₦airaland Forum

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.

More over, if Adebanjo will be fair by avoiding his fanatic mind to override his sense of decorum then he should know who are responsible for destroying Unitary Govt through the assertions made here.
Do you know that when Tafawa Balewa was Prime Minister of Nigeria;
Chief of Army Staff was from SE, Chief of Naval, Staff was from SE, IG of Police was from SE, Chief of Defence Staff was from SE, Internal Affairs Minister SE, External Affairs Minister SE Education Minister South SE, Many other key ministries to SE, Parliament President SE, Unilag VC from SE, The University of Ibadan VC from SE, North resisted same at ABU.
Still, there was dissatisfaction by some ppl, the officers from the region killed this same Balewa.[b]
[b]Out of all the most senior officers in Nigeria, SE has 37, none was killed. 8 from the north, all of them were killed. 10 from the west, 2 were killed.[b]
[b]Then Ironsi imposed a unitary system of government on the country so that everything can belong to a region who snatched it. I hope u now see the person who gave us Unitary system?
We must know our history so that when we want to make corrections, we will not end up concealing the truth. This has nothing to do with tribalism but everything to do with the truth.....at times when lies litter the streets. There is a tendency to think those are truths and facts.
*What follows are facts that can be cross-checked for authenticity!"*
Prof. Ben Nwabueze was the man who drafted the constitution that took away powers from regions and handed it to the central government because his brother Aguiyi Ironsi was the head of state then but some ignorant or selfish people limit their accusations to only Abdussalam Abubakar constitution that give birth to current democratic govt. Today, they're shouting restructuring that they helped to destroy. We won’t forget.”
Some ppl are known to enjoy blaming others and indeed every other Nigerian tribe and Lord Luggard/Britain for their seeming claim of being in third class citizen status in Nigeria or refuse to let them go. In their perpetual attempts to play the victim card, they recount the political events of Nigeria from 1914 to the present in a half-baked and highly selective manner which cleverly avoids the mention of the roles played by their elite who by all natural laws of judgement were actually responsible for the woes that befell the entire Nigeria nation.
However, the national archives have the complete and unedited history of Nigeria regarding the political events beginning way back from even before 1914.
Shortly after the 1914 Amalgamation of the Northern and Southern Protectorates, it started getting clear that the country was bound to fail as the amalgamation in question was done with colonial fiat without the consent and consensus of the different tribes which were over 300. This prompted the political leaders to start asking for de-amalgamation so as to forestall the future danger which the forced amalgamation portended.
To that end, Ahmadu Bello, speaking on behalf of the Northern protectorate in 1944 described the amalgamation as "The mistake of 1914 which if allowed to remain will ultimately lead to unstoppable bloodshed and a failed country".
Awolowo, speaking on behalf of the Yorubas and Western minorities, described Nigeria as a mere geographical expression not qualified to be called a country let alone a nation. Awolowo added that if the amalgamation could not be reversed, then Nigeria should be structured as a strictly federal state so as to enable each tribe enjoy autonomy this freedom from being dominated by any one single tribe.
But Nnamdi Azikiwe, speaking for the Igbos, denounced Awolowo and Ahmadu Bello, terming them ethnic champions. He accused them of nursing a sectional agenda against the unity of Nigeria, and he declared further that the Unity of Nigeria was non-negotiable.
After moving the motion for independece in 1953, Anthony Enahoro proposed that a secession clause should be incorporated into the future constitution of Nigeria so as to give legal backing for any tribe to peacefully exit the forced union if it feels marginalized in future. According to Enahoro, such provision in our constitution would instill in all Nigeria's future leaders the fear of the consequences of misgovernance.
However, Azikiwe, speaking on behalf of Igbos, rose against him in the parliament and labelled him an agent of disunity, and enemy of Nigeria. At a later date, Awolowo too made a case for secession clause, but Azikiwe again resisted him and instigated the colonial authorities to threaten him and Enahoro with charges of treasonable felony if they didn't stop proposing secession clause for the future constitution.
Before independece, Tafawa Balewa too had in a public speech described Nigeria as a British experiment and Nigeria's unity as a British intention which Nigerians themselves don't believe in. But Azikiwe kicked and demonized him too. Had Azikiwe co-operated with Enahoro, Awolowo, Ahmadu Bello and Tafawa Balewa about the secession clause, Nigeria perhaps would not have been this misgoverned.
Northerners have clearly known this & will never succumb to cheap political trick, how can u call us backward and at the same time asking us to go back to 1963 constitution talkless of even amending the current constitution?
Adebanjo should know that history can't just be erased for selfish reasons and no amount of aspersions or bigotry can change the fact abt Nigeria and her journey to the mayhem we are in today. Is he afraid of those who destroyed true federalism and replaced it with unitary system but he is barking like a dog trying to change the narration.

Please enjoy your Biafra.

Cause by the FG under Buhari

[s]

omenkaLives:
OmenkaLives is responsible for this according to AchalugoNwa and his henchmen.

This is how brutal life has become in Alaigbo. People buying coffins in bulk in anticipation of their death in the hands of Kanu's boys!!

Lord have mercy on their souls

[/s]

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.

If they think what you're saying is lies, they can contact their brothers in the south east .

Yeye diaspora ipob clowns shedding crocodile tears, all the money ipob collected for their nefarious and deadly activities came from the same diaspora losers crying about insecurity in their SE towns and villages.

You created and fed ipob with your hard-earned money, you nurtured the beast with your energy and support, we see you all over Europe, Asia, London and the US demonstrating, carrying your ipob placards and wearing your ipob terrorist uniforms and regalia, now you want to bore us with your silly crocodile tears.

Go and sit down somewhere and reap what you sow, useless terrorist supporters and enablers,

VPN11:
I dont think your Igbo;you dont sound intelligent enough;your like the Biafrans ;in the Nigerian army committing; genocide against your own people.

In nature; every specie protects its own;so they dont go extinct;

Very narcissistic ;egocentric; selfish mindset.
The Fulanis are smart;enjoy your slave paradise; in the poverty capital of world.third most terrorized place on earth.

WOW now I can see, so because fulanis support their own killers, I should support those destroying Igbo land, you might be too young to engage me in any discussion because you just sounded silly and childish with this your submission.

How the wish that their thoughts about the east was right..... Since this festive holiday I have traveled from my village in Ezinihitte Mbaise to Orlu Dow to Owerri to Aba and to Ogidi were my sister was married from there I excorted my uncle to nnewi to buy Tipper parts.... But here in Nairaland no one is living in the East anymore... Because some some foolish monicers are analyzing the east from their godforsaken region

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.

Gosh.. see Reasoning...
So who are you to pronounce them guilty??
Onye eririeri..

TechSpecialist:
shut up low life, which diasporan you be? You wey never commot from abakiliki before.
Mumu keep deceiving yourself

Mynd44 lalasticlala seun dominique oam4j justwise rule 2

TechSpecialist:
you and emergingnation3 must be very stupid and uselessness for misleading people on this forum. The blood of all those killed shall be upon your head and that of your generations for supporting this evils.
God punish you all

Mynd44 lalasticlala seun dominique oam4j justwise rule 2

infohenry:
WOW now I can see, so because fulanis support their own killers, I should support those destroying Igbo land, you might be too young to engage me in any discussion because you just sounded silly and childish with this your submission.

Newsflash;
Easter Sunday turned to a sàd event to the good people of Orlu,Imo state as Nigerian army inváded and bûrnt down civilian house in Orlu today.

You sound like some of the Biafran citizens; the saboteurs ; the Efulefu;that helped the Nigerian soldiers to commit genocide; against his own people in Biafralands;because your selfish;narcissistic ;ingrate;Every specie in mother nature protects its own;so they dont go extinct;but your not a specie;your an alien;with no brain.
Your too dumb; and a coward; Onye were gi ;were anu ohia ;Ogboko ;Listen to the Fulani elite's and how they protect there own;[/b]Your a born slave ;a pussy ;[b]dont ever comment on my post.
Spits.

ArewaNorth:
Adebanjo is just an ethnic bigot making baseless noise. He just gave his verdict but not fact, facts are what I quoted in my previous comments.
We know the so called group of people bragging of having large number of eee experts legal practitioners who always find their way to make laws that suit them.

In 1979, Obasanjo was head of state and he pioneered that constitution and it is very clear that the same constitution is a replica of 1999 constitution with few notable differences in the two documents, such as the 13% derivation for oil-producing states and the number of states in the federation. While the 1979 constitution spoke about 19 states, 1999 said 36 states, logically. They were only reflecting the realities on ground. FEDECO in the 1979 document changed to INEC in 1999 constitution therefore it can be concluded that the 1999 constitution is a replica of the 1979 constitution.
Adebanjo should descend his energy on his kinsman rather than using ethno-religious excuses to display his bigotry.

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.

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.

Are u not tired of sending repeated statements by the architect of the constitution?

I said and I quote again that "in 1979, Obasanjo was head of state and he pioneered that constitution and it is very clear that the same constitution is a replica of 1999 constitution with few notable differences in the two documents, such as the 13% derivation for oil-producing states and the number of states in the federation. While the 1979 constitution spoke about 19 states, 1999 said 36 states, logically. They were only reflecting the realities on ground. FEDECO in the 1979 document changed to INEC in 1999 constitution therefore it can be concluded that the 1999 constitution is a replica of the 1979 constitution".

Prof. Ben Nwabueze was the man who drafted the constitution that took away powers from regions and handed it to the central government because his brother Aguiyi Ironsi was the head of state then but some ignorant or selfish people limit their accusations to only Abdussalam Abubakar constitution that give birth to current democratic govt. Today, they're shouting restructuring that they helped to destroy. We won’t forget.”


After moving the motion for independece in 1953, Anthony Enahoro proposed that a secession clause should be incorporated into the future constitution of Nigeria so as to give legal backing for any tribe to peacefully exit the forced union if it feels marginalized in future. According to Enahoro, such provision in our constitution would instill in all Nigeria's future leaders the fear of the consequences of misgovernance.


On November 11, 1998, Abdulsalami inaugurated the Constitution Debate Co-ordinating Committee (CDCC) to “pilot the debate, co-ordinate and collate views and recommendations canvassed by individuals and groups and submit report not later than 31 December 1998”. It was not headed by a soldier but by Justice Niki Tobi, with Dr. Suleiman Kurmo as deputy chairman. [/b]There was no single military man on the committee. They went round the country to collect memoranda from the public through town hall meetings in Benin, Enugu, Jos, Port Harcourt, Kaduna, Kano, Ibadan, Lagos and Sokoto. They excluded military formations.


After all the frenetic debates — up and down, north and south, east and west — the Tobi committee submitted its report to the military government.
[b]Tobi said: “In the light of the memoranda and the oral presentation on the 1995 Draft Constitution, it is clear that Nigerians basically opt for the 1979 Constitution with relevant amendments.

So they recommended to the Provisional Ruling Council the adoption of the 1979 Constitution with relevant amendments from the 1995 Draft Constitution.” Abdulsalami accepted the recommendation.

When the 1999 constitution was finally published, three of them sat down and placed it side by side with the 1979 constitution. They then did a clause-by-clause analysis. The trio were: Mr. Victor Ifijeh (the current MD of The Nation newspaper who was THISDAY editor then), Alhaji Yusuph Olaniyonu (SA to Senate President Bukola Saraki who was THISDAY politics editor at the time) and THISDAY features editor.
They did a word-for-word reading and laughed themselves to stupor: this is pure plagiarism of the 1979 constitution!

The biggest irony abt the contentious nature of our constitution is the vicious condemnation of the 1999 constitution by some prominent Nigerians who mostly took part in the previous constitution starting committees, their kinsmen took part and hwy never raised any suspicion or got favour & protection,by the system.

Following the assassination of Nigerian military Head of State, General Murtala Mohammed in 1976, his successor General Olusegun Obasanjo initiated the transition process to terminate military rule in 1979. A new constitution was drafted, which saw the Westminster system of government (previously used in the First Republic) jettisoned for an American-style Presidential system.

In the making of the 1979 Constitution, southerners were members of the Constitution Drafting Committee (CDC), Constituent Assembly (CA) and the Supreme Military Council (SMC) that eventually approved and decreed the 1979 Constitution into effect.

Also, southern leaders played significant roles in the process leading to the 1999 Constitution, beginning with the Constitution Debate Co-ordinating Committee (CDCC) to the Provisional Ruling Council (PRC) that finally gave it legal teeth.

Those who believed that the constitution was imposed or dictated by military are just insulting the wisdom and character of their forefathers for accepting what is imposed on them by chairing the committee and drafting what they reject. 1999 constitution is a draft of 1979 constitution with few amendments. Obasanjo, a Southerner constituted the committee headed by Southerner and in 2022 u have the got to come with this shallow, unacceptable excuses backing them with unfounded accusations that u have mastermind and aspersed them on Fulani. Daft set of people!

ArewaNorth:
Are u not tired of sending repeated statements by the architect of the constitution?

I said and I quote again that "in 1979, Obasanjo was head of state and he pioneered that constitution and it is very clear that the same constitution is a replica of 1999 constitution with few notable differences in the two documents, such as the 13% derivation for oil-producing states and the number of states in the federation. While the 1979 constitution spoke about 19 states, 1999 said 36 states, logically. They were only reflecting the realities on ground. FEDECO in the 1979 document changed to INEC in 1999 constitution therefore it can be concluded that the 1999 constitution is a replica of the 1979 constitution".

Prof. Ben Nwabueze was the man who drafted the constitution that took away powers from regions and handed it to the central government because his brother Aguiyi Ironsi was the head of state then but some ignorant or selfish people limit their accusations to only Abdussalam Abubakar constitution that give birth to current democratic govt. Today, they're shouting restructuring that they helped to destroy. We won’t forget.”


After moving the motion for independece in 1953, Anthony Enahoro proposed that a secession clause should be incorporated into the future constitution of Nigeria so as to give legal backing for any tribe to peacefully exit the forced union if it feels marginalized in future. According to Enahoro, such provision in our constitution would instill in all Nigeria's future leaders the fear of the consequences of misgovernance.


On November 11, 1998, Abdulsalami inaugurated the Constitution Debate Co-ordinating Committee (CDCC) to “pilot the debate, co-ordinate and collate views and recommendations canvassed by individuals and groups and submit report not later than 31 December 1998”. It was not headed by a soldier but by Justice Niki Tobi, with Dr. Suleiman Kurmo as deputy chairman. [/b]There was no single military man on the committee. They went round the country to collect memoranda from the public through town hall meetings in Benin, Enugu, Jos, Port Harcourt, Kaduna, Kano, Ibadan, Lagos and Sokoto. They excluded military formations.


After all the frenetic debates — up and down, north and south, east and west — the Tobi committee submitted its report to the military government.
[b]Tobi said: “In the light of the memoranda and the oral presentation on the 1995 Draft Constitution, it is clear that Nigerians basically opt for the 1979 Constitution with relevant amendments.

So they recommended to the Provisional Ruling Council the adoption of the 1979 Constitution with relevant amendments from the 1995 Draft Constitution.” Abdulsalami accepted the recommendation.

When the 1999 constitution was finally published, three of them sat down and placed it side by side with the 1979 constitution. They then did a clause-by-clause analysis. The trio were: Mr. Victor Ifijeh (the current MD of The Nation newspaper who was THISDAY editor then), Alhaji Yusuph Olaniyonu (SA to Senate President Bukola Saraki who was THISDAY politics editor at the time) and THISDAY features editor.
They did a word-for-word reading and laughed themselves to stupor: this is pure plagiarism of the 1979 constitution!

The biggest irony abt the contentious nature of our constitution is the vicious condemnation of the 1999 constitution by some prominent Nigerians who mostly took part in the previous constitution starting committees, their kinsmen took part and hwy never raised any suspicion or got favour & protection,by the system.

Following the assassination of Nigerian military Head of State, General Murtala Mohammed in 1976, his successor General Olusegun Obasanjo initiated the transition process to terminate military rule in 1979. A new constitution was drafted, which saw the Westminster system of government (previously used in the First Republic) jettisoned for an American-style Presidential system.

In the making of the 1979 Constitution, southerners were members of the Constitution Drafting Committee (CDC), Constituent Assembly (CA) and the Supreme Military Council (SMC) that eventually approved and decreed the 1979 Constitution into effect.

Also, southern leaders played significant roles in the process leading to the 1999 Constitution, beginning with the Constitution Debate Co-ordinating Committee (CDCC) to the Provisional Ruling Council (PRC) that finally gave it legal teeth.

Those who believed that the constitution was imposed or dictated by military are just insulting the wisdom and character of their forefathers for accepting what is imposed on them by chairing the committee and drafting what they reject. 1999 constitution is a draft of 1979 constitution with few amendments. Obasanjo, a Southerner constituted the committee headed by Southerner and in 2022 u have the got to come with this shallow, unacceptable excuses backing them with unfounded accusations that u have mastermind and aspersed them on Fulani. Daft set of people!

It was a military decree
Not signed
Not rectified by OAU
Its fraudulent.
Nobody; I repeat there was no constitution conference; prior to Abdulsalami pushing that fraudulent; piece of shit to enslave us.

jrusky:
Good igbo fellas in diaspora someone is just fighting me here right now for simply saying its embarrassing what ipigs, Ekpa etc has turned that region to.

I'm a son of the land but I'm no longer comfortable with these madness anymore its is very very embarrassing.

It's only ipigs or ugm have ever seen in the name of agitation buy guns to kill his own people they claimed agitating for its unbelievable yet some people still see these as a cool tactics.

It's a big shame.

Run from that person. MNK, Simon Ekpa and IPOB have nothing good for Ndigbo but misery and suffering.

CHAQUR:
Ndi igbo denying the on going massacre in their land is what I'm enjoying... Until it becomes unbearable.

A lot of them have no concept of what a peaceful society looks like.
They will all be headed for Lagos when Ipob is finally done with them.

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.

Are u not tired of sending repeated statements by the architect of the constitution?

I said and I quote again that "in 1979, Obasanjo was head of state and he pioneered that constitution and it is very clear that the same constitution is a replica of 1999 constitution with few notable differences in the two documents, such as the 13% derivation for oil-producing states and the number of states in the federation. While the 1979 constitution spoke about 19 states, 1999 said 36 states, logically. They were only reflecting the realities on ground. FEDECO in the 1979 document changed to INEC in 1999 constitution therefore it can be concluded that the 1999 constitution is a replica of the 1979 constitution".

Prof. Ben Nwabueze was the man who drafted the constitution that took away powers from regions and handed it to the central government because his brother Aguiyi Ironsi was the head of state then but some ignorant or selfish people limit their accusations to only Abdussalam Abubakar constitution that give birth to current democratic govt. Today, they're shouting restructuring that they helped to destroy. We won’t forget.”


After moving the motion for independece in 1953, Anthony Enahoro proposed that a secession clause should be incorporated into the future constitution of Nigeria so as to give legal backing for any tribe to peacefully exit the forced union if it feels marginalized in future. According to Enahoro, such provision in our constitution would instill in all Nigeria's future leaders the fear of the consequences of misgovernance.


On November 11, 1998, Abdulsalami inaugurated the Constitution Debate Co-ordinating Committee (CDCC) to “pilot the debate, co-ordinate and collate views and recommendations canvassed by individuals and groups and submit report not later than 31 December 1998”. It was not headed by a soldier but by Justice Niki Tobi, with Dr. Suleiman Kurmo as deputy chairman. [/b]There was no single military man on the committee. They went round the country to collect memoranda from the public through town hall meetings in Benin, Enugu, Jos, Port Harcourt, Kaduna, Kano, Ibadan, Lagos and Sokoto. They excluded military formations.


After all the frenetic debates — up and down, north and south, east and west — the Tobi committee submitted its report to the military government.
[b]Tobi said: “In the light of the memoranda and the oral presentation on the 1995 Draft Constitution, it is clear that Nigerians basically opt for the 1979 Constitution with relevant amendments.

So they recommended to the Provisional Ruling Council the adoption of the 1979 Constitution with relevant amendments from the 1995 Draft Constitution.” Abdulsalami accepted the recommendation.

When the 1999 constitution was finally published, three of them sat down and placed it side by side with the 1979 constitution. They then did a clause-by-clause analysis. The trio were: Mr. Victor Ifijeh (the current MD of The Nation newspaper who was THISDAY editor then), Alhaji Yusuph Olaniyonu (SA to Senate President Bukola Saraki who was THISDAY politics editor at the time) and THISDAY features editor.
They did a word-for-word reading and laughed themselves to stupor: this is pure plagiarism of the 1979 constitution!

The biggest irony abt the contentious nature of our constitution is the vicious condemnation of the 1999 constitution by some prominent Nigerians who mostly took part in the previous constitution starting committees, their kinsmen took part and hwy never raised any suspicion or got favour & protection,by the system.

Following the assassination of Nigerian military Head of State, General Murtala Mohammed in 1976, his successor General Olusegun Obasanjo initiated the transition process to terminate military rule in 1979. A new constitution was drafted, which saw the Westminster system of government (previously used in the First Republic) jettisoned for an American-style Presidential system.

In the making of the 1979 Constitution, southerners were members of the Constitution Drafting Committee (CDC), Constituent Assembly (CA) and the Supreme Military Council (SMC) that eventually approved and decreed the 1979 Constitution into effect.

Also, southern leaders played significant roles in the process leading to the 1999 Constitution, beginning with the Constitution Debate Co-ordinating Committee (CDCC) to the Provisional Ruling Council (PRC) that finally gave it legal teeth.

Those who believed that the constitution was imposed or dictated by military are just insulting the wisdom and character of their forefathers for accepting what is imposed on them by chairing the committee and drafting what they reject. 1999 constitution is a draft of 1979 constitution with few amendments. Obasanjo, a Southerner constituted the committee headed by Southerner and in 2022 u have the got to come with this shallow, unacceptable excuses backing them with unfounded accusations that u have mastermind and aspersed them on Fulani. Daft set of people!

Tonyman55:
How the wish that their thoughts about the east was right..... Since this festive holiday I have traveled from my village in Ezinihitte Mbaise to Orlu Dow to Owerri to Aba and to Ogidi were my sister was married from there I excorted my uncle to nnewi to buy Tipper parts.... But here in Nairaland no one is living in the East anymore... Because some some foolish monicers are analyzing the east from their godforsaken region

My brother that's how it is even in Borno that's almost war torn people still move around. That does not erode the fact that there's still insecurity in the land.
There are days people will fear to go outside in this east no matter how important that movement is and that's definition of insecurity.