of a constitution, the most important issue to my own understanding and experience are the operators of the constitution.”  

Obasanjo also noted that even the best-drafted constitution could be subverted by bad leadership, citing cases across Africa where constitutions have been distorted by selfish leaders.

“No matter what you do to Nigerian Constitution, if the operators of the Nigerian Constitution for the past one decade and a half remain unchanged and continue in the same manner, the welfare and well-being of Nigerians will continue to be sacrificed on the altar of selfishness, self-centeredness, corruption, impunity, and total disregard of the Constitution, decency, morality, integrity and honesty” he said.

He added that at this crucial time, the operators matter more and the searchlight should be on them.

“When we get the right operators, they will give us the amended or new constitution close to what we need to make every Nigerian a proud stakeholder in the Project Nigeria” he said.  

1999 Constitution not people’s constitution – Attah

Also speaking at the summit, former Akwa Ibom State Governor, Obong Victor Attah, warned that the country is at the brink of losing its cohesion if urgent constitutional reforms are not undertaken.

“This summit is not another routine conference. It is a defining moment. Perhaps, it is the last peaceful opportunity we have to confront the fundamental contradiction of Nigeria: that we are governed, not by the will of the people, but by a constitution that robs us of our sovereignty,” he said.

Attah noted that the 1999 Constitution was a military decree imposed without the consent of the Nigerian people, insisting that “the 1963 Constitution remains the last legal expression of our people’s collective will and agreed terms of condition for staying together.”

According to him, Nigeria’s political system is failing because “election results are determined not by the ballot but by various other undemocratic means,” adding that “representatives and leaders are selected by a few and imposed; they are not elected.”

He warned that unless the system is reversed, “this country is bound to fragment.”

Attah listed what he believes the new constitution must fix, including the return of sovereignty to the people, reinstatement of true federalism, reduction of the cost of politics, and the establishment of real accountability mechanisms for public office holders.

“We must not be afraid to change. We must rather be afraid not to change. Nigeria’s unity will only be preserved through fairness and justice” he said.

Constitution is as good as its operators – Analyst

In his position, a political analyst, Professor Kamilu Sani Fage, said the problem with Nigeria is not the constitution.

According to him, no matter the kind of constitution that “we have now, so long as our politicians will approach it with the same attitude of self-enrichment, the constitution will not work”.

“It’s not that we don’t have laws in Nigeria. But to me, the problem is with the operators” he said.

“So instead of talking of changing the whole constitution, we better find a way in which we can inculcate national feeling and have a politics of principle and ideology, not the way we make it as a self-enrichment endeavour” he added.

He noted if the country is to consider changing the constitution, “we will not go anywhere”.

“Because if, hypothetically, we change the constitution and if it fails, are we going to change it again? Are we going to continue to change it? So we have to know that a constitution is as good as its operators” he added.

Fage said if the operators are bad, no matter how perfect, how good the constitution is, it will not be able to deliver anything substantive in terms of national development.