No Matter the Amendments, Current Nigerian Constitution Cannot Take Us F...

Renowned constitutional lawyer and Senior Advocate Of Nigeria, Professor Mike Ozekhome, has renewed calls for the complete replacement of Nigeria's 1999 dictatorship era constitution, describing it as an "illegitimate document" incapable of addressing the country's challenges. Speaking during an interview on Arise Television News, Professor Ozekhome dismissed ongoing constitutional amendment efforts as futile, insisting that no amount of tweaking can fix what he described as fundamentally flawed foundation. In his words; "the issue is not about amending the constitution. A bad, illegitimate document that never proceeded from the people through a popular plebiscite or referendum can never be the product of the people. I have said it again and again, that even one million amendments to the present constitution cannot solve it..., we are still talking about constitutional amendment when we should be talking about introducing a brand new constitution that reflects our diversity as a nation, reflects our multi-religious, linguistic inclination". Furthermore, he said, the current constitution lacks legitimacy and moral authority because it was imposed by the military without the conscent of the Nigerian people. He concluded , that the country needs a complete constitutional reset to cleanse itself of its structural ailments. It cannot take us forward because, one it operates a unitary system of government, all the provisions, not a federal system of government. Two, it dispossesses the people of their economic, social, political and cultural rights. Three, it is too heavy, on the side of wastages and leakages which makes Nigeria today use about 70% to 80% of our national resources to service recurrent expenditure and public debts, leaving only 20% to 30% for capital expenditure. "No nation can grow like that. We are not going to grow like that. So, when we are talking about a constitution like this being amended, you are really pursuing shadows where you should pursue substance. Unless Nigeria discards its current constitution in favour of a truly people-driven document that reflects its ethnic, cultural and religious diversity, it will remain stuck in a cycle of dysfunction and stagnation. No doubt, a new constitution that has the will of the whole society is one sure way to guarantee peace and development in Nigeria, unfortunately, there is no commitment from the political elite to make it happen. This is Nigeria's true dilemma. Uche Okeke.