The duo of former Secretary General of the Common Wealth, Chief Emeka Anyaoku and the founder of Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD), Aare Afe Babalola have suggested the creation of a new constitution with a structure of governance that will enable people to develop their mindset with human/capital feelings. They stated such development will liberate the Country from the heap of challenges retarding the progress and advancement.
Chief Anyaoku gave the submission on Friday at ABUAD while delivering The 2023 Convocation lecture of the University titled “ Management of Diversity: A Major Challenge To Governance in Pluralistic Countries”
Anyaoku decried what he called the ‘lamentable situation’ Nigeria is currently facing, while bemoaning the security challenges seriously affecting the country, the elder statesman also lamented the absence of societal values said to have landed the country in a state of degradation.
“There is an unprecedented level of divisiveness and a declining sense of national unity, the economy is in the doldrums with 133 million of our population in multidimensional poverty,
“There is great insecurity throughout the land as we hear every day of killings and kidnappings by unknown gunmen and marauding bandits, all our infrastructure including power supply, roads and educational and health facilities are in a poor state.
“Added to all this, there is a complete bastardization of our society’s ethical values, and an unfathomable level of corruption evident in the often reported massive looting and mismanagement of the country’s resources including the continuing unbridled theft of our crude oil.
“And abroad, it is not just the individual Nigerian citizens holding our national passport who are disrespected and often humiliated at airports and elsewhere, but also the country and its government.
“For example, African countries like Egypt and Ethiopia whose economies are considerably less than Nigeria’s were invited to join the BRICS at the group’s recent summit meeting in South Africa but not our country.”
Anyaoku however expressed the belief that the abject situation the country finds itself in is reversible for possible restoration of peace and adequate security
“The country can still be restored to greater peace, greater security, to a renewed sense of national unity, to greater political stability, and to a more assured pace of economic development. As we all know, there is an abundance of expert analyses and prescriptions of how to resolve Nigeria’s individual problems.
“But the crux of my submission is that considering our history over the last 63 years, to arrest the ongoing deterioration of the situation in the country, and to achieve the desired transformation for the better, we need a system of government that not only addresses our diversity but is also based on a Constitution that can correctly be described as a Nigerian people’s Constitution.
“Accordingly, I call on the Presidency in consultation with the National Assembly, instead of continuing to tinker with the 1999 Constitution, to acknowledge the urgent necessity of a new Constitution to be made by the people of Nigeria. To this end, I invite the Federal Government to immediately embark on the following practical steps.
“First, convene a national Constituent Assembly of directly elected on a non-party basis representatives whose task would be to discuss and agree a new Constitution for the Federal Republic of Nigeria taking into account the 1963 and the 1999 Constitutions as well as the recommendations of the 2014 national conference.
“The elected representatives should number 362 with 10 each from the existing 36 States and 2 from the FCT, and they should be assisted by 37 Lawyers drawn one each from the 36 States and the FCT.
“The management of the work of the Constituent Assembly should be entrusted to a six-member Steering Committee of equal individual powers (possibly the 2 co-chairmen, 2 vice- cochairmen,2 joint-secretaries) elected from each of the six geopolitical zones by members of the Assembly themselves.”
Anyaoku who suggested that such a Constituent Assembly should be given 6 months to produce the draft new Constitution added that:
“The agreed draft Constitution should be put to a national referendum for adoption by a majority of the voters, after which it should be signed by the President”.
He posited that “the essence of the new Constitution should, in recognition of the crucial principle of subsidiarity in every successful federation, involve a devolution of powers from the Central government to fewer and more viable federating units with strong provisions for inclusive governance at the Centre and in the Regions as was agreed by Nigeria’s founding fathers.
He urged the country to refrain from punching below its weight in the global arena.” As the largest black nation on earth, our country would need always to act in cognizance of its manifest destiny
He tasked the Presidency and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs after proper internal resolution to work hard “to elevate Nigeria’s standing within the comity of nations, and that the citizens by their behaviour should join in earning for the country a deserving international reputation as well as membership of appropriate global organizations”.
The elder statesman added that “properly managed, Nigeria’s diversity will become an asset and not a liability”
In his remark, the ABUAD Founder Babalola, who appreciated the convocation Lecturer for “ a clear/coordinated lecture” stated he has been pleading to the Federal government for the establishment of a new constitution to lift the country from predicament.
“After 30 years of pleas to the federal government for a new constitution, I now have an apostle in the person of Anyaoku. Nigeria is a country with a lot of wealth, but the wealth is in the hands of people who believe the only lucrative business today is politics, unless we address the root cause of the problem, that mindset will still be there, we need to let them know that politics is to serve people, not to make money and we need a new constitution to do that.
“I suggested we have a new constitution before the last election, can we continue like this? Look at the multidimensional problem, until we change the constitution, we cannot have what a country should have “
Babalola promised to deliver a copy of Anyaoku’s lecture and his own submission on the suggestion to President Bola Tinubu for necessary action.
The convocation lecture was attended by dignitaries including the wife of the founder, Yeye Modupe Babalola, the Vice Chancellor of the University, Prof. Smaranda Olarinde, Emir of Lafia Bare-Bari, Justice Sidi Muhammad among others.
