A Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Mike Ozekhome, has said Nigeria is in need of a new constitution that reflects present realities and the needs of the people in order to make progress as a country.
The human rights lawyer made this known on Sunday while speaking as a guest on Channels Television’s ‘Politics Today programme.
Ozekhome said President Bola Tinubu should have the political will to change the constitution and ensure that within his tenure, the country can get a new constitution which will be subject to referendum.
“He (the President) should have the political will (to change the constitution) because these problems will not go away until we tackle it headlong”, the senior lawyer said.
On whether a new constitution is the solution to the numerous challenges facing the country, he said “It is. The killings you are seeing, the poverty, the corruption, they are all symptoms of a larger problem which is the basis of what we are talking about When you solve it, other things will be in place.”
According to him, the 1999 Constitution was military-imposed, and not subject to any referendum. He said Nigeria needs an indigenous and people-centric constitution to redirect the country’s “journey of no destination”.
Ozekhome said, “Nigeria is a country still yearning for nationhood. We are not united, the brand new constitution must be subjected to the referendum of the people.
“We have to have a constituents’ assembly and only the National Assembly can pass a law in that regard. Then, the draft constitution will now be signed by Mr President and we will have a constitution.”
He said if the people agree that they want a unicameral legislature, “that is how it is going to be” because democracy is decided by the people.
Ozekhome further stated that the engine (constitution) of the Nigerian state has been knocked and should be replaced.
“The political elite has to agree. If you are driving a car and the car has a knocked engine. Is it not the engine you should look at? Do you begin to panel-beat the car, spray it with beautiful paint, and buy new tyres? Will that move the car?
“I am saying that the engine of the Nigerian state, for now, is knocked and it is giving rise to all these mutual suspicion, religious intolerance.”
He said economic reforms are good but must not be put before a people-centred constitution. He said the National Assembly must agree to a new constitution for the problems of Nigeria to vanish.
Ozekhome’s comments followed the 2014 National Conference Report which recommended constitutional amendment, community policing, fiscal federalism, and restructuring, among others.
The conference organized by former President, Goodluck Jonathan was aimed as reviewing where we are as a nation and to proffer workable solutions to the numerous challenges facing the country.
Ten years later after the Comfab, Nigeria is yet to implement the resolutions reached at the conference, including restructuring, which was another key area spoken about, at the conference.
Nigeria’s Engine Knocked, Needs Brand New Constitution — Ozekhome is first published on The Whistler Newspaper