By E.T Okere
In my two-part series, “Restructuring or Constitutional Amendment”, I pointed at that the position of several well-meaning Nigerians to the effect that what Nigeria needs is a brand new constitution and not an amendment of the existing one, as is being currently undertaken by the 9th National Assembly after the failed attempt by its predecessor – the 8th Assembly. I also pointed out that in the overall call for a political restructuring of the country, which a brand-new constitution will most certainly entail, some diehard apologists of the status quo are beginning to yield grounds.
One of them, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, I noted, did so recently when, at the inauguration of the Senate Committee on Constitutional Amendment – which he heads – said that his committee will look at the recommendations of the 2014 National Conference. That was quite revealing because Omo-Agege is a die-hard supporter of President Muhammadu Buhari who had told the country, upon assumption of office in 2015, that the 2014 confab report had been shredded and thrown into the dustbin.
A few days ago, another diehard apologist of the status quo and anti-restructuring element, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, similarly made a volte face. Chief Obasanjo commended the 9th Assembly for once again attempting an amendment “because members of the National Assembly are fully aware of the lurking danger and want to be proactive”. But he noted that “… the Nigerian Constitution does not give the National Assembly the power to write a new constitution but the power to amend the existing one. What is required is a new constitution to meet the agitation and aspirant of all Nigerians and to ally all fears”.
President Obasanjo goes further: “The executive and the legislature need to work together to establish a Constituent Assembly. The exercise must not be compromised like the present constitution, it must have full legitimacy of “We The People”. Obasanjo, who was speaking at an event in Lagos on Saturday, February 29, reportedly noted that the assumptions of the 1999 constitution “have been found to be unrealistic and unreliable in practice by any administration…” and then restated the need to “fashion out a political order and arrangement that will strength our togetherness while making room for healthy and useful competition within the one entity, Nigeria”.
I chose to comment on President Obasanjo’s repentant attitude for a new arrangement for the country because he was one of the most vociferous critics of the call for restructuring. At the heat for the call for restructuring in 2017, Chief Obasanjo lampooned its advocates for asking for the “dismemberment” of the country. In fact, he saw the call for restructuring as a call for secession or another civil war.
I was so piqued by President Obasanjo’s antics that in my book, “We Can’t All Be Wrong… Nigeria And The Restructuring Debate”, that I devoted a section to it and characterized it as “Obasanjo “War war” Polemic”. Today, while I am glad that Chief Obasanjo has had a change of heart; it is instructive to note that he is using the same war premise to conversely canvass for a new political order for the country. President Obasanjo at the event gave a trajectory of the trend. He explained that during his tenure as an elected president, the talk was about “true federalism”. According to him, that “has since changed to restructuring”. At the event of last Saturday, Obasanjo reportedly told the gathering that he feared that the next phase could turn out to be call for self-determination by one or more geo-political zones which will not be easy to suppress. He was further reported as saying that he was among those who thought the Biafran “rebellion” was not going to last for more than three to six months only for it to stretch to 30 months. “If after 10 years of fighting terrorist group is still waxing story, let nobody out of self-delusion think that a war of self-determination by one or more geographical zones of Nigeria with the present disenchantment would be easily suppressed by the rest of what may remain of the country” , the ex-President was quoted as saying.
Last January, former Head of State, Yakubu Gowon was similarly reported as calling for a political restructuring of the country in order to avoid another civil war. Not unexpectedly, the call by these two former heads of state has been weighed into by some groups notably the Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum, SMGLF, which, in a statement on Monday, urged the Buhari-led administration to heed the call by the two. Between the two, however, Obasanjo is a newer convert but put together methinks that the lure to conjure memories of the last civil war should be resisted.
Agreed, the fear of war could be a deterrent but there are other parameters through which we can canvas support for restructuring. The two leaders surely mean well but my fear is that allusion to war many provoke the very person we are appealing to. For me, it is most unlikely that the possibility of the country degenerating into another civil war can on its own prompt President Buhari into taking urgent or proactive measures to avert it. From his “body language”, President Buhari does not like to hear about “civil war” in Nigeria because he most probably believes that no section of Nigeria or group is capable of igniting a war at least while he is president. That is why his administration finds it hard to admit that Boko Haram poses a big problem to the country and has been, in any case, been “technically” defeated. So, those who believe that talking about the imminence of another civil war will prompt Buhari into action may not be hitting the nail at the head.
Still, there are more compelling reasons why Nigeria must be restructured now. One is the urgent need for an overhaul of the security architecture of the country, particularly the police. As is well known, Nigerians are more scared by the operatives of the Nigerian Police than they are of the kidnappers or herdsmen while travelling on the nation’s highways. We have heard severally of the activities of the federally controlled Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) which seems to have gunned down more innocent Nigerians than criminals. Of course, there is a general consensus of opinion among Nigerians that the Nigerian Police Force, as presently constituted, is incapable of providing civil security to Nigerians. Hence, the call for state police and the move, in the interim, by sections of the country for regional security outfits.
As noted in this column in the two-part series earlier referred to, the vituperations and tension generated by these developments are more than enough reasons that something must give. Even the democracy Nigerians worked so hard for is under great threat. The 2019 General Elections remain a mockery of democracy, to the extent that today, different parties want all court rulings on its outcome reviewed. We are witnesses to the utter confusion over the March 9, 2019 governorship elections across the states. One fellow is declared winner by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) today; tomorrow, his opponent is declared winner by the Supreme Court. Last week we witnessed a Supreme Court Justice getting so emotional to the extent that she was virtually asking two of Nigeria’s best lawyers where they got their law certificates from.
The two had dared take up a governorship election case that should not have arisen, in the first instance, if the system we are operating at the moment is meant to bring about sanity rather than the confusion that now reigns. As far as I am concerned, it is neither the fault of the angry Justice nor the two erudite lawyers. It is the fault of both the extant electoral laws and constitution.
Needless to say, the country must evolve a new set of rules – the electoral laws and the constitution – before the next general election. The war Obasanjo and Gowon envisage will not be between Igbo and Hausa-Fulani or between Yoruba and the latter, as is believed, but between people of the same state. In my home state, Imo, there is currently so much animosity between the Mbaise clan and the Oru nation, respectively the kinsmen of Rt. Hon. Emeka Ihedioha and Senator Hope Uzodinma. That is just one instance but it needs no exaggeration to state that if the type of confusion and bad blood generated by the current arrangement is allowed to persist by the next general elections, it will be brothers against brothers, across the country.
What really gladdens my heart is not that President Obasanjo has become repentant over his previous stance on restructuring but the fact that he has gone ahead to call for a convocation of a Constituent Assembly to write a new constitution for the country. Again, I draw attention to a similar call, recently, by Afe Babalola for a Sovereign National Conference. Interestingly, Babalola was nearly made a laughing stock at the Supreme Court last week. I am certain that the erudite lawyer must have gotten home more determined, than ever, that this nonsense must stop.
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