FRANK UKONGA LECTURE 15: NIGERIA
CONSTITUTIONAL REVIEW AND SOVEREIGN NATIONAL CONFERENCE- A REALISTIC
PERSPECTIVE.
Preambles: The constitutions of Nations are perhaps the most important
document of that Nation where the entire do’s, don’t, and guidelines for the greatness
of that Nation are spelt out in black and white. The constitution also Endeavour
to spell out relationships among citizens, institutions, States, Regions etc
and a road map is roughed out enabling the various colligating aspects of the activities
of the Nation addressed to jockey that
Nation towards acceptable social, cultural and economic eudemonia. Whence the
important and imperatives of a constitution cannot be over emphasized as it is
the sum total of the aims, objectives, vision, mission, anxieties, ambition as
well as frame work for Nations and organizations to fashion out a harmonious orthogeniety
which subsequently evolve into laws when
ratified by all the governing body of that institution or Nation after due
deliberations, consultations and exhaustive research into the yearning of all
stake holders and members of that
institutions or a nationwide open policy thrust of consultations in the case of
countries.
The Nigerian Constitution: The Nigerian constitution of today was a
product of the 1999 constitution that was adopted at the instance of ushering
into being the current democratic dispensation which is about 13 years old and
it has been very instrumental to forging out a level playing ground for all and
sundry in the Nigeria state albeit not without complains from various
stakeholders in the Nigeria project. To address these numerous complains and perhaps
what can be described as constitutional oversights or under sights, the Present
Administration of President Jonathan and the 7 th Assembly are warming up to
amend, tinker and alter the constitution addressed to suit the prevailing yearnings
of Nigerian citizens at least in their own streams of consciousness.
To this effect the National
Assembly has held several constitutional review retreats and today the 9th
October 2012, Hon. Tambuwal Honorable Speaker of the House of Representatives
and the Senate president of the 7TH Republic, Hon David Mark has
commenced active deliberations addressed to tinker with the Nigerian
constitution.
Warnings,
the Soviet Union Brake Up as consequential of Constitutional Review: It is
important to remind all and sundry involved in this constitutional review exercise
of the Nigerian constitution the great importance of that document and to be extremely
careful in what they do to the constitution as it may either make or break up
the Nigerian Nation state. It was the constitutional amendments of Mikhail
Gabachev’s Government that led to the breakup of the Soviet Union, a world
Super power and one of the greatest Nation on earth into 15 Republics as at
today; whose world significance and importance has become portable in comparable
to that of the Soviet Union. And many people hold the view that the brake up of
the Soviet Union was the greatest catastrophe and tragedy of the 20th century.
And till today there are lots of civil insurgences, fighting and turmoil among
the various small Nations that came out of the Soviet Union; most of whom have
become minuscule and irrelevant in the schemes of things of world political,
cultural and economic glories, and many of these Countries are regretting it
today. As history repeats itself we must be extremely careful before we thinker
with the Nigerian constitution. The Nigerian Project is similar to that of the
former Soviet Union as regards it large composition in the aspects of being
multinational with many nations and tribes .So what ever amendments that are to
be made must put in the centre theme and focus the inalienable imperatives of
the unity and progress of the Nigeria state. In this regard a number of issues
are pertinent and should be looked into critically before the constitution is
signed into law:
The Nigerian Multinational Statehood and the Nigerian Project: The
fundamental structural question: The Nigerian Nation state came to being in
1914 through the amalgamation of the Southern and Northern Protectorates of the
British colonial assets in Sub Saharan Africa into one big Nation by Sir Lord
Lugard the British Governor General of that Region and his wife christened it
Nigeria about 100 years ago. Nigeria is made up of above 250 Nations and tribes
in various colligations and arrangements with the Hausa, Yoruba , Igbo, Ebira,
Ijaw, Kanuri Fulani, etc being the most populous tribes Nations in that other.
Today the official population of Nigeria is estimated as at 150 million but in
real terms it is above 250 million people. Nigeria emerged after the 1960
independence with 4 Regions of the Northern Region, Western Region, Mid West
Region and Eastern Region.
General Gowon’s fundamental Restructuring: In 1966, at the times of
Biafra war, for war administrative purpose General Yakubu Gowon abolished the
Regional model adopted the State structure and created 12 states of the Four Regions.
Other military Governments in Nigeria created more States and Local Government
and today Nigeria is governed under the structure of 36 States and 774 local
Government under one sovereignty of the Federal Government of Nigeria headed by
an Executive President with Executive Powers. The question is; do we continue
with this system or go back to the former Regional system, do we dump the
Presidential system and go back to Regional Parliamentarian systems. If we must
retain the Presidential system how do we correct the anomaly of the number and spread
of States and Local Government as being more in some Regions while other Regions
are marginalized. Do we create more States and Local Governments, what shall be
the new criteria of State and Local Government creation, do we constitutionalize
the six zonal system permanently or create new zones as the Mid West Region
have been shortchanged and marginalized in the zonal system. The Mid Western
Region is a member of the original 4 Regions only for it to be lumped up into
the South -South Zone with only two States and less than 40 lgas, were as other
former Regions have more above six States and above 200 lga.. , and would this
justify the geo political spread of State creation and not marginalize others …These
are the fundamental structural questions and we must think properly before we
leap.
Marginalization and National restiveness: There have been cries
of marginalization among the various colligating tribes ranging from local
government creation, state creation, presence of federal and state government
in the regards of infrastructural and economic developments, job opportunities,
location of industries, federal and state statutory allocations, mineral
rights, revenue sharing formula, state , federal and local government
powers autonomy and devolution of power,
state police, resources control, leadership
questions and electoral reforms, restive youth, infrastructural and real
sector decay, privatization, national restructuring of either Regional systems
or state government structures of 3 tier of
governance etc. Before we begin full scale analysis of the above vexations
causing restiveness in the polity it is important to view the opinion of some
other sectors and pressure group that holds the view that a sovereign National
conference would have been ideal to discuss and map out plans for the Nigerian
state.
Sovereign National conference: The agitation for a sovereign National
conference has been on for the past 20 years by many pressure groups and
stakeholders in the Nigerian Project who share the opinion of an urgent need to
hold a Sovereign National Conference of all colligating Nations and other stakeholders
of the Nigerian Project to discuss the fundamental issues of restructuring the
Nation to reflect the contemporary realities and to solve the question of one nation or tribe dominating others in
the federalism. The issue of resource control and electoral reforms in the
context of how leaders evolve are also pertinent reasons why many peoples are agitating
for the sovereign National conference. Oil resources from the Niger Delta are
plundered to fund and finance the entire federation while the peoples of the
Niger Delta are left in ruins, underdevelopment and abject poverty. Coupled
with a number of numerous reasons a number of observers holds in highest
passion that what Nigeria needs most is the issue of fundamental restructuring which
can only be manifested through an independent National Sovereign Conference.
The Position of the National Assembly: But on the other hand the
elected members of the joint Federal Assembly are of the opinion that it would
be a duplicity of purpose since they have been duly elected by the people to
represent them de facto , they take it upon themselves that they are bonafide
representatives of the majority of Nigerians with the prerogatives to discuss
issues that will hitherto be ascribe to new appointed representatives of the
various colligating units/ tribes in the case of a Sovereign National Conference
which becomes a kind of slight or affrontation to members of the Assembly, by
those agitating for such a sovereign National conference ,which manifest from
the fact that the process in which current elected member of the Assembly evolved
have not been given a clean bill of health by those agitating for a fresh
sovereign National Conference as competent enough to evolve a long lasting
solution to the Nigerian restructuring and problems that will be marketable to the
majority of Nigeria people as such they are beneficiaries of the present order
and status quo, it is suspect that they would like to continue to protect and
maintain this status quo anti bellum. Which is natural as one does not expect
them to abolish and bite the fingers that made them. While this justifies the
protagonists of the Sovereign National Conference, it also some how indicts the
present crop of leadership in Nigeria and Africa as patronizing and self
seeking.
Issues
and Matters Arising: The next stage is to discuss some of the vexing issues
quickly with a view to contributing to the evolution of a functional
constitution for the Nigeria State. Some of the most pressing issues to be
addressed are:
1. The
fundamental restructuring of the Nigeria Nation – Regionalism vs States
2. Political
reforms: Presidential vs Parliamentary.
3. Human
status in Nigeria: state of Origin status vs state of Residence status. Here we
need to be extremely cautious and not to fall into the trap of the odyssey of
madman in a china shop nor that of the witch’s apprentice. Perhaps it is best
not to tinker with this aspect.
4. Creation
of States, Regions and Local Government Areas: with the evolution of new
pragmatic criteria for creation. We should not turn state government into Local
Government in status whence it is important not to proliferate states because
people are agitating for more states. State creation must be very frugal. Even
many States are not economically viable right. Then what is the rational to
create more.
5. Devolution
of powers from Federal to States and Local governments
6. Local
Government Reforms: Autonomy for the Local Government and separation of account
of Local Government from State Government. Political and financial autonomy to
Local Governments.
7. Mineral
rights and resource control plus review of the activities of major
multinational partners
8. News
National Revenue sharing formula between Federal, States and Local Governments.
9. The
issues of Rental country Status vs the issues of Taxed state status. New
enabling laws to transform Nigeria from a Rental state to a mixed economic
state of Tax and Rentals
10. IGR
– Internal Generated Revenue:, Taxation and new enabling laws spelling the pros
and cons putting down punitive measures for tax evasion and miss management of
tax money by state and federal executives and all other tax related offenses
and establishing a constitutional Tax Force.
11. National
Security: State Police vs Federal Police Structure: State police is premature
for now and may not be advisable.
12. Autonomy
for the electoral body- INEC , Financial and policy governance autonomy
13. Education , women and youth :A new pragmatic
paradigm shift in the aspect of women and youth development
14. Corruption
and frauds: News enabling framework of functional punitive measures to curb
corruption and frauds through a pragmatic legal reform system
15. Legal
and prison Reforms: The need to put in place new pragmatic judiciary that will
remove the bottlenecks in quick delivery of justice.
16. Terrorism,
arson, Murder, public lynching: News laws to ban terrorism, arson, public
lynching and punitive measures put in place for offenders
17. Land
Ownerships and Land use decree: In the constitution the federal and state
Government is the real owners of the Land. Citizens are mere tenants and leasers
validated by the issuance of Certificate of Occupancies of 99 years. These
perhaps need a review.
18. Environment
and ecological changes and degradation :
The above and many more are some
of the questions of the constitution causing public anxieties that will need a
review but as I have warned earlier we have to be extremely careful as not to
pursue a radical review which may plant the seed that will eventually break up
Nigeria.
LONG LIVE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA.
Prince Frank Onaivi Ukonga
Governorship Candidate
Edo 2012 election
