₦airaland Forum

VPN11:
1999 constitution fraudulent, Abdulsalam Abubakar imposed it on Nigerians – Falana



“Decree 24 of 1999 was promulgated by General Abdulsalam Abubakar on the 5th of May 1999 but today you will not see his name on it. It’s a fraudulent document.
Human rights activist and lawyer, Femi Falana, SAN, says the 1999 constitution is not a codified document worthy of guiding the management of Nigeria’s affairs.

Falana, who spoke during the one year remembrance programme for the late Publicity Secretary of the Pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Yinka Odumakin, described the 1999 as fraudulent.

Falana suggested that the 1999 constitution should be referred to as decree 24 on 1999 as “it was not duly signed.”


He averred that the plethora of amendment of the constitution by the national assembly was illegal.

He added that the constitution was foisted on Nigerians by former head state General Abdulsalam Abubakar, stressing that no conscious effort had been made to ditch it and write new one because present crop of politicians were benefiting from the anomaly.

He said: “What the National Assembly has continued to do is to amend illegality. The so-called 1999 constitution is really decree 24 of 1999. When you see the so-called constitution, you will not the signature of the man who signed the law, that’s the fraud.

“When you see a law, the name of the person who signed it should be there with the date.

“Decree 24 of 1999 was promulgated by General Abdulsalam Abubakar on the 5th of May 1999 but today you will not see his name on it. It’s a fraudulent document.


“The decree was imposed on us the last set of military dictators in Nigeria headed by Gen. Abubakar and because that document is okay for members of the ruling class regardless of their political parties, ethic regional or religious inclination, they are all comfortable with the document so they can’t do anything about it including all those we are campaigning today to be President.

“It is to retain the status quo and perhaps adjust it here and there, that is the only thing they are saying, so those who are contesting particularly on the platform of the ruling party are saying we are going to continue the programme of the Buhari administration that has put our country in problem.

“Nigeria has become a huge joke in the committee of nations and so for any set of people to say they want to package his rickety vehicle and begin to panel beat it, it’s not going to move.”


Nwodo, Adebanjo, others reiterate call for restructuring, say 1999 constitution illegal

According to Nwodo, our country is operating on an illegal constitution because the constitution lacks autochthony. We never made a constitution for Nigeria, he said, adding that military government gave it to the country.

“The composition of its legislative body was chosen by a parameter not known to anybody. They wrote a constitution and abandoned the agreement our forefathers had with the British government for a regional based government, in which every region had its own security, economic development and sovereignty over its natural resources and pray tax to the central government. Look at security today. Boko Haram had dug a big hole in our national body.

“It has completely paralysed our military and rendered them incapable to fulfill their constitutional duties of defending our sovereignty. Mutual distrust between the South and the North has become so pronounced that walking through your farm in any part of the South or Middle Belt has become a frightening phenomenon. Our children who agitate for self-determination without carrying an arm are termed terrorist organisation but herdsmen who rampage, loot, main and kill are treated with kid’s gloves.


President General of Ohaneze Ndigbo, John Nnia Nwodo, elder statesman and Afenifere leader, Chief Ayo Adebanjo and other eminent Nigerians have reiterated the call for restructuring of Nigeria, saying that the country needs a home-grown constitution that would usher in a regional arrangement.

They spoke at an online zoom conference at the weekend organised by Governance Index, a social enterprise dedicated to promoting purposeful leadership around the world with the topic: “the Coronavirus pandemic, is it time to re-evaluate the political structure?”

Other eminent personalities who contributed in the conversation are spokesman of Afenifere, Yinka Odumakin, Niger Delta activist, Mrs Ann-Kio Briggs and former governor of Ondo State, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko.


According to Nwodo, our country is operating on an illegal constitution because the constitution lacks autochthony. We never made a constitution for Nigeria, he said, adding that military government gave it to the country.

“The composition of its legislative body was chosen by a parameter not known to anybody. They wrote a constitution and abandoned the agreement our forefathers had with the British government for a regional based government, in which every region had its own security, economic development and sovereignty over its natural resources and pray tax to the central government. Look at security today. Boko Haram had dug a big hole in our national body.

“It has completely paralysed our military and rendered them incapable to fulfill their constitutional duties of defending our sovereignty. Mutual distrust between the South and the North has become so pronounced that walking through your farm in any part of the South or Middle Belt has become a frightening phenomenon. Our children who agitate for self-determination without carrying an arm are termed terrorist organisation but herdsmen who rampage, loot, main and kill are treated with kid’s gloves.


“Ninety percent of the heads of security personnel in the South East are non indigenes. And we know all over the world that local policing is the trend today. You have to know your local territory and speak the language to be the police chief. Those people don’t speak the language and are not from there. They look like those posted to superintend over the colonial arrangement,” he said.

According to him, this situation is threatening the very fabric of our nation.
He therefore stressed that Nigeria must restructure the country and have a constitution that is autochthonous. A constitution, he said that is made by the people and backed by a plebiscite voted by the people.

His words: “We have to have a proper census of Nigerians, not Nigeriens who cross our borders and go to our national identity offices and claim nationhood when they have no parentage in this country.”

He lamented that our states are economically unviable. According to a report, he said, only four states in Nigeria have average revenue in excess of average monthly expenditure and only nine states have internally generated revenue sufficient to cover interest repayment of their states because we have refused to diversify until now.

Nwodo said: “Our political parties are like companies owned by shareholders where there is no freedom to choose candidates, no transparency in nomination processes. You have to have a Godfather to win a nomination to enter any legislative houses or executive office. Our electoral system is the most corrupt in the world.

“This is the only country in the world where you go for an election and the adjudication of the judiciary on the outcome of an ejection lasts up to one year. And in the process, our judiciary is corrupt. In the process, our police men break into a polling booth and cart away polling bags and papers in broad day light. It is recorded in cameras and nobody does anything about it. It is very often noticed in Nigeria that people lose election and still win because their names are recorded as having won. The confidence of an average Nigerian in the electoral process is gone, to make matters worst and that is the kernel of the point.”
Pa Adebanjo said Coronavirus has just come to re-emphasize the ungodliness of our government. If we are really serious about keeping this country together, and make progress, it is time to restructure the country back to regionalism as we had at independence, he said.

According to the nonagenarian, those who claim that they don’t know what restructuring means like Tanko Yakassai should go and read the 1963 constitution. He stressed that the military created 774 local governments with the majority in the North and minority in the South and use the number of local governments as basis for the distribution of revenue, adding that that was the beginning of the fraud.

He said: “And we at the South say no. Let us work for our money, spend it and distribute to the federal government on a typically federal constitution. That is what is happening in America. What we have is a forced constitution by the Muslim military of the North. Nobody contributed to it. President Muhammadu Buhari is not sincere about keeping this country together. That is why he refused to work with other sections of the country. In all these agitations, he had not find an occasion to say, this is my reaction.

“Even all his former military colleagues have agreed to restructuring, including his party. So he has his own programme. We can never have peace until we restructure the country. We have no hatred or bitterness against the northerners. All we are asking is to have a constitution under which everybody is satisfied. Where there is injustice, there can be no peace. When there is no peace or equity, there will be no development.”

All the contributors agreed that it is time to rework Nigeria.

Karlovich:
The disciples of druggie Chicago should rest! The midget never used bullion vans in broad day light to launder cash or send soldiers to the toll gate to shoot peaceful protesters, he doesn't urinate on his clothes either or has radioactive brown teeth that he hasn't cleaned in decades.

VPN11:
1999 constitution fraudulent, Abdulsalam Abubakar imposed it on Nigerians – Falana



“Decree 24 of 1999 was promulgated by General Abdulsalam Abubakar on the 5th of May 1999 but today you will not see his name on it. It’s a fraudulent document.
Human rights activist and lawyer, Femi Falana, SAN, says the 1999 constitution is not a codified document worthy of guiding the management of Nigeria’s affairs.

Falana, who spoke during the one year remembrance programme for the late Publicity Secretary of the Pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Yinka Odumakin, described the 1999 as fraudulent.

Falana suggested that the 1999 constitution should be referred to as decree 24 on 1999 as “it was not duly signed.”


He averred that the plethora of amendment of the constitution by the national assembly was illegal.

He added that the constitution was foisted on Nigerians by former head state General Abdulsalam Abubakar, stressing that no conscious effort had been made to ditch it and write new one because present crop of politicians were benefiting from the anomaly.

He said: “What the National Assembly has continued to do is to amend illegality. The so-called 1999 constitution is really decree 24 of 1999. When you see the so-called constitution, you will not the signature of the man who signed the law, that’s the fraud.

“When you see a law, the name of the person who signed it should be there with the date.

“Decree 24 of 1999 was promulgated by General Abdulsalam Abubakar on the 5th of May 1999 but today you will not see his name on it. It’s a fraudulent document.


“The decree was imposed on us the last set of military dictators in Nigeria headed by Gen. Abubakar and because that document is okay for members of the ruling class regardless of their political parties, ethic regional or religious inclination, they are all comfortable with the document so they can’t do anything about it including all those we are campaigning today to be President.

“It is to retain the status quo and perhaps adjust it here and there, that is the only thing they are saying, so those who are contesting particularly on the platform of the ruling party are saying we are going to continue the programme of the Buhari administration that has put our country in problem.

“Nigeria has become a huge joke in the committee of nations and so for any set of people to say they want to package his rickety vehicle and begin to panel beat it, it’s not going to move.”


Nwodo, Adebanjo, others reiterate call for restructuring, say 1999 constitution illegal

According to Nwodo, our country is operating on an illegal constitution because the constitution lacks autochthony. We never made a constitution for Nigeria, he said, adding that military government gave it to the country.

“The composition of its legislative body was chosen by a parameter not known to anybody. They wrote a constitution and abandoned the agreement our forefathers had with the British government for a regional based government, in which every region had its own security, economic development and sovereignty over its natural resources and pray tax to the central government. Look at security today. Boko Haram had dug a big hole in our national body.

“It has completely paralysed our military and rendered them incapable to fulfill their constitutional duties of defending our sovereignty. Mutual distrust between the South and the North has become so pronounced that walking through your farm in any part of the South or Middle Belt has become a frightening phenomenon. Our children who agitate for self-determination without carrying an arm are termed terrorist organisation but herdsmen who rampage, loot, main and kill are treated with kid’s gloves.


President General of Ohaneze Ndigbo, John Nnia Nwodo, elder statesman and Afenifere leader, Chief Ayo Adebanjo and other eminent Nigerians have reiterated the call for restructuring of Nigeria, saying that the country needs a home-grown constitution that would usher in a regional arrangement.

They spoke at an online zoom conference at the weekend organised by Governance Index, a social enterprise dedicated to promoting purposeful leadership around the world with the topic: “the Coronavirus pandemic, is it time to re-evaluate the political structure?”

Other eminent personalities who contributed in the conversation are spokesman of Afenifere, Yinka Odumakin, Niger Delta activist, Mrs Ann-Kio Briggs and former governor of Ondo State, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko.


According to Nwodo, our country is operating on an illegal constitution because the constitution lacks autochthony. We never made a constitution for Nigeria, he said, adding that military government gave it to the country.

“The composition of its legislative body was chosen by a parameter not known to anybody. They wrote a constitution and abandoned the agreement our forefathers had with the British government for a regional based government, in which every region had its own security, economic development and sovereignty over its natural resources and pray tax to the central government. Look at security today. Boko Haram had dug a big hole in our national body.

“It has completely paralysed our military and rendered them incapable to fulfill their constitutional duties of defending our sovereignty. Mutual distrust between the South and the North has become so pronounced that walking through your farm in any part of the South or Middle Belt has become a frightening phenomenon. Our children who agitate for self-determination without carrying an arm are termed terrorist organisation but herdsmen who rampage, loot, main and kill are treated with kid’s gloves.


“Ninety percent of the heads of security personnel in the South East are non indigenes. And we know all over the world that local policing is the trend today. You have to know your local territory and speak the language to be the police chief. Those people don’t speak the language and are not from there. They look like those posted to superintend over the colonial arrangement,” he said.

According to him, this situation is threatening the very fabric of our nation.
He therefore stressed that Nigeria must restructure the country and have a constitution that is autochthonous. A constitution, he said that is made by the people and backed by a plebiscite voted by the people.

His words: “We have to have a proper census of Nigerians, not Nigeriens who cross our borders and go to our national identity offices and claim nationhood when they have no parentage in this country.”

He lamented that our states are economically unviable. According to a report, he said, only four states in Nigeria have average revenue in excess of average monthly expenditure and only nine states have internally generated revenue sufficient to cover interest repayment of their states because we have refused to diversify until now.

Nwodo said: “Our political parties are like companies owned by shareholders where there is no freedom to choose candidates, no transparency in nomination processes. You have to have a Godfather to win a nomination to enter any legislative houses or executive office. Our electoral system is the most corrupt in the world.

“This is the only country in the world where you go for an election and the adjudication of the judiciary on the outcome of an ejection lasts up to one year. And in the process, our judiciary is corrupt. In the process, our police men break into a polling booth and cart away polling bags and papers in broad day light. It is recorded in cameras and nobody does anything about it. It is very often noticed in Nigeria that people lose election and still win because their names are recorded as having won. The confidence of an average Nigerian in the electoral process is gone, to make matters worst and that is the kernel of the point.”
Pa Adebanjo said Coronavirus has just come to re-emphasize the ungodliness of our government. If we are really serious about keeping this country together, and make progress, it is time to restructure the country back to regionalism as we had at independence, he said.

According to the nonagenarian, those who claim that they don’t know what restructuring means like Tanko Yakassai should go and read the 1963 constitution. He stressed that the military created 774 local governments with the majority in the North and minority in the South and use the number of local governments as basis for the distribution of revenue, adding that that was the beginning of the fraud.

He said: “And we at the South say no. Let us work for our money, spend it and distribute to the federal government on a typically federal constitution. That is what is happening in America. What we have is a forced constitution by the Muslim military of the North. Nobody contributed to it. President Muhammadu Buhari is not sincere about keeping this country together. That is why he refused to work with other sections of the country. In all these agitations, he had not find an occasion to say, this is my reaction.

“Even all his former military colleagues have agreed to restructuring, including his party. So he has his own programme. We can never have peace until we restructure the country. We have no hatred or bitterness against the northerners. All we are asking is to have a constitution under which everybody is satisfied. Where there is injustice, there can be no peace. When there is no peace or equity, there will be no development.”

All the contributors agreed that it is time to rework Nigeria.

WhizdomXX:
New laws will change the many negatives of this Country.

9japarts:
I thought old age comes with wisdom...

This could be a subtle way to sell a planned action.

2023 is here already, if they couldn't fix Nigeria in 7 years, how long will interim government take. Lame



If you have a car, check my gps tracker threads

Give400:
When did El sharawy turn to sharwama nawao

Saao:
lol the above states u mentioned are safe? Is like u don't know what they mean by safety. Again I guess u read where I said I'm from middle belt/North central, it means my state isn't safe as well. Those states u mentioned are among the worst state in the North except maybe jigawa. Can u sincerely travel by road from borno state to katsina? And from kano to Abuja? Stop deceiving people, just be sincere to yourself.

didson:
[left][/left]
jallah babbar hausa yaro koda mae kaxo anfika
jallah babbar hausa yaro koda mae kaxo anfika

Saao:
try travel to the North if you return safely then it means your family already paid the ransom placed on you.

omoharry:
So who are the people that go about with Thier cows, raping , maiming and killing innocent farmers along thier part ? From the middle belt down to the south . Are they thesame kanuri ?

Penguin2:
We are talking of Abdulaziz Yari, a whole former governor and you are saying this.

Don’t worry, e go soon clear for una eye.

The former Deputy Governor will be PDP candidate for 2023 and he will win.

Bookmark this post.

joelbooks:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTh5NAoSuZ4

Rastaramsey:
Una like rubbish for this nairaland.....

You think say this war go last 1 week if all the NATO countries gang up against Russia....

Penguin2:
One of the most useless line you’d hear from Tinubu urchins is that the north is on lockdown for their drug lord, but recent happenings have proven otherwise.

First it was Sokoto speaker…

Then Bauchi speaker followed…

And now it is Abdulaziz Yari and Kabiru Marafa, two politicians that have never been in PDP since 1999, defecting to PDP.

So, I wanna ask Tinubu urchins, who is holding the North on lockdown for Jagaban? Abi they haff lift the lockdown ?

See, if Abdulaziz Yari and Kabiru Marafa could defect to PDP, then a tsunami is coming.

Tinubu will forever regret the day he went into alliance with a known religious bigot and an ethnic jingoist against the south.

PeterUdeme:
But you guys were happy and defended them when they brought their madness to the south.

Currency exchange market
� Kano, 1964

Evident from the picture is the wide usage of the coin currency denominations

The business used to be dominated by older individuals, from the universal Hausa cultural belief pattern that older age is related to a higher level of trust.

NigerianAngelo:
May that be the beginning of an end.

They should diverted at least 40% traffic to the East.

History555:
At least he agreed that all bandits are fulani. Now u can see why Buhari is reluctant to do nothing. One ethnic group terrorising the entire country. Boko, herdsmen, bandits all fulani

stonemasonn:
Osinbajo is just naïve(religious wise). Most Nigerians in position of power will give appointments to their click/group/fraternity/clan members. If Tinubu is VP, he'll appoint mainly his Lagos and Osun boys. The problem here is that RCCG is a religious (Christian) group with influential "so called pastors". Now it is obvious why Muslim ArewaNorth is suspicious.

PlayerMeji:
Farouk lost my respect when he began to champion the MURIC guy's cause of Osinbajo Christianization something he knew was not true for Yoruba man like Osinbajo.

I say this without regrets, it is only Yoruba people who do not have any strict religious affinity either to Islam or Christianity. We are neither here nor there when it comes to religion.

My best friend is a Muslim and I am a Christian. In fact, I am rooting for Bola Tinubu, a Muslim and not Osinbajo who is a Christian. That's how religion does not influence most of our decisions in the South West and we love it as such.

Though, I have expressed certain views against Muslims here once in a while but it does define my overall opinion about most Muslims I have met in real life.

So for Farouk to bring his focus on religious intolerance as a case for Osinbajo, I am more than disappointed, it shows that he is being sponsored against Osinbajo one way or another.

If what Osinbajo has down is criminal what has Buhari not done?

Buhari has singlehandedly handed NNPC to the North and I mean core North...

VPN11:
The 1999 constitution is a fraud, Nigeria needs brand-new constitution – Ayo Adebanjo

The leader of Afenifere, a pan-Yoruba group, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, at the ‘Nigeria’s 2023 presidential transition inter-ethnic peace dialogue which held at Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja, on Monday, declared that Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution is a fraud, adding that the constitution was arbitrarily imposed on Nigerians by the military and has been the major source of threats of disintegration of the country. The Afenifere leader, therefore, advocated that the only thing that can save Nigeria from a second civil war and disintegration is to change the Nigerian constitution to a federal system.

Adebanjo in his keynote address at the Dialogue, pointed out that majority of the things causing tension, disharmony, instability in Nigeria, namely revenue allocation, security, ethnicity, devolution of powers etc., have been taken care of by the founding fathers in the Pre-Independence Federal Constitution. He decried that “unfortunately, however, the military (dominated by Northern Muslims) incursion into the political arena in 1966 scuttled the constitution and introduced a military unitary system. Since then, we have not got our bearing.”



Adebanjo commended the sponsors and organizers of the dialogue titled: “Nigeria’s 2023 Presidential Transition Inter-Ethnic Peace Dialogue.” for their concern and love for the continued existence of the country in peace and unity.

He emphasized that the organizers of the programme acknowledge the fact that Nigeria is presently faced with ‘critical threats’ capable of engendering another civil war and ‘forceful political break-up’. He cited that the organisers in the invitation letters to participants indicated inter alia: “Nigeria is on the brink of a second civil war and certainly will not survive it. The political atmosphere is already over-saturated with tensions and getting more combustive and volatile.

“This is the reason we must act now, in order to prevent the ethnic cleansing, bloodbath, mass murder, genocide and forceful disintegration waiting to happen. The damaging consequences will be grievous if these critical warnings are taken for granted. We are sitting on a ticking time bomb, and it is about to explode.”

Adebanjo maintained that there is no doubt whatsoever that Nigeria is presently faced with critical threats of imminent second civil war and forceful political break-up and perhaps even more. The Afenifere leader stated that indicators of these could be seen in part in the scale of banditry going on in the country, in the unprecedented level of kidnapping and destruction of government properties as being witnessed presently in the southeast and, of course, the strident voices for secession.
When the foregoing and many others that we have not mentioned are put into consideration, there could not be any controversy that Nigeria is indeed on the precipice.

“To us in Afenifere, it is possible to reverse this trend and prevent Nigeria from falling into the dungeon and perhaps break into pieces that cannot even be sewn together ever again.

“Although we are at the precipice now, to us, the solution is simple. Change the constitution to a federal system,” Adebanjo declared.

The Afenifere leader argued that the present 1999 constitution is tilted in favour of the North against the South. “It arbitrarily creates more states and local governments in the North than the South, and based on this fraud, prescribes sumptuous monthly financial allocations to the states that produce very little, if at all, while those which produce more get only a bit.

“For emphasis and clarity, the creation of states and local government areas was not based on the principle of equity, justice and fair play. For example, against all known demographic norms, the North with enormous areas of unoccupied arid land is said to be more in population than the South.

“It is only in Nigeria that the known rule in geography all over the world that the nearer the desert the fewer the population is obeyed in reverse with the North claiming a population that cannot be physically verified except you are going to count the cows and the cattle in the area.

“This false population is used to give more political representation in the Legislative chambers where decisions affecting the whole country are taken. Also, and in a manner suffused with impunity, Kano State which was created in 1967 and with an identical population with Lagos State created on the same date and time now has 77 local governments with Lagos State still paddle with 20 local government areas,” Adebanjo further declared.

The Afenifere leader also pointed out that “under this obnoxious constitution, the governors are described as the Chief Security officers of their respective states, but all the apparatus of security are vested in the federal government, this makes it impossible for the governors described as chief security officer to be able to deploy the personnel of any of the security agencies.”

He maintained that “it is a firm contention of Afenifere that the 1999 constitution is a fraud. Its preamble says, ‘we the people of the Federal Republic.’ The question is, did we make the constitution? Are we Federal?”

He decried that the President Buhari government now tells Nigerians to amend a constitution they never made; and to make logic stand on its head, the amendment is to be made by the National Assembly which is a beneficiary of the fraudulent constitution.

He expressed that the Afenifere believes the country needs a brand new constitution agreed to by all the nationalities in the country.

“If a new constitution is made on the basis of true federalism, there will be no more agitations for Oduduwa Republic, and other self-determination groups. Because what gave birth to their agitations would have been taken care of.

“So, we are calling on all those who are supporting President Muhammadu Buhari to persuade him to let us change the constitution to what we can call our Constitution, a constitution that prescribes genuine and true federalism that heralds a restructured Nigeria,” Adebanjo said.

He assured that if this is done, Buhari’s name would be written in gold. According to Adebanjo, “having such a constitution that restructured Nigeria to federalism will prevent the country from going under.”

Adebanjo clarified that Afenifere does not believe or support secession; declaring: “we owe no apology for being the chief advocate for restructuring Nigeria to Federalism. Let the opponents of restructuring and cohort of the Federal Government stop the blackmail or labelling advocates of restructuring as secessionists, for advocates of restructuring are “Federalists not Secessionist.”

He asserted that the irreducible minimum condition of Yorubaland of being part of Nigeria is a restructured Nigeria to Federalism. The Afenifere leader insisted that “Yorubaland will not be in Nigeria under the present military imposed constitution.”

He highlighted: “It is on record that we are the only organization that has fought relentlessly for the unity of this country.

“When the North led by Saudana of Sokoto, Sir Ahmadu Bello, wanted to separate in 1953 when it declared the nine-point program of separation, it was our leader, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, that persuaded the North from so doing as the fears of the North under a Unitary form of government will be taken care of under a federal system.

“This action gave Chief Awolowo the pseudonym ‘Father of Federalism in Nigeria.’

“It is worth recalling – for those who either did not know or for those who might have forgotten – that Afenifere party (Action Group), was the only party that had elected members in all the parliament in every part of the Nigerian federation during the First Republic.

“It is the opposition party led by Alhaji Sule Maito in the Northern House of Assembly, opposition party in Eastern House of Assembly led by S.G Ikoku, and opposition party in the Federal House led by Chief S.L. Akintola, and of course, formed the government in the Western Region, under Chief Obafemi Awolowo. No other political party had that distinction.

“So, for anyone to underrate the contributions that we, the Yoruba, have made to the unity of this country, it means that the person is either not conversant with contemporary Nigeria history or is being mischievous.”

Adebanjo, thereafter, revealed what the Afenifere members are bringing to the table for consideration.

According to him: “we believe strongly that the proposal below will bring us back from the precipice and salvage the country.”

He narrated that at independence, Nigeria was being run on a federal structure with three near-autonomous regions. This was later increased to four with the creation of Mid-Western Region. But the military junta that seized power in 1966 dismantled the regional structure and instead imposed a unitary system of government on the country. “The damage this caused was devastating and we are still writhing under its debilitating effects even now!”

He said that it is a universal axiom that power resides with the people.
“For this reason, we are hereby proposing that ethnic nationalities and peoples of Nigeria be allowed to exercise their mandate and sovereignty on how they want to live together under mutually beneficial terms.

“Flowing from the above, something like the United Regions of Nigeria (URN) is hereby proposed.

“The structure can take the following form:

But before talking about the form, let me emphasize that there should be no artificially prescribed number of regions in a manner that may foreclose the rights of the people that desire to organize themselves as a semi- autonomous regional member of the Nigerian State so long as the territory desiring such regional status can guarantee its self-sustenance and viability as an entity.

“In this proposal, powers, mandate and authority to formulate the articles of association to form the Central Government of Nigeria shall in effect lie jointly and severally with the ethnic nationalities occupying their respective territories and not with law makers who were randomly picked.

“Nigeria shall be subsequently organized into a Union or Federation of voluntarily associating and cooperative Regional entities like we had up till 1966.

“Unlike what we have presently, each region may have a Constitution of its own which would spell out how it is to be governed. There would be a National Constitution binding all the regions in the country together.

“In this latter constitution would be spelt out mutually agreed terms under which the peoples of the country agree to cohabit together as citizens of the same country,” he advocated.

He further declared that “Afenifere is hereby proposing as one of the resolutions of this Summit, a template that would make it possible for – indeed, encourage – every ethnic nationality to organize themselves and prepare terms that would guide their relationship with other ethnic nationalities in the country in a harmonious and mutually respecting manner. “From such collation of terms would emerge Regional Constitutions out of which National Constitution would be forged.

“The Constitution, be it at Regional or National level, must accord unqualified respect to democratic norms and the rights of the people to actively participate in matters that have to do with their lives. The constitutions must also emphasize true federalism in such a way that no region or area would have power to lord it over another region or area.”

According to Adebanjo, among the expected contents of the envisaged Constitutions are unreserved powers of the Regions over natural resources in their respective areas, agriculture, education, health, electricity, security, and economy etc.

He maintained: “It is hereby further proposed that each region furnish 10 per cent of what it generates to the national purse. The region retains 30 per cent; the states take 35 per cent while the local governments take 25 per cent.”

He stated that in order to ensure that this proposal does not go the way of various Reports that have come from various panels or assemblages constituted by governments, timeline is hereby suggested in the following manner:

Ethnic nationalities in the country be encouraged to prepare their document on Terms of Engagement between now and December 2021. The documents from the nationalities in which they propose the kind of regional government they want to form be collated and considered between January and March 2022.

The product of this process should then produce the document that will become the Constitution of the United Regions of Nigeria or Federal Republic of Nigeria.

He reiterated that the issue of true federalism must be central in every of the Constitution or Article of Engagement so produced.

True Federalism that emphasizes Self-Determination.

A National Referendum can be conducted on the adoption of the final Constitution for the Restructured Nigeria around the middle of 2022.

The said Constitution can then become effective from October 01, 2022.

Adebanjo advocated also that a Committee can be set up to work out the details of the proposal hereby suggested.

“We are ready to present the details as we conceive it to the said Committee if formed.

“It is the belief of Afenifere that it will be unrealistic and unpatriotic in our present precarious disintegrating tendencies that Buhari government should contemplate holding any election before the proposed harmonious constitution becomes operative. “We believe there should be a country before an election is contemplated.

“Afenifere presents this proposal for the consideration of this dialogue; in the hope that its faithful implementation will save the country from disintegration and its citizen will henceforth live in peace and unity,” Adebanjo declared.

VPN11:
The 1999 constitution is a fraud, Nigeria needs brand-new constitution – Ayo Adebanjo

The leader of Afenifere, a pan-Yoruba group, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, at the ‘Nigeria’s 2023 presidential transition inter-ethnic peace dialogue which held at Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja, on Monday, declared that Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution is a fraud, adding that the constitution was arbitrarily imposed on Nigerians by the military and has been the major source of threats of disintegration of the country. The Afenifere leader, therefore, advocated that the only thing that can save Nigeria from a second civil war and disintegration is to change the Nigerian constitution to a federal system.

Adebanjo in his keynote address at the Dialogue, pointed out that majority of the things causing tension, disharmony, instability in Nigeria, namely revenue allocation, security, ethnicity, devolution of powers etc., have been taken care of by the founding fathers in the Pre-Independence Federal Constitution. He decried that “unfortunately, however, the military (dominated by Northern Muslims) incursion into the political arena in 1966 scuttled the constitution and introduced a military unitary system. Since then, we have not got our bearing.”



Adebanjo commended the sponsors and organizers of the dialogue titled: “Nigeria’s 2023 Presidential Transition Inter-Ethnic Peace Dialogue.” for their concern and love for the continued existence of the country in peace and unity.

He emphasized that the organizers of the programme acknowledge the fact that Nigeria is presently faced with ‘critical threats’ capable of engendering another civil war and ‘forceful political break-up’. He cited that the organisers in the invitation letters to participants indicated inter alia: “Nigeria is on the brink of a second civil war and certainly will not survive it. The political atmosphere is already over-saturated with tensions and getting more combustive and volatile.

“This is the reason we must act now, in order to prevent the ethnic cleansing, bloodbath, mass murder, genocide and forceful disintegration waiting to happen. The damaging consequences will be grievous if these critical warnings are taken for granted. We are sitting on a ticking time bomb, and it is about to explode.”

Adebanjo maintained that there is no doubt whatsoever that Nigeria is presently faced with critical threats of imminent second civil war and forceful political break-up and perhaps even more. The Afenifere leader stated that indicators of these could be seen in part in the scale of banditry going on in the country, in the unprecedented level of kidnapping and destruction of government properties as being witnessed presently in the southeast and, of course, the strident voices for secession.
When the foregoing and many others that we have not mentioned are put into consideration, there could not be any controversy that Nigeria is indeed on the precipice.

“To us in Afenifere, it is possible to reverse this trend and prevent Nigeria from falling into the dungeon and perhaps break into pieces that cannot even be sewn together ever again.

“Although we are at the precipice now, to us, the solution is simple. Change the constitution to a federal system,” Adebanjo declared.

The Afenifere leader argued that the present 1999 constitution is tilted in favour of the North against the South. “It arbitrarily creates more states and local governments in the North than the South, and based on this fraud, prescribes sumptuous monthly financial allocations to the states that produce very little, if at all, while those which produce more get only a bit.

“For emphasis and clarity, the creation of states and local government areas was not based on the principle of equity, justice and fair play. For example, against all known demographic norms, the North with enormous areas of unoccupied arid land is said to be more in population than the South.

“It is only in Nigeria that the known rule in geography all over the world that the nearer the desert the fewer the population is obeyed in reverse with the North claiming a population that cannot be physically verified except you are going to count the cows and the cattle in the area.

“This false population is used to give more political representation in the Legislative chambers where decisions affecting the whole country are taken. Also, and in a manner suffused with impunity, Kano State which was created in 1967 and with an identical population with Lagos State created on the same date and time now has 77 local governments with Lagos State still paddle with 20 local government areas,” Adebanjo further declared.

The Afenifere leader also pointed out that “under this obnoxious constitution, the governors are described as the Chief Security officers of their respective states, but all the apparatus of security are vested in the federal government, this makes it impossible for the governors described as chief security officer to be able to deploy the personnel of any of the security agencies.”

He maintained that “it is a firm contention of Afenifere that the 1999 constitution is a fraud. Its preamble says, ‘we the people of the Federal Republic.’ The question is, did we make the constitution? Are we Federal?”

He decried that the President Buhari government now tells Nigerians to amend a constitution they never made; and to make logic stand on its head, the amendment is to be made by the National Assembly which is a beneficiary of the fraudulent constitution.

He expressed that the Afenifere believes the country needs a brand new constitution agreed to by all the nationalities in the country.

“If a new constitution is made on the basis of true federalism, there will be no more agitations for Oduduwa Republic, and other self-determination groups. Because what gave birth to their agitations would have been taken care of.

“So, we are calling on all those who are supporting President Muhammadu Buhari to persuade him to let us change the constitution to what we can call our Constitution, a constitution that prescribes genuine and true federalism that heralds a restructured Nigeria,” Adebanjo said.

He assured that if this is done, Buhari’s name would be written in gold. According to Adebanjo, “having such a constitution that restructured Nigeria to federalism will prevent the country from going under.”

Adebanjo clarified that Afenifere does not believe or support secession; declaring: “we owe no apology for being the chief advocate for restructuring Nigeria to Federalism. Let the opponents of restructuring and cohort of the Federal Government stop the blackmail or labelling advocates of restructuring as secessionists, for advocates of restructuring are “Federalists not Secessionist.”

He asserted that the irreducible minimum condition of Yorubaland of being part of Nigeria is a restructured Nigeria to Federalism. The Afenifere leader insisted that “Yorubaland will not be in Nigeria under the present military imposed constitution.”

He highlighted: “It is on record that we are the only organization that has fought relentlessly for the unity of this country.

“When the North led by Saudana of Sokoto, Sir Ahmadu Bello, wanted to separate in 1953 when it declared the nine-point program of separation, it was our leader, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, that persuaded the North from so doing as the fears of the North under a Unitary form of government will be taken care of under a federal system.

“This action gave Chief Awolowo the pseudonym ‘Father of Federalism in Nigeria.’

“It is worth recalling – for those who either did not know or for those who might have forgotten – that Afenifere party (Action Group), was the only party that had elected members in all the parliament in every part of the Nigerian federation during the First Republic.

“It is the opposition party led by Alhaji Sule Maito in the Northern House of Assembly, opposition party in Eastern House of Assembly led by S.G Ikoku, and opposition party in the Federal House led by Chief S.L. Akintola, and of course, formed the government in the Western Region, under Chief Obafemi Awolowo. No other political party had that distinction.

“So, for anyone to underrate the contributions that we, the Yoruba, have made to the unity of this country, it means that the person is either not conversant with contemporary Nigeria history or is being mischievous.”

Adebanjo, thereafter, revealed what the Afenifere members are bringing to the table for consideration.

According to him: “we believe strongly that the proposal below will bring us back from the precipice and salvage the country.”

He narrated that at independence, Nigeria was being run on a federal structure with three near-autonomous regions. This was later increased to four with the creation of Mid-Western Region. But the military junta that seized power in 1966 dismantled the regional structure and instead imposed a unitary system of government on the country. “The damage this caused was devastating and we are still writhing under its debilitating effects even now!”

He said that it is a universal axiom that power resides with the people.
“For this reason, we are hereby proposing that ethnic nationalities and peoples of Nigeria be allowed to exercise their mandate and sovereignty on how they want to live together under mutually beneficial terms.

“Flowing from the above, something like the United Regions of Nigeria (URN) is hereby proposed.

“The structure can take the following form:

But before talking about the form, let me emphasize that there should be no artificially prescribed number of regions in a manner that may foreclose the rights of the people that desire to organize themselves as a semi- autonomous regional member of the Nigerian State so long as the territory desiring such regional status can guarantee its self-sustenance and viability as an entity.

“In this proposal, powers, mandate and authority to formulate the articles of association to form the Central Government of Nigeria shall in effect lie jointly and severally with the ethnic nationalities occupying their respective territories and not with law makers who were randomly picked.

“Nigeria shall be subsequently organized into a Union or Federation of voluntarily associating and cooperative Regional entities like we had up till 1966.

“Unlike what we have presently, each region may have a Constitution of its own which would spell out how it is to be governed. There would be a National Constitution binding all the regions in the country together.

“In this latter constitution would be spelt out mutually agreed terms under which the peoples of the country agree to cohabit together as citizens of the same country,” he advocated.

He further declared that “Afenifere is hereby proposing as one of the resolutions of this Summit, a template that would make it possible for – indeed, encourage – every ethnic nationality to organize themselves and prepare terms that would guide their relationship with other ethnic nationalities in the country in a harmonious and mutually respecting manner. “From such collation of terms would emerge Regional Constitutions out of which National Constitution would be forged.

“The Constitution, be it at Regional or National level, must accord unqualified respect to democratic norms and the rights of the people to actively participate in matters that have to do with their lives. The constitutions must also emphasize true federalism in such a way that no region or area would have power to lord it over another region or area.”

According to Adebanjo, among the expected contents of the envisaged Constitutions are unreserved powers of the Regions over natural resources in their respective areas, agriculture, education, health, electricity, security, and economy etc.

He maintained: “It is hereby further proposed that each region furnish 10 per cent of what it generates to the national purse. The region retains 30 per cent; the states take 35 per cent while the local governments take 25 per cent.”

He stated that in order to ensure that this proposal does not go the way of various Reports that have come from various panels or assemblages constituted by governments, timeline is hereby suggested in the following manner:

Ethnic nationalities in the country be encouraged to prepare their document on Terms of Engagement between now and December 2021. The documents from the nationalities in which they propose the kind of regional government they want to form be collated and considered between January and March 2022.

The product of this process should then produce the document that will become the Constitution of the United Regions of Nigeria or Federal Republic of Nigeria.

He reiterated that the issue of true federalism must be central in every of the Constitution or Article of Engagement so produced.

True Federalism that emphasizes Self-Determination.

A National Referendum can be conducted on the adoption of the final Constitution for the Restructured Nigeria around the middle of 2022.

The said Constitution can then become effective from October 01, 2022.

Adebanjo advocated also that a Committee can be set up to work out the details of the proposal hereby suggested.

“We are ready to present the details as we conceive it to the said Committee if formed.

“It is the belief of Afenifere that it will be unrealistic and unpatriotic in our present precarious disintegrating tendencies that Buhari government should contemplate holding any election before the proposed harmonious constitution becomes operative. “We believe there should be a country before an election is contemplated.

“Afenifere presents this proposal for the consideration of this dialogue; in the hope that its faithful implementation will save the country from disintegration and its citizen will henceforth live in peace and unity,” Adebanjo declared.

VPN11:
What most of you dont understand;
WE DO HAVE A GOVERNMENT in Nigeria;a government is formed by the people;they (People) relinquish there sovereignty to a state;( Social contract) the government ;in return provide security;and basic social amenities;

Nigerians never agreed; or sign to give away any social contract ;or sovereignty; to the state;The state created a constitution; without the people;the 1999 constitution is fraudulent;to protect the Caliphate; and the minions (warrant chiefs) politicians from every indigenous tribe;the caliphate select the chiefs;via a nollywood performance (election) ;They kill two birds with on stone;because your legitimizing your slavery by pretending you have a government via election.

Nigeria is a slave camp.
You dont have any legitimate civil rights.

SE = resistance
If indigenous people; all over the geographical areas of Nigeria ;How I wish they are wise; : I dont think they are; they should join the resistance; or be enslaved forever.
This people are building ;a Caliphate not a country.


"The new nation called Nigeria should be an estate of our great-grandfather, Uthman Dan Fodio. We must ruthlessly prevent a change of power. We use the minorities of the North as willing tools and the South as a conquered territory and never allow them to rule over us, and never allow them to have control over their future." ~ Ahmadu Bello

Skyfornia:
OP you obviously don't know anything about South East...forget what you read online, there's more peace in Igbo land than most part of Nigeria. I know this cause I'm Igbo, born and raised in Igbo land.

As at two days ago when I wanted to book air peace for easter (from Lagos to Onitsha), the ticket was sold out. Who are the ones buying the tickets, are they ghosts? Any Igbo abroad who is scared to come down home is hiding something...

The number of people who die daily in south west due to rituals, kidnapping etc are thrice more than the deaths in the east, same with northern part of the country, yet their people abroad are not scared to come home.

Igbos in the east are enjoying the holiday, it's only the guilty ones that are afraid.

Sarsaproko:
Na so Nigeria don scatter reach?

Who the heck is Bello

OyeofIkoTuN:
No book and biro..Just kettle and mat.. Gerrat

oldienavie:
Nigerians are not very bright.
How can the economy grow when there is so much insecurity ?
Try to dey use your brain now, thousands are being slaughtered everyday and you think your economy will grow ?

There is no way the country will progress even if you bring the best economists, as long as the security is not there no magic can prop the economy.

The president is a very stubborn and ignorant illiterate who does not care about the lives of his people, sadly , Osinbajo cannot do much becasue the office of the VP is not empowered.
But with the few opportunities he has been given we know he has the capacity to lead a country like Nigeria.

Unfortunately, due to the fall in the standard of education in Nigeria, may people are unable to think logically and understand this very simple fact.