Eminent Nigerians, including former President Goodluck Jonathan, former Chairman Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Attahiru Jega and the immediate past President-General, Ohanaeze Nd’Igbo, Chief John Nwodo, converged on Abuja Thursday to discuss the much-agitated restructuring.
The duo of Jonathan and Jega were meeting for the first time at a public function some six years after the Jega-led INEC declared the former president loser in the 2015 presidential elections.
While speaking at the 18th Daily Trust Dialogue themed: “Restructuring: Why? When? How?’’, Jonathan and Jega said restructuring should not be done in isolation, while Nwodo, and a chieftain of Afenifere, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, who spoke through virtual platform, said the current constitution had failed.
It can’t proffer solutions – Jonathan
In his opening remarks, Dr Jonathan, who chaired the occasion, said discussion on restructuring would not help and therefore called for the restructuring of the citizens’ minds, noting that most of the identified challenges at the federal level were very much in existence at the state and local levels.
The former president also said as a nation, Nigeria can’t be restructured without tackling some of the challenges confronting it, and wondered why an opposition could not win a local government election in any of the 36 states of the federation.
He said: “My conviction is that discussion on restructuring will not help except we restructure our minds, because some of the challenging issues at the national level still exist at the state and local levels.
“For instance, in some states, it is not easy for some persons to win an election because of the area they come from, the language they speak or their religious belief. Take a look at how local government elections are conducted at the state level. Why is it very difficult for an opposition party to win a chairmanship or councillorship seat in a state, despite the fact that the same party probably secured seats in the State Assembly and National Assembly elections, organized by a federal election management body?
“This shows that restructuring alone may not solve all the anomalies in the system. I believe that restructuring for a better nation is good but there are other fundamental issues we should also address. We cannot restructure in isolation without tackling the challenges that polarize our nation.
“These include nepotism, ethnic and religious differences as well as lack of patriotism. The issues of tribe and religion have continued to limit our unity and progress, as a nation.”
Restructuring not sufficient – Jega
Also speaking, former INEC boss, Professor Attahiru Jega, who acknowledged that the country should be restructured, said restructuring alone won’t guarantee stability and progress.
Rather, he suggested that Nigeria should pursue systematic, incremental positive changes and avoid “once for all” in its undertakings.
He said: “To my mind, there is no doubt that, understood properly, without grandstanding and brinkmanship, restructuring is necessary and the time to begin to concretely commence it is NOW.
“But there should be no doubt, also, that although restructuring is necessary, it is not a sufficient condition for stability, progress and socio-economic development in Nigeria.
“If and when Nigeria is ‘restructured’ and managed well, along the lines as suggested, the benefits to the citizens of remaining together in one united country would by far out-weigh the costs of separation into smaller ethno-religious entities.
“The best way to restructure the Nigerian federation is to pursue systematic, incremental positive changes and avoid “once for all”, wholesale, undertakings, because they are time consuming, energy sapping, and constraining’’.
Our constitution is faulty – Nwodo
While agitating for restructuring, the immediate past President of the Ohanaeze Nd’Igbo, Chief Nwodo, said Nigeria’s constitution was faulty, saying former President Olusegun Obasanjo was sworn in as president in 1999 with a constitution which nobody had seen.
Nwodo, who was Information minister under the Abdulsalami Abubakar government, said as a member of the Federal Executive Council, he did not see the copy of the 1999 Constitution before the Obasanjo government was inaugurated.
He said the constitution was drafted by 47 persons appointed by the then Head of State, 40 of whom were military officers.
“I was the Minister of Information and it was my responsibility to publicise the constitution. I never saw a copy (of the constitution) and I never knew who was printing it. The National Assembly could not be inaugurated until four days after the president’s inauguration because there was no clean copy of the constitution.
“We should restructure now because the constitutional history of Nigeria shows that the only constitutions of the Federal Republic of Nigeria made by all the ethnic groups in Nigeria were the 1960 and 1963 constitutions,” Nwodo said.
1999 constitution has failed—Adebanjo
Speaking along same line, Chief Adebanjo, who spoke through virtual, said Nigeria should be restructured immediately, saying anybody talking about the 2023 elections without constitution amendment is not serious because the 1999 Constitution had failed.
Adebanjo also said the zoning of the presidency should be constitutional, stating that the position is sensitive and should not be determined through a gentleman’s arrangement.
“We should restructure Nigeria now. Anybody opposing restructuring is part of those who want to break this country. We should make the zoning of the president a constitutional matter. It should not be a gentleman’s arrangement.
“The current constitution has failed and anybody talking about elections without changing the constitution is not sincere. Until we go back to restructuring, we won’t have peace,” he said.