Everywhere you look, people just do not want to be in Nigeria. Professionals from every field, the unskilled, those who want a normal education – all are seeking to flee abroad to join the millions who have already successfully escaped Nigeria. Add to them the politically exposed persons, that corrupt class of Nigerians who also escape Nigeria as much as possible, finding any excuse to be abroad “seeking investors” or “medical trip” and also, their spouses and children are overseas, far away from the life that Nigeria inflicts upon those who are living inside it. These, who voting with their feet to stay away are saying that they want no more of Nigeria, they have rejected the Nigeria Union.
Let us review some important facts to be clear where Nigerians are, so that the path chosen to go forward will be the right one.
1. Sharia was installed in the twelve contiguous states of Nigeria’s core north ie the Arewa Bloc in contravention of pre-Independence agreements. This was also a challenge to the 1999 Constitution and is equivalent to opting out of the secular Union that Nigeria is supposed to be. It is a form of secession. As has been argued elsewhere, why did Obasanjo who was President at the time do nothing, and not bring Arewa Bloc to order when Arewa Bloc effectively seceded from the Union, like he had helped do in the Biafra Republic case? But that long-unanswered question is for another day. What we retain is that Arewa Bloc in unilaterally taking up Sharia from year 2000, left the secular Nigeria Union, and the word “secede” can be applied to their action.
2. The 1999 Constitution, foisted upon Nigerians is a known Forgery and is Military Decree 24 deceitfully renamed. It codifies for a Unitary Nigeria with a dysfunctional and unworkable Constitutional Arrangement that is the source of the miseries Nigerians complain about, and it empowers the genocidal violence against Nigerians by the immigrant settler Fulani for land grabbing, to bring about Ahmadu Bello’s Declaration reported on 12 October 1960 that Nigeria is to become the “estate” of the Fulani. Thus, whether Nigeria is led by a “good man” or a “bad man”, that person would have to govern by the Provisions of the 1999 Constitution so the miseries and the Fulanization agenda that flow out of them would continue. What we retain is that Nigeria’s CORE problem is structural, and is its faulty Constitutional Arrangement (Bad leadership and corruption are secondary matters, products of the 1999 Constitution).
3. From 1999, having done the required preparatory work to Decommission the illegitimate 1999 Constitution using an ORDERLY PROCESS that leaves NO POWER VACUUM, a Constitutional Force Majeure was Declared on 16 December 2020 to start the Enforcement process of Termination of that 1999 Constitution and to Resolve the lingering Union Dispute ie the quarrel over the legitimacy of the Nigeria Union. Therefore, the door to Transitioning for Constitutional Renegotiation had been open since 16 December 2020. NINAS, the voice of the SOVEREIGN indigenous peoples of the non-Sharia areas, thus the Middle-Belt and South, had warned the illicit government of Nigeria not to use its might against Nigerians by dragging them to 2023 Elections under the Repudiated 1999 Constitution, and when Nigeria had now become a DISPUTED PROJECT. Proceeding to the 2023 presidential Voting Exercise where both the Electoral Law and the 1999 Constitution (Forgery though it is) were tossed aside produced the current UNTENABLE outcomes. What we retain is that Nigeria’s government chose to defy the undeniable Truth that SOVEREIGNTY belongs to the indigenous Ethnic Nations over their ancestral spaces, and that a Union created by a Forgery ie the 1999 Constitution now also Repudiated, means that there is NO UNION. (Just like if all you have is counterfeit money, no matter the amount, you actually have NO money).
4. Long before the so-called 2023 Elections, NINAS had predicted that if that 2023 Event was to happen, “there would be NO Nigeria for the winner to govern”. That is exactly what is happening – a total SYSTEM FAILURE. Recently, NINAS put out a Communiqué stating:
“…It is also past debate that if that Interment is not swiftly carried out, the Toxic Remains of that Constitution which is already emitting massive doses of noxious substances now being perceived as System Failure will trigger a major Political and Social Upheaval in the West African Sub-Region and beyond with widespread Implications for the Global Community…”
What now?
The simple answer is: STOP THE LIES!
Given all the killings going on in the Middle-Belt and moving southwards, plus the hunger created by Fulani invaders by deliberately destroying working farms, and the increasing cost of living, those in government should STOP the Lies, the Deceptions, and the Gimmicks. For example the newest thing now is to bamboozle the public with notions of “Parliamentary System” of governance. Meanwhile, is there any Union of Nigeria to govern in the first place? Facts: Arewa Bloc seceded from the Union with Sharia; the 1999 Constitution that creates the Union is a Forgery; by the Constitutional Force Majeure Nigeria became a DISPUTED PROJECT. So, the matter of whether there is even a Union should first be Resolved before deciding what type of governance system will be used.
Since indigenous Ethnic Nations have SOVEREIGNTY, let us hear from NINAS, their Voice again:
“The Nigeria defined by this fraud of 1999 is a farce. We really have No Union and the heated discussion going on now in Nigeria is more about whether the trapped constituent peoples of Nigeria wish to forge a fresh union or go their separate ways, than about how to fix the Unworkable Unitary Union.” – NINAS, from Status Report JANUARY 21, 2024.
Let the lying stop. There is NO Union. The question now is: do indigenous Ethnic Nations want to continue with a renegotiated Nigeria Union? Every day that passes more Nigerians are killed by Fulani for land grabbing, more get kidnapped, more lose their livelihoods, more enter poverty, more suffer miseries. Nigerians need not carry on in this manner, the Transitioning Template for Constitutional Renegotiation has been on the Table. The outcome can be a Federation, a Confederation, or independent Successor Countries. NINAS says: there will be no power vacuum, the current governance structures can be Transformed into Transitioning.
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.
