Between Patriots’ New Constitution and a New Nigeria

The recent call by a group of Nigerian elites, led by elder statesman, Chief Emeka Anyaoku for a new constitution is coming at a time when what is most needed is a new Nigeria, away from the very hurtful country we have today, reports David-Chyddy Eleke.

Last week, members of The Patriots, a group of eminent Nigerians led by a former Commonwealth Secretary-General, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, met with President Bola Tinubu at the State House, Abuja and appealed to the President to send an executive bill to the National Assembly, proposing the convening of a National Constituent Assembly with the mandate to produce a draft of what they called the people’s democratic constitution.

Anyaoku while addressing Tinubu on the occasion said: “The constituent assembly should be of directly elected individuals, on a non-political basis, from the 36 states of the federation, possibly three individuals per state, and one from the FCT. They should be assisted by seven constitutional lawyers, one drawn from each of the six geo-political zones and the FCT. The deliberations of the constituent assembly should take into full account the 1960/63 constitutions, as well as the recommendations of the 2014 National Conference and indeed of the various national conferences that considered the Nigerian constitutions.

”The draft constitution, produced by the constituent assembly, should be put to a national referendum and if approved, should then be signed by the President as the genuine Nigerian people’s constitution. The Patriots had organised a well-attended colloquium in March 2024, where it was unanimously agreed that Nigeria needs a new people’s constitution. We have confidence in your ability to lead the constitutional transformation, considering your personal record as one of the greatest champions of Nigeria’s struggle for democracy,” the elder statesman told Tinubu.

Also speaking with reporters after the visit, Anyaoku explained that: “The Patriots are a non-partisan group of eminent Nigerians, who are committed to the unity of our country and good governance of our country under a legitimate people’s democratic constitution. So we came to convey this view that Nigeria needs a people’s democratic constitution. We affirmed to Mr. President that Nigeria is a pluralistic country. And you all know that pluralistic countries exist all over the world. Those of them that addressed their pluralism by having true federal constitutions have survived. Examples are India and Canada.”

This would not be the first time Anyaoku was expressing his deep love for Nigeria and how things can be put aright. Early this year when Anyaoku marked his 91st birthday he had advised about how Nigeria could manage its diversity, to avoid a break up. He marked the celebration with the inauguration of the Emeka and Bunmi Anyaoku Centre in Obosi, Anambra State, and in his speech he said the inauguration of the centre will be a hub of collaboration with universities, schools, institutes to promote studies in various areas, and it has enough materials to help leaders address the challenges posed by diversity.

Responding to the requests by The Patriots, Tinubu informed them that retooling the economy for sustainable growth and development was a major priority of his administration. The President also assured the group that their request for the convening of a national constituent assembly with a mandate to draft a new constitution would be reviewed. The President expressed his respect for The Patriots and their contributions to national discourse.

He said: “I have listened to you carefully, and this is not a group that I can ignore. This is a group of patriots reflecting the heart and aspirations of society. I thank all of you for being here. I have faced the challenge of this democracy that I inherited from your struggles. I must recognise the fact that these challenges are most required for good governance. We have no other choice, and I also believe that it is most difficult to manage the twist and turns of democratic governance. I want to assure all of you that as I listened to your two major requests on the path to referendum, that should lead to constitutional measures that will fit our diversity and governance so that we avoid conflicts and break-ups.   

”I believe in the unity of this country and I want to assure you that whatever is necessary to put happiness and good governance in the hands of all Nigerians is what I would do.

”The avoidance of chaos is necessary to build this country and move its aspirations forward for the benefit of all of us. I am currently preoccupied with economic reform. That is my first priority. Once this is in place, as soon as possible, I will look at other options, including constitutional review as recommended by you and other options,” the President said.

As germane as the demands of The Patriots may appear, there have been disagreements as to the urgency of the demand against the biting economic hardship in the country.

Some analysts have argued that the demand even though good, is not what the country needs at a time when youths are protesting about the hunger in the land. Others believe the constitutional conference convened by former president Goodluck Jonathan in 2014 should rather suffice, to avoid waste of funds.

In 2014, the national confab committee set up by former President Goodluck Jonathan had recommended that the country should return to the old national anthem. The former president had inaugurated the 492-member confab, headed by Idris Kutigi, a retired suprem court judge, to deliberate on the country’s political system. The committee which had been hailed as all encompassing had members from all spheres of life, and had made far reaching recommendations on how the fortunes of Nigeria could be turned around.

Successive presidents after Jonathan had ignored the recommendations of the committee, including Jonathan himself who failed to implement it.

A respondent from Anambra state, Mr Chikezie Eze said: “I don’t know why they should be calling for new constitution at a time when Nigerians are talking of something as important as food. Their call may be okay, but what is most critical now should have been for The Patriots to speak to Tinubu and appeal to him about reversing fuel subsidy, cutting cost of governance and ameliorating the bitting hunger in the land. The poor people will not eat constitution.

“Also, they should have rather channeled energy in asking the president to start by implementing the recommendations of the 2014 national confab. You can not be telling him of a whole new constitution, when we have a draft document that is lying somewhere and gathering dust, that has not been implemented. It sounds Utopian to Tinubu to embark on a whole new constitution, when there are low hanging fruits that he can pluck, like the recommendations of the national confab. What is even the possibility that he would sign a new constitution into law, when there are others that have not been signed?

“The old national anthem which the president recently brought back to life was also part of the recommendation of the 2014 national confab. Why did he single out that recommendation for action, even though it holds very little or no impact in the agitations in the country?” Eze asked.

Another respondent with the name Africa Column who reacted on the internet outrightly dismissed the call for a new constitution. He said: “This group should be reminded again that the present constitution and statutory laws are not all along the reasons for bad governance let alone the problems of the country.

“There is nothing wrong with our present constitution and statutory laws, but the inability, corrupt and deliberate misinterpretation and misuse by our judges. A good example is our constitutional provision of Federal Character. The Federal Character provision which is generally for the public sector covers employment, appointment and elected positions.

“Yet in its practice, rotational leadership is deliberately omitted. The omission is done by incumbent Presidents to suit their interests. Most if not all of them and some key people in society will always argue that Federal Character does not cover rotational leadership.

“But, although the constitution did not specifically mention rotational Presidency, the North and South derived gentleman agreement from the Federal Character provision to rotate the Presidency between North and South every eight years.

“As things are, a new constitution is not the issue but a good Government that will restructure the country and bring about the related new constitution. Tinubu, in as much as he has not the capability, is definitely not the one to do these. Hence the protest for a fresh Federal Government election (President and National Assembly) to bring a good Government to effect the desired change for good.”

It is also good that President Tinubu in welcoming The Patriots, stated to them that what is far more important was solving economic crisis in the country first. The president may need to concentrate more on this and give young people reason to stay off the streets in protest to bad leadership.