By Ndidi Uwechue
25th February 2022
Increasingly, people are rejecting then Repudiating the fraud called “1999 Constitution”, a forgery foisted upon Nigerians. Now more calls for a new Constitution are being made. That is good, because one cannot keep any Union long-term by forgery and by force. It would unravel as Nigeria is doing right now. Not surprisingly, the Unionists who benefit from this fraud have quickly swung into action to defraud Nigerians with yet another fraud that they are cooking up. They are trying to put into the minds of Nigerians that all it takes is to have “constitutional reviews” or “constitutional amendments” done, and voilà, a new Constitution will be obtained.
Fortunately, there are still one or two Nigerians or Nigerian-heritage people who understand that for a sustainably peaceful future, it is essential that the right thing is done, and that the right thing is done the right way. Thus, what is to be done must be Law-based not based on emotions, or based on whatever a “strong man” somewhere desires. Some facts:
#1: The Nigeria that was agreed to exist as a Union was terminated by the military coups in 1966.
#2: For any future Union called Nigeria to exist, it must as aminimum be a Federation.
#3: A Federation is a union of Constitutions.
To keep it as simple as possible, prior to Independence, each of the three Regions that would subsequently come together into a Union, ALREADY HAD their Regional Constitutions. Thus, the Federation was a Union of those three Regional Constitutions that were then bound together by a Federating (or Federal) Constitution. To make it very clear, there was a total of four Constitutions because each of the three federating units, (thus each Region) had its Regional Constitution, then there was also the Federating Constitution. That, is the right way of doing things.
The situation today is that a “strong man” created 36 states which are said to be the federating units. So, to those bewitchingNigerians that all that is needed is to tinker around with the 1999 Constitution and a Federation would result, where then are the 36 State Constitutions – since a Federation is a union of Constitutions? This same question will need to be answered by those others who think that simply creating ONE new Constitution will suffice. It would not. A Federation is a union of Constitutions!
There is also the very big issue of the Preamble of the 1999 Constitution which brings about a Union Dispute, to permanently and properly resolve. The Preamble falsely claims that Nigerians came together to agree the Union we see (a Unitary system, with 36 states, a 68-item Exclusive List, a presidential system, etc), and that Nigerians wrote that 1999 Constitution. Here are the words of the Preamble:
“WE THE PEOPLE of the Federal Republic of Nigeria:
Having firmly and solemnly resolved:
To live in unity and harmony as one indivisible and indissoluble Sovereign Nation under God dedicated to the promotion of inter-African solidarity, world peace, international co-operation and understanding:
AND TO PROVIDE for a Constitution for the purpose of promoting the good government and welfare of all persons in our country on the principles of Freedom, Equality and Justice, and for the purpose of consolidating the Unity of our people:
DO HEREBY MAKE, ENACT AND GIVE TO OURSELVES the following Constitution…”
These are hefty words and people were killed who challenged them, so resolving the issues brought about by this Preamble ought to be done with all soberness and earnestness. Thus, those who call for “constitutional review” and “constitutional amendment” by saying new arrangements will come to Nigeriathrough having “state police”, or having “resource control” or is about “devolving power to the states” should have a good re-read of this Preamble to see that it is about who has SOVEREIGNTY, and about ethnic nations regaining their SELF-DETERMINATION hijacked by the sham 1999 Constitution.
Thus, using Law-based processes, plus, having as our example the methodology used by the three Regions of the time when they decided to federate as a Union in the 1950s, there would be a Two-Stage Process.
Stage 1: Just as had been done prior to Independence, ethnic nations in formations of their choice and compatibility would FIRST have made their Regional Constitutions.
Stage 2: Looking at the Preamble, “We the people should firmly and solemnly resolve to live in unity… …. And to provide for a Constitution” is decided by Regional Referendums where ethnic nations would vote to either re-commit to the Union of Nigeria, or to go for something else. If the ethnic nations vote to re-commit to the Union of Nigeria, then there would be negotiations to determine how that Union would be, then a Federating Constitution made.
For far too long the battered down peoples of Nigeria have come to see only a feudal-style system where a “strong man” dictates to them what must be, and where state harassment and terror is the norm. This Two-Stage Process described above is fully DEMOCRATIC and recognizes that it is the indigenous ethnic nations that have Sovereignty and an inalienable right to Self-Determination in their ancestral land. It is the non-violent Propositions already placed on the table by the NINAS Movement that proclaimed a Constitutional Force Majeure on 16th December 2020 which started the decommissioning of the illegitimate 1999 Constitution using an ORDERLY PROCESS.
The website of the NINAS Movement is at www.ninasvoice.org
Ndidi Uwechue is a British citizen with Igbo heritage from the Lower Niger Bloc. She is a retired Metropolitan (London) Police Officer, she is a signatory to the Constitutional Force Majeure, and she writes from Abuja.
