Tony Nnadi, NINAS,
29 August 2022
Like several clichés before it, the “Let’s Take Back Nigeria” campaign jingo is rallying and mobilizing the traumatized peoples of Nigeria behind a hope that the emergence of a good and competent man as President automatically translates to the recovery of Nigeria from the demons that have for decades, reigned supreme over Nigeria.
Unfortunately, this hope is built on a fundamental misreading, misunderstanding and misapprehension of the terrible reality we are caught in.
Many of our people do not realize that the Nigeria they want to take back is currently confiscated, not by politicians and political parties, but by the Constitution of Nigeria.
The Sovereignty of the constituent peoples of Nigeria is hijacked and confiscated by the imposed 1999 Constitution of Nigeria.
It is this hijack and confiscation of Sovereignty that translated itself into the untenable and unworkable UNITARY aberration we have in place of the Federal Union Nigeria was agreed to be at Independence.
The massive failures and dysfunctions of Nigeria flow directly from this over-centralization and gross inefficiencies wrought by this Unitarism, resulting in the nightmares of Insecurity, Humongous Corruption, Gross impunity, Decayed infrastructure, Massive Impoverishment and the general hopelessness we behold, even as Nigeria manifest all indices of a failed state, while its constituent component blocs seek exit from the failed toxic union of death Nigeria has become for them under the Rogue 1999 Constitution.
Taking Back Nigeria would therefore mean a recovery of that Sovereignty and Self-Determination rights that would restore Nigerians to the ownership and control of their Union and their destiny.
Anyone who is talking about Taking Back Nigeria in the context of wresting power from one political party and handing same to another political party under the same 1999 Constitution is either ignorant or dishonest.
Even by Peter Obi’s admission, the Unitary Constitution of Nigeria is like the knocked engine of the rickety vehicle we call “Nigeria.”
Just months before the Primaries for 2023, candidate Peter Obi posited that the engine of the Nigerian vehicle was knocked and therefore that the priority for Nigeria should be to find a replacement for that engine or get a new vehicle altogether, and not to look for a new driver.
For the sake of clarity, the engine of vehicle-Nigeria is the 1999 Constitution. The driver is the President of Nigeria.
If, as is self-evident, the engine of the vehicle (Nigeria) is knocked, what is the great purpose of committing so much energy to recruiting a new driver (President) instead of first finding a new engine or vehicle?
One would ask: Why is Peter Obi loading young people into a vehicle without an engine, knowing fully well that those young people in the Obi-dient Movement do not know that the engine of the Vehicle they are boarding is knocked?
Is it not an option right now to redirect the massive energies, and force already galvanized by the PVC Revolution and ObidientMovement into ousting the 1999 Constitution just by demanding that the fundamental constitutional reconstruction of Nigeria be undertaken before further National Elections?
Yes, we all want Change; but is this not the time to DEFINE the Change we want and the MECHANISMS for attaining that Change?
The December 16, 2020, NINAS Constitutional Force Majeure Proclamation, presents us a Comprehensive Template for rerouting the energies thrown up by the PVC Revolution towards the turning off of the tap (ie 1999 Constitution) from which the woes and miseries of Nigeria and Nigerians flow.
Anything less than the ousting of the 1999 Constitution will be a waste of the successful Revolution that threw up candidate Peter Obi, even if Peter Obi is declared the winner in 2023 (in the event we wobble on to elections in February 2023) since that Constitution will survive and the winner will have to swear to uphold, defend and govern by that Constitution.
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Tony Nnadi,
