Published On: Wed, Jan 5th, 2022

Nigeria Needs Referendum, Not Election

By Chief  (Barr.) Malcolm Emokiniovo  Omirhobo

LAGOS JANUARY 5TH (URHOBOTODAY)-The constitution of a country is a contract that legally  binds it’s  people  and their government .  Like  every other contract,  a  constitution is  valid only if it is  consensual amongst the people of a country and essentially   devoid from Misrepresentation, Mistake, Duress, Undue Influence and Illegality.

Looking at the Nigerian 1999 constitution,  can we soberly and  honestly say that it has the consensus of the Nigerian people? Can we honestly say that it is not vitiated  by Misrepresentation, Mistake, Duress, Undue Influence and Illegality ?  The answer to these questions are honestly speaking  in  the negative  

It is regrettably and unfortunate  that many  Nigerians do not know that the Nigerian 1999  constitution is a military decree,  fraudulently and deceitfully foist on us by a bunch of  irresponsible selfish and self centered military men and their cohorts in 1999  with clauses protecting them  and their loots of our common wealth  before   handing over power to  Nigerian civilians .

It is sad, that twenty two years after  ,  successive unscrupulous  Nigerian  civilian governments have shamelessly  for their selfish gains  refused to question the validity of the evil document called the 1999 constitution . They have continued  to benefit from it while   running  Nigeria on falsehood with a defective and faulty foundation  ensuring that Nigeria  solemnly binds  herself to be false to the future .

Nigeria as presently constituted is built on a pack of lies that is bound to collapse anytime soon if we fail to make amends .

What Nigeria despirately needs right now   is a referendum and not an election .  It is imperative that we the people of  Nigeria  renegotiate the unity of Nigeria  and not have it  impose  on us  as it is now . The issues of the  over centralisation of powers and  resources control must be addressed before we  think of any future  election in Nigeria .

Conducting election in 2023  without putting aside the military decree  called the 1999 constitution amounts to Nigerians living in a fool’s  paradise which    ultimately will lead to the eventual collapse of Nigeria .

I am therefore advising our politicians to stop treating Nigeria   like their private estate. They should stop   conjecturing who will be the next president and what part of the country  he will  come from . We must shelf aside  the 2023 election and conduct a referendum on the structure and frame work of a new Nigeria . With a peoples’   constitution in place , it will not matter who the next president of Nigeria will be or where  he will  come from .

If you ask me I will suggest that we return to the four regions ( the East , West, North and Midwest) as we had it in the first Republic pulling down all the state boundaries created by the military to cause division amongst us . Better still  the current 36 States plus Abuja can with consensus of the people  be   merged into fewer viable,  formidable and competitive states .

I am doubtful if any component   part of Nigeria  genuinely wants to secede from Nigeria because we all need each other to prosper as a great country once the necessary assurances are given . I believe that my Igbo brothers can be great in technology and even  greater than Japan and China  put together in this same  Nigeria if given autonomy .  During the Nigeria Biafra War, they refined their oil, produced armoured tanks ,  bombs  and fabricated spare parts for their vehicles and machines . Managed their telecommunications and operated the most busiest airport in Africa  even without electricity . Apart from technology the East is a tourist destination and home of hospitality . It is  blessed with oil  deposits and coal which can be tapped for its benefit. In the first Republic , the defunct Eastern region competed with its Western counter part  establishing the  University of Nigeria, providing quality education , building good roads and infrastructures and running it’s government with internally generated funds without help from the Federal government.

I believe that   the West  can be  a  very highly commercialised, agricultural cum  tourist destination in the world   given its advantage of  the Lagos sea port , coastal land and  boundary with other west African Countries .The West have done it before and can still do it again .   With proceeds from Cocoa the West  built good roads that have stood the test of time , provided free education , built the Cocoa house in the sixties which is still solidly and beautifully  adorning the biggest City  in West Africa today , established the  university of Ibadan , which is the first university in Nigeria  . Set up teaching hospitals and research centers . Built the first television and radio stations in Africa . It may interest many of us to know  that the defunct Western Nigeria got her TV station before most European countries like France.

The people of the Niger Delta can go back to their Palm oil and rubber plantations. The oil deposit in their land will be of an added   advantage to their development .

The North can be a very rich region with agriculture, tourism  and proceeds from  gold deposit and other solid minerals . I am sure we can remember the groundnut pyramid and   how the defunct Northern Nigeria established the  Ahmadu Bello University (ABU)  , built roads , hospitals and  ran it’s government  without help from the center .

On the federal government’s  part it will have to  revert to only taking  care of our defence , immigration , customs , diplomacy  and currency while allowing the states to take off its shoulders those many items in the exclusive list that is currently over burdening it.  With this out look,  there will be devolution of powers and consequently power will return to the grass root as the local and state governments will become powerful once again.

We have nothing to loose if we renegotiate  the unity of Nigeria and lot to loose if we don’t. Allowing  Military juntas and their cohorts to  define who we are is not only insulting  to us as a people but also  delimiting on our potentials and capability as a country .

We must lay to rest this lazy style of  governance wherein  states  goes  to Abuja every month to collect monthly allocation without contributing anything to the system . With a renegotiated Nigeria every state will have to  fend for itself with proceeds of what they generate and will not have to look up to Abuja for funds to run their states .

I will like to end this write up by stating categorically that there is no poor state in Nigeria . All states in Nigeria are endowed with both human and natural resources,  so there should be no fear for my call for  a referendum.

 

 

Chief (Barr.) Malcolm Emokiniovo  Omirhobo,  a Human Right Lawyer writes from Lagos

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