The 1999 Constitution under which Nigeria operates is little more than a poorly thought out and hastily put together military decree for civilian administration. Under this document the nation is failing as we are politically, socially and religiously divided and overwhelmed by insecurity.
As Nigeria grapples with economic sabotage, economic reforms cannot be expected to succeed under a constitution which is patently corrupt in origins, and corruptive in content. Before an appropriate solution to Nigeria’s problems can be provided it’s crucial to provide answers to certain pertinent questions such as; What are the persistent issues hindering national progress? Has political leadership driven progress or perpetuated stagnation? How has government fared in securing lives and property? Are the nation’s economic policies empowering the poor or indeed widening poverty? Have there been any meaningful attempts at social engineering or is it all mere rhetoric? And lastly can any of these problems be solved by amending the constitution or adopting a new one?
Unfortunately, those who don’t benefit from the existing constitution aren’t in any position to compel or exert pressure on those exploiting it. The nation urgently requires an agreed conflict resolution process as an integral part of the constitution. There needs to be an amendment that requires referendums on a list of critical national issues including changing the Constitution itself.
Ugandan economist and author Elly Twineyo-Kamuigisha satirically used the analogy of a dead horse to describe how African leaders fail to deal correctly with their problems. He said that when they discover that they are riding a dead horse, their best strategy is to dismount, bury the horse and get a living one, but African leaders have different strategies. They would either buy a stronger whip; appoint a committee to study the horse; arrange to visit other countries to see if others ride dead horses; encourage onlookers to hope that the horse will resuscitate; provide additional funding to see whether performance can be increased, or indeed simply re-write the expected performance level requirements for all horses!
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The irony of constitutional reform is that the political actors who are benefiting from the social, economic and political injustices embedded in the 1999 Constitution will not allow their privileges to be taken away. It is quite clear that Section 9 of the Constitution must be amended to allow for more inclusive and democratic dialogue.
The role of the electorate in democracy cannot be reduced to simply casting a vote at elections, then remain powerless to effect any change in anything other than leadership. The nation needs fundamental constitutional changes and political restructuring, but the paradox is how to do it in a structured, inclusive, transparent and constitutional manner.
Before expending time and energy on constitutional amendments, certain ironies must be taken into consideration. Firstly, ironically Section 9(1) of the Constitution is inimical to progress. Also, ironically, every President since 1999 has serially ignored the constitutional restraints on his powers without suffering any repercussions.
Furthermore, the National Assembly has ironically approved, retrospectively, serial breaches on the constitution by the Executive and there is no reason to believe that future presidents will not contemptuously breach any new Constitution as they please. As for the separation of powers, the judiciary cannot be relied upon to uphold constitutional laws which restrain any government in power, besides which the Executive routinely disobeys court orders and ignore judgments against them. Lastly, it is not logical to conclude that a legally binding constitution can arise as a result of processes initiated by an unconstitutional Constituent Assembly.
Paradoxically, many Nigerians believe that the problem is not with the constitution, but rather with the characters operating it that don’t adhere to any known political philosophy, lack compassion and empathy, have no well-articulated plan for the nation, and are consumed by inordinate greed.
The most prominent opponents of those misusing the constitution are the “Patriots”, a pressure group who describe themselves as non-partisan “eminent national leaders of thought of Nigeria” working towards the constitutional equilibrium, political stability, national unity, and good governance of Nigeria through inclusive advocacy for a new democratic people’s constitution to be produced by an elected constituent assembly of Nigeria.
They have been criticised because paradoxically, many of their members had previously been appointed into political office or won elections. They canvassed for votes, got elected and ran public offices under the constitution which they now consider to be defective. Truly, they are finding fault in a document which they previously used to climb to power. However, they also truthfully point out that as difficult as it may be amending Section 9 of the Constitution it is necessary to allow Nigerians elect representatives to a National Constituent Assembly assigned the task of freely negotiating a more acceptable constitutional arrangement for the nation.
The question remains as to under which authority will elections into a Constituent Assembly be conducted, and will the candidates be elected on party basis? The majority of Nigerians complain bitterly about the routinely poor performance of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in which contentious election results are increasingly overturned by the courts.
It would make no sense to allow them to conduct referendum and expect anyone to agree with any result they announce! As such, it remains to be seen whether or not all the talk about a new constitution can overcome the paradoxes and ironies involved!
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