The initial lull in the activities of terrorists, bandits and militants visiting pain and death on Nigerians was probably to test if President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s approach would be different from those of his predecessors. Sadly, the nightmare of haunted Nigerians has returned and now in full swing. Over 280 schoolchildren and some teachers abducted from Kuriga, Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State, by bandits on Thursday, March 7, are currently marooned in the forest with their captors.   A fresh attack on the same Dogon-Noma community, Kajuru Local Government Area in the early hours of Saturday, barely three days after left one dead and eight women kidnapped.  A renewed attack on Sunday resulted in the harvesting of an additional 87 captives.

The nation’s nightmare continued with Sunday’s mindless killing of 17 gallant soldiers of the 181 Amphibious Battalion, Bomadi Local Government Area of Delta State by irate youths while on a peace mission to Okuoma community over land dispute.

 Once again, as tragic as the above incidents are, the two different events are mere symptoms of our unresolved national question. We cannot continue to do the same thing over and over and expect different result. A people that refuse to learn from history will be punished by history. Our leaders enjoy playing the ostrich instead of helping us to confront our own demons.

For instance, where will bandits get ungoverned forest to hide 285 children in a strong northwest region, with state police, community police and forest guards heavily armed to secure communities and their forests? And what will be the business of highly trained military personnel with local land dispute in a Bomadi LGA, not created and funded from Abuja but created, funded and run by the natives?

President Tinubu however must take full responsibility for the continued nightmare of Nigerians. The buck stops at his table. He asked for the job and had 20 years to prepare for it. Kuriga was preventable because the president was familiar with the April 14, 2014 abduction of 214 Chibok schoolgirls and fruitless search by Babagana Monguno’s (the National Security Adviser (NSA) 100 jet fighters. President Tinubu could not have suddenly forgotten that the February 19, 2018 carting away of 110 students of Government Girls’ Science Technical College (GGSTC), Dapchi, in 11 trucks by suspected Boko Haram terrorists in military fatigues was blamed by the international community on absence of governance.

President Tinubu understands the nature of our crisis of nation-building and the solutions canvassed by Nigerian stakeholders since 1970. Some two months back, Wole Soyinka, regarded as the conscience of the nation, was with him in Abuja to remind him of the imperative of restructuring.  Just last week, Akinwunmi Adesina, an internationally acknowledged Nigerian star during his presentation of the Awo Foundation lecture, spoke of the possibility of “a united states of Nigeria”. And just this last Monday, Emeka Anyaoku, another recognized Nigerian star who spoke at the gathering of ‘The Patriot’, a group initiated by late Professor Ben Nwabueze and Rotimi Williams both of whom regretted foisting a unitary constitution on the country in 1979, where he reminded us that like most multi-ethnic societies, the federal option is the only way of liberating individual and groups from the tyranny of the state.

The implication of this is that if the police as a vital state institution is defined by society, we don’t in the real sense of it have federal police but police that wear the colours of ethnic nationalities. And this is why the police is not answerable to the state but to ethnic groups, powerful individuals and the highest bidder including criminals. We could not have suddenly forgotten how President Buhari’s IGP Ibrahim Idris told Nigerians that terrorists who killed, maimed and confiscated the community land of victim condemned to IDP camps were ghosts.

A structure that sustains an IGP’s arrogance in selectively determining which states laws to implement cannot effectively address states’ security challenges.  This is why it has been tales after tales from one IGP to the other even as killings by terrorists and kidnapping by bandits continue in many of the states.

President Tinubu understands where the rain started to beat us and has not got the luxury of playing the ostrich.

Our founding fathers bequeathed onto us a working federal constitution. Military adventurers in search of a vision of better society they were ill-equipped to understand starting with Aguiyi Ironsi came up with the 1966 Unification Decree 34.

Eleven of Gowon military messiahs were found to be men with feet of clay. Murtala Muhammed destroyed academia and bureaucracy, the two institutions without which society decays.

Fast forward to the Babangida regime in 1985. While he was busy turning the nation to net importer of labour of other societies by ceding the commanding heights of the economy to mostly dubious and ill-equipped members of the governing elite interested only in asset stripping, he was christened “Prince of the Lower Niger’’ by grovelling intellectuals and received the National Economic Society of Nigeria’s (NES) highest honour for his handling of the economy.

 Obasanjo started massive centralization of states institutions. As an elected president, he sold our patrimony in the name of privatization. And without understanding that no modern state has ever developed since the 18th century without the central role of political parties, he destroyed PDP, AD and ANPP in the name of “mainstreaming”. Out of office, perhaps as an admission of failure, he in 2018 inaugurated a short-lived movement he claimed “will mobilise our population for unity, cooperation, development, rule of law, employment, law and order, justice, integration, peace, security, stability, welfare and well-being”.

If only on account of the humongous amount stolen under President Goodluck Jonathan’s watch, those who claimed he was the answer to the national question served none but themselves.

We have seen how Muhammadu Buhari frittered away goodwill of Nigerians for eight years while being held hostage by terrorists visiting death on Nigerians.

Well prepared Tinubu, unlike his ill-prepared predecessors who instead of learning how other multi-ethnic societies face their own demons played the ostrich while self-serving members of the governing elite demonstrated their lack of faith in the country by stealing the country blind, has an edge.  From his experience from the trenches and strategic studies, he understands very clearly that lack of faith in one’s country arises from social discontent, marginalisation, injustice and denial of quest for self-actualisation, all of which find expression in social strife, sabotage of economic activities, rebellion, militancy and sometimes civil war.

Our nation has experienced these manifestations since the military misadventure into politics in 1966. If his predecessors did everything except addressing the causes of these malcontents, President Tinubu has his work cut out for him.

Settlement boosts economic confidence

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has cleared all $7 billion foreign exchange (forex) backlog inherited by Governor Yemi Cardoso.

In a statement yesterday, Acting Director of Corporate Communications, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mrs. Hakama Sidi Ali, confirmed the settlement of all valid forex backlog claims.

She explained that the CBN had employed Deloitte Consulting, an independent auditing firm, to meticulously assess the transactions, ensuring that only legitimate claims were honoured. 

“Any invalid transactions were referred to the relevant authorities for further investigation,” Sidi Ali said.

Governor Cardoso had emphasised the importance of clearing the backlog to restore credibility in the Nigerian economy. 

He stated that, “we made clearing the forex backlog a priority to restore credibility and confidence in the Nigerian economy.”

Cardoso further highlighted the completion of a “credible process” to verify the authenticity of these obligations and expressed his satisfaction in clearing all “genuine, verifiable transactions.”

He underscored the significance of resolving this issue, stating, “This encumbrance to market confidence in the country’s ability to meet its obligations is now totally behind us.”

The CBN’s commitment to tackling the forex backlog appeared to be paying off.  External reserves have seen a significant rise. The Nation had reported the reserves rose to its highest point in nine moinths last weekened. This increase was attributed to a notable rise in remittance payments from Nigerians abroad and increased foreign investment in local assets, including government debt securities.

The CBN’s actions are part of a broader strategy outlined during the last Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting. 

This strategy aims to stabilise the exchange rate by maintaining a stable exchange rate that helps to curb imported inflation and fosters a more predictable economic environment.

Sidi Ali said clearing the backlog demonstrates the CBN’s commitment to transparency and accountability, potentially enhancing confidence in the financial sector.

Analysts said increased foreign exchange reserves and improved liquidity in the forex market can contribute to economic growth by facilitating international trade and investment.

They noted that Cardoso’s efforts to address the forex backlog and manage foreign reserves strategically demonstrate the CBN’s focus on fostering a more stable and investor-friendly Nigerian economy.

[TheNation]

Much of the conversations regarding the sad and unwarranted attack on the men of the Nigerian Army in Okuama community of Ughelli South Local Government Area of Delta State have bordered around reprisal. Everyone seems concerned that the dead soldiers’ colleagues will go on a rampage. Several media reports that members of the Okuama community have reportedly gone into hiding, either fleeing into the bush or seeking refuge from neighbouring communities. Some reports keep recirculating one single photo that purportedly shows Okuama being razed by wrathful soldiers. The preoccupation with retaliation is understandable, given Nigeria’s history.

We all remember a similar incident in Odi community in Bayelsa State, in the same restive Niger Delta region, where a gang killed soldiers (and police officers) over issues of oil resources within their environment, the devastation it has caused, and the general degradation of their relationship with the Nigerian state. Nobody can forget the military response to that incident. From sexual assault to mass murder, Nigerian troops dealt with Odi. Two years after that incident, the military also invaded Zaki-Biam communities in Benue State after some members of their community abducted and murdered 19 soldiers. Several reports estimated that no less than 100 people were killed to avenge the death of their officers. Another unforgettable incident involving the Nigerian troops is the 2015 massacre of the Shiites. While not exactly a reprisal, the Shiites had reportedly stood in the path of the motorcade of then Chief of Army Staff Tukur Buratai. At least 350 of them—going by official figures—were killed for it.

I am bringing up these sundry histories not to relativise what happened to the soldiers in Okuama but to point out how the brutality of the Nigerian troops has overshadowed the humanity of their fallen soldiers. We have focused so much on what the troops will do to get even and redacted the supreme sacrifice of these soldiers’ lives in the process. The people who died are humans too and they left loved ones behind. Elsewhere, the focus would have been on the lives they led, not on the ferocity of their unforgiving peers. Their humanity must not be lost in our sight even as we get jittery about possible retaliatory attacks.

What is also being obscured in the discussions around the recent attack is that the Okuama killing is one of the many that have consumed Nigerian soldiers since the country started warring with—and within—itself. There are many—and God knows, too many! —reports of Nigerian officers getting killed within the warfront called Nigeria every time. Those casualty rates might not be worse if they fight an enemy nation outside the country’s borders. The frequency with which these Nigerian soldiers get ambushed calls into question everything from the larger structural problems of Nigeria’s insecurity to the training and intelligence reports these soldiers received, down to the character of the people within communities where these attacks are perpetuated.

For instance, at least 50 Nigerian soldiers were reported killed in an ambush in Gorgi, Yobe State, in March 2020. Before then, in 2018, there was another one in Zari village in Borno that claimed the lives of 48 soldiers. Also, 34 soldiers (and eight policemen) were also reported killed in June 2022 after being ambushed by gunmen who had attacked a mine in the Shiroro area of Niger State. The soldiers had been deployed to search for mine workers—including four Chinese—who had been reported kidnapped. Like the Okuama case, the soldiers were also responding to a distress call when they were surrounded and brutally murdered. One year later, in the same Shiroro area, another 36 soldiers were reported killed in twin attacks. Just last August, another 36 were killed in Chukuba, Niger State.

Look, I could go on and on cataloguing the series of ambushes Nigerian troops have faced in the course of their duty to the nation, but it is starting to get too morbid. Please also note that I have deliberately excluded the many occasions where soldiers got killed as a result of direct attacks by bandits and terrorists. The ones I listed here are those reported as an “ambush,” and they mimic the Okuama killings (that is, troops attacked and killed while responding to distress calls or on a supposed peacekeeping mission).

There are some vital factors to note about the frequency of the ambushes. One is that the fear of reprisal has not stopped the attacks on Nigerian troops. Whoever was behind the Okuama killings knew very well what the military could do to them or their communities in return, but even that was no deterrence. They still went ahead and killed those poor officers gruesomely. That suggests that, in reality, the reputation of the military as ruthless when provoked does not have the force people tend to associate with it when the thought of reprisal looms in their imagination.

That was why it was in poor form for the president, Bola Tinubu, to give the military “full authority” (whatever that was supposed to mean in practice) to bring those behind the killings to justice. As a supposedly democratic president, he should know better than put the “full authority” to ensure justice in the hands of the military when he knows there is still something in Nigeria called “the police” and “the courts.” The military was not set up to do justice; why apportion the responsibility to them? Given their history of retaliation against offending communities, why send them to go do “full justice”? He might as well just sign an execution order against the poor people of Okuama!

Our focus on Okuama and its aftermath should also not occlude the circumstances that led to the death of the poor soldiers. Several of the conflicting accounts explaining why the soldiers went to Okuama seemed like people trying too hard to alleviate the moral impact of the murder. Nothing justifies murder, simple. That said, the government owes us some clarity on what happened in Okuama. How did the soldiers die? What weapons or training did their assailants have that they could overpower so many trained officers? What pre-existing relationship did they have with their killers that precipitated the attacks on the soldiers?

In a press release by lawmaker Rt. Hon. Francis Waive representing Ughelli North, Ughelli South, and Udu Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, he noted the population of Okuama as “only a few hundred inhabitants” and wondered how a few people would inflict such damage. Like him, I am also curious to understand how the attack happened—the people involved, whether they had external help, and how they even mustered the confidence to stand up to armed soldiers. How did it happen that soldiers on a supposed peacekeeping mission ended up dead? There are many missing details that the military and the people of Okuama owe us, and the focus on reprisal is not helping the story to get clearer.

The Federal High Court in Abuja, on Wednesday, declined to halt the impeachment proceedings activated by the Edo State House of Assembly against the Deputy Governor, Philip Shaibu.

Justice James Omotosho declined an oral application by Shaibu’s lawyer, Prof. Olawoyin Awoyale, (SAN), asking the court to order parties in the suit marked  FHC/ABJ/CS/321/2024, to maintain the status quo.

In declining the prayer, the judge noted that “The Governor of Edo State and the Edo State House of Assembly, who are the principal actors in the matter,  have not been served with the Originating Summons of the suit as required by law.’’

He subsequently granted Shaibu’s prayer to serve the court papers on Obaseki and the state House of Assembly by substituted means.

Justice Omotoso ordered that the court process be pasted at the entrance gate of the Edo State Government House and the gate of the state House of Assembly Complex in Benin.

The Judge also directed that all court papers be served on parties in the matter with the use of a registered courier company.

Justice Omotoso adjourned further proceedings till April 15.

The Edo State  House of Assembly had on March 5, 2024, commenced impeachment proceedings against Shaibu over allegations of leaking of government’s secrets.

On Tuesday, the Assembly wrote to the Chief Judge of the state to constitute a seven-man panel to probe the allegations against Shaibu.

To stop the impeachment Shaibu filed the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/321/2024 before Justice Omotoso.

He is praying for an order restraining the defendants from proceeding with his impeachment.

However, for the second time on Wednesday, the judge refused to grant Shaibu a temporary relief to halt the impeachment move.

The judge had earlier in a ruling on March 13 turned down Shaibu’s ex parte application seeking an interim order to halt the proceedings pending the final determination of the suit.

“The motion ex parte for interim injunction dated and filed 8th day of March 2024 is hereby refused,” the judge held.

He adjourned till Wednesday for hearing in another motion ex parte brought by Shaibu seeking substituted service on the defendants due to his inability to serve them.

The impeachment move is believed to be the latest development in the rift between Shaibu and his principal, Governor Godwin Obaseki. There had been an uneasy calm between the deputy governor and his principal since last year when Shaibu declared his interest to join this year’s Edo governorship race.

[Punch]

A bill proposing a new structure of salaries and allowances for judicial officers in the country has passed the third reading at the House of Representatives.

President Bola Tinubu forwarded a letter along with the executive bill to the House of Representatives on Tuesday, urging swift passage of the proposed legislation.

In the letter, the president said the bill seeks to end the “prolonged stagnation” of the remuneration of judicial officers.

“The judicial office holders salaries and allowances bill seeks to prescribe salaries and allowances and fringe benefits for judicial officials to end the prolonged stagnation in their remuneration and to reflect contemporary socio-economic realities.”

Yesterday, the lower legislative chamber passed the bill after the third reading.

In the breakdown of the bill seen by TheCable, the Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, will receive a monthly salary of N5.4 million, amounting to N64.8 million per annum.

The breakdown of the remuneration shows that the CJN will receive a monthly basic salary of N1.1 million and N4.3 million in regular allowances.

The annual pay includes various components such as personal assistant allowance of N3.6 million, hardship allowance of N6.7 million, entertainment allowance of N6 million, utility allowance of N4 million, outfit allowance of N3.3 million, journal subscription allowance of N2 million, medical allowance of N5.3 million, long service allowance of N1.3 million, restricted or forced lifestyle allowance of N6.7 million, dual responsibility allowance of N2.9 million, and legal researchers’ allowance of N6.9 million.

The bill also proposes N61.4 million annually for justices of the Supreme Court.

[Vanguard]

Come Wednesday, I will be in Asaba, Delta State as one of the faculties at the Nigerian Army Quarterly Media dialogue. With the theme, ‘The imperatives of military-media partnership for the attainment of national security’, it is part of their efforts to secure the buy-in of critical stakeholders as they tackle the challenge of insecurity in Nigeria. Incidentally, 12 years ago in the same Asaba, I was one of the speakers at the Chief of Army Staff Annual Conference under Lt General Azubuike Ihejirika (rtd). Unfortunately, the mood will be different this time considering what happened last Thursday when some criminal gangs in Ughelli South Local Government ambushed troops of the 181 Amphibious Battalion after which the commanding officer, a Lt Colonel, two Majors, one Captain and 12 Soldiers were gruesomely murdered.

I join millions of Nigerians in commiserating with the families of the deceased and the Nigerian Army. As President Bola Tinubu rightly noted while granting full authority to the military high command to apprehend and bring to justice those responsible for the “unconscionable crime against the Nigerian people”, the unfortunate tragedy “demonstrates the dangers faced by our servicemen and women in the line of duty.” I also agree with the president that “As a nation, we must constantly remember and honour all those who have paid the ultimate price to keep our nation safe, strong, and united.”

From available reports, the CO and his troops did not die in a gun duel with the criminal gangs. They were ambushed and executed after which their bodies were cannibalised. No army in the world would allow such audacious barbarism against its officers and men to go unpunished. Meanwhile, I have read several posts either to excuse the bestiality as a ‘mistake’ because victims were taken for fake soldiers or provide justification on the pretext that the military had taken sides in the communal conflicts. For me, there is no defence for what happened. More worrisome is the recurrence of these killings of military troops by communal warlords in a nation where people who have lived together for centuries are now up in arms against one another.

Exactly three years ago (in March 2021 to be specific), a Captain and 11 soldiers were mowed down while trying to keep peace between the Bonta people of Konshisha local government and their neighbours, the Ukpute people of Oju local government in Benue State. As I explained at the time, both the Bontas (who are Tiv speaking) and the Ukputes (Igede speaking) are predominantly peasant farmers. The two groups have also cross settled in several villages along their boundary and even in some cases inter-married. Following a violent crisis at the time over the ownership of a parcel of land, troops were sent in to restore order only to run into an ambush orchestrated by one of the parties in the dispute. According to a statement by the army, not only were the soldiers brutally massacred, “the bandits proceeded to burn all the eleven soldiers and their officers beyond recognition while their weapons and ammunition were carted away.”

That the circumstances of the Delta killings bear similarities to what happened in Benue State three years ago is why the authorities must do more than perfunctory knee-jerk reactions. Between January 2018 and August 2022, according to a report by the National Boundary Commission, no fewer than 676 persons were killed in various communal land disputes across the country. In 2021, Patrick Okigbo’s ‘Nextier SPD’, a development research firm, also revealed that communal clashes accounted for 14 out of the 890 conflict incidents and 80 out of the 3,787 casualties that year. From north to the south, but mostly in the latter, many contiguous communities that have lived together for decades are at war over lands that are not put to any productive use. And it is the poor of our society, expendable ‘youths’ that do the fighting while those supplying the AK-47 and other deadly weapons are secure in the knowledge that they, and members of their immediate families, are far away from the theatres of war. And that nobody would ever try to fish them out for punishment.

In a January 2018 column, ‘When a Nation Becomes Funeral Home’, I used the chilling December 2023 report released by the United States-based Human Rights Watch, ‘Leave Everything to God: Accountability for Inter-Communal Violence in Plateau and Kaduna States, Nigeria’ to illustrate this point. In that report, authorities were indicted for “taking no meaningful steps to address underlying grievances” or bring to justice those responsible for “tit-for-tat killings” with victims targeted for extermination, “often in horrific circumstances”. What this has created is a serious national security challenge.

Ordinarily, restoring law and order is the primary responsibility of the Police. Not the Army. But in most communities across the country today, belligerents no longer fear the police. No incident perhaps demonstrated that better than what happened on 7th May 2013 in Nasarawa State. On that tragic day, 63 police officers and 10 state security service (SSS) operatives sent to restore law and order were gruesomely murdered. Today, in most theatres across the country, this recurring mayhem over land disputes is hardly ever quelled until military troops are drafted in. That is the genesis to the tragedy in Okuama.

However, even in this moment of anger and pain, the military should be methodical in their approach. Two things should happen. One, they need to investigate the circumstances under which the troops were in the area and get all the details as to what transpired. Two, they must fish out all the culprits and bring them to justice, however long it takes. In doing that, they should avoid anything that suggests applying collective punishment, especially on residents of Okuama community. On that score, those who trivialise the bestial killings by peddling dangerous narratives are not helping matters.

The most thoughtful intervention on this tragedy has been from elder statesman and leader of the Ijaw Nation, Edwin Clark, who knows the slain officers personally and admitted speaking to them on an unrelated issue shortly before their death. Describing what happened as “very shocking, very barbaric and wicked,” Clarke called for a collaboration between the military and the communities to fish out the culprits. “I was so sad when I heard that Lt Col. Ali was involved because on Thursday, 14 March (same day the troops were killed), I spoke to him about my younger brother, Col Bernard Clark (rtd), who died recently and was to be buried on (last) Friday,” said Clarke who defended the action of the military in the aftermath while at the same time appealing for restraint. “I had to contact him (the deceased CO). And he told me he was in a vehicle and that he would speak to me later, only to hear that he was among them. At that time, he was speaking to me from Agbor in Delta State.”

I am aware of the anger within the military and justifiably so too, given the barbaric manner the lives of their officers and men were terminated. But the application of Odi or Zaki Biam principle would be unhelpful in the circumstance. Both in international law and the laws of war, collective punishment is prohibited, based on the fact the actions of one or a few individuals should not attract punishment for innocent people. A cornerstone of justice systems worldwide, as one writer puts it, “is the presumption of innocence (while) collective punishment flips this principle on its head, presuming guilt by association.”

Let me make myself clear once again. The criminals who killed our soldiers deserve no sympathy. But I am also aware that those who committed such a heinous crime would have left the scene, knowing the gravity of their deed and what would follow. So, apprehending them (and their collaborators) would require intelligence gathering and painstaking efforts. Under an atmosphere of collective punishment that often reduces sense of remorse and heightens perceived grievances, the military will not get the requisite information they need. Besides, it could exacerbate the initial problem they were trying to solve, especially now that the two sides in the dispute are on the propaganda offensive in a bid to profit from the tragedy. The military should not fall for their tricks.

A Day at the Lekki Free Zone
During a recent encounter with Mr Haresh Vaswani, who I was meeting for the first time, a mutual friend said jocularly that he was sure I would have at least two of his (Aswani’s) company’s products in our house. I expressed my doubt. When the friend identified the company as Tolaram Group, a Singaporean family business to which I wasn’t familiar, I became even more curious. Until he mentioned Indomie Instant Noodles as one of their products. Indomie is without doubt one of the biggest brands not only of Noodles but also of any products in the country today.

Incidentally, Aswani, who chairs Tolaram Group in Africa has been in Nigeria for more than three decades and is also the Honorary Consul-General of Singapore in our country. As I would learn, Indomie is just one of the many premium household products either being manufactured by the Tolaram Group or in which they are the main distributor. Dano Milk, Colgate toothpaste, Power Oil, Hypo cleaner, Kellogg’s, Pringles, Coco Pops are some of the others. But what Aswani focused on that day is the Lagos Free Zone (LFZ), a project he described as Nigeria’s first privately owned free zone with a fully integrated deep-sea port, covering an area of 830 hectares. In Lagos a few weeks ago, I visited the LFZ. Fully equipped with world-class infrastructure, a single clearance window for ease of doing business, and integrated with the Lekki deep seaport spanning 90 hectares, I was dazed by what I saw.

Built in partnership with China Habouring Engineering Company (CHEC), the Lagos State Government and the Nigeria Port Authority (NPA), construction of the Lekki Port was commenced in 2012 when Babatunde Fashola was governor and is to date the single largest private infrastructure investment in the country. That such a significant investment of about $2.5 billion would be committed along the Lekki Corridor is an indication of the potential of that axis for the development of both Lagos and our country. The Lekki Corridor stretches from Victoria Island along the Peninsula to Epe with the Expressway serving as its primary artery. In my chat with the LFZ Managing Director, Dinesh Rathi who took me on a tour of completed facilities, what they are trying to create within the economic zone which entices businesses with tax breaks and simplified procedures, “is a ‘city within a city’ that integrates industries, residences, and commercial spaces, all functioning seamlessly together.”

The Lekki Corridor, as Rathi explained, is divided into four quadrants. The fourth quadrant is where the Lekki Deep Sea Port, Lagos Free Zone, Dangote Fertilizers & Refinery Complex are domiciled. “It is a dynamic region on the rise. It offers exciting opportunities for businesses and residents seeking a modern and vibrant environment,” said Rathi who reeled out the benefits of the Lekki Port equipped with modern facilities, including those not available in either Apapa or Tin Can Ports. For instance, the Lekki Port has five ship-to-shore (STS) cranes for loading and unloading intermodal containers from ships and 15 rubber tired gantry (RTG) cranes. Completed in April last year, the Lekki Port recently welcomed its first transshipment vessel and consistently receives an average of one vessel per week since its launch, according to Rathi.

I was also taken through the history of the Tolaram Group. Established in 1948, and structured as a holding company, it boasts a diverse portfolio spanning various sectors, including fintech ventures which, according to Rathi, “involves providing innovative solutions for financial services and transactions in emerging markets.” Additionally, their infrastructure and industrial projects contribute to building essential structures and industries that form the backbone of economic activity. Some of the facilities I saw include a modern fire station, an expansive truck park, the Colgate factory where I was taken through production processes, several warehouses, a medical facility, police station, residential tower, solid waste management centre, security command center, helipad and three banks. To ensure a reliable and cost-effective energy source for its tenants, as Rathi explained, the LFZ has secured a 20-year Gas Infrastructure Development Agreement (GIDA) that will connect it directly to the national gas transportation grid. To actualise this, a consortium already formed to develop the main pipeline and distribution network within the zone, ultimately delivering piped natural gas to each tenant. The agreement, I was told, also incorporates an LNG solution.

I left the LFZ feeling more optimistic about Nigeria and the prospects for economic growth with the right policies and incentives for investors, local and foreign. But on my way back to the Island, I spent several hours in traffic gridlock along the same Lekki-Epe highway. I can only imagine what would happen on that axis during the coming rainy season and the years to come. This is one of the issues that would have to be resolved by the Lagos State government for the dream of the Lekki Corridor, the LFZ and other big businesses along that axis to become a reality. The federal government can help resolve that if they expedite action on the Coastal Road that has been in the pipelines for years. But for the Tolaram Group, I believe they have taken a huge bet on Nigeria. I hope it pays off. Both in their interest and that of our country.

The press has been unkind to Kate Middleton, the Princess of Wales. I find it hard to understand why, of all the problems at this time, from the cost-of-living crisis to the war in Ukraine, and from the war in Gaza to the near total loss of trust in politicians, it is Kate’s unguarded photoshop moment on Mother’s Day, of all days, that is the obsession.

And there’s no better time to catch the British press swooning with testosterone than when a member of the royal family trips. They go all out. Nothing smells like the scent of royal blood and the hounds spare no stone.

And so, it was last week that a number of newswire services recalled or stripped photoshopped images of Princess Kate and her three children from their dispatches. The kinder ones among the newspapers nailed every single offending spot on the photo with a red flag, labelling and listing the photographic infractions one by one.

Daily Mail circled 10 spots, with lengthy captions on what it described as Kate’s “pic scandal.” My heart bled for the Princess of Wales, but something deep inside kept saying, if this had been Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex and famous Witch of Windsor, it would have been worse. I can imagine that the most generous description from the Daily Mail stable, for example, would have been something like, “Meghan in epic scandal!”

But what’s the point of it, really? Since the outbreak of the so-called Kate pic scandal, I have been brooding over images that I see very often as DPs and also on some WhatsApp Status. I’m keeping myself to that microblogging site and the mainstream press. There’s no need to bother with Insta, probably the worst photographic crime scene since Joseph Niepce invented the camera.

Who is this?

I have seen DP posts not remotely resembling folks that I know in real life. In a number of these meticulously airbrushed DPs, these same less than averagely endowed folks look so fine, faces nicely chiseled, neckties in place, or necklines plunging, and every strand of hair in place with poses like something out of Vanity Fair. You cannot sometimes help but zoom in and look again.

My anecdotal experience suggests that normal people, especially normal young girls and women, have fabricated more Kate Middleton moments than they can count. I have seen folks who are fat – that word has been banned by the language police – looking incredibly slim on their profiles or those who are black or brown looking all fair and incredibly white.

I have also seen folks with ageing-borne wrinkles, birth marks or even a few blemishes or dimples in real life look breathtakingly flawless on their DPs. I have never stopped wondering what this digital filter is really all about.

If the Daily Mails of this world have to spotlight every single photoshopped celebrity image – never mind the millions of celebrity wannabes – God knows how many would be out of circulation or perhaps be standing trial in the court of public opinion along with the Princess of Wales. 

I have shied away from digital makeover, not out of self-righteousness, but because I have accepted my flaws and physiological shortcomings as part of the gifts of an imperfect earth life. Why do people go to extra lengths to make over and then portray themselves in images that are not remotely who they are?

Of course, photo airbrushing didn’t start with the Princess of Wales or the folk in that DP who’s probably the aspirational version of the image you’re looking at right now.

Fakery industry

Joseph Stalin erased enemies like Nikolai Yezhov, who played a significant role in the Great Purge out of photographs because he thought doing so would wipe away the man’s memory from history. He didn’t quite succeed.

In the 2004 presidential campaign, opponents of John Kerry spliced his photograph and that of actress and anti-war activist Jane Fonda to discredit his war record. And, come to think of it, this same Daily and Sunday Mail that have been unforgiving of the Princess of Wales fell flat for the epic Kerry photo forgery!

Seven years later, an ultra-Jewish newspaper suspected of religious influence erased Hilary Clinton and Audrey Tomason from a Situation Room picture taken moments before President Barack Obama authorised the strike on Osama bin Laden. Here again, as in the Kerry pic scandal, the press was duped.

Of course, it’s not every time that something bad comes out of an awkward photo moment. In 2016, for example, King Abdallah of Saudi Arabia caused a minor sensation when he and his brother, Crown Prince Sultan, were photographed with women without their faces covered.

They would have been pleased to pay a million riyal to plug a leak or scrub it if they had known beforehand. The ticking photo-bomb was released only for a government official to defuse it the next day by simply saying the photo showed that, “It was OK to work with women!”

Does it matter?

Back to the question: why do people manipulate photos? Studies have suggested a number of reasons. A study by BMC Psychology last April suggested that reasons for image-manipulation or photoshopping are rooted in self-objectification where individuals involved are keenly aware of, even sometimes obsessed by, their physical looks, which tends to affect everything, including their sense of self-esteem.

The higher the investment in social media, the higher the tendency to use tools, including photoshop and other image-filtering apps, to look incredibly, yet quite often, deceptively, good. But that’s the modern playground, the place where billions work and move and define their being.

The domain is not limited to royalty. Obsession to twist, scrub and bend things from their essence as sacrifice on the altar of the post-modern self is just as widespread in royalty as it is in fashion, journalism, marketing and politics. And the realm is getting larger and larger because increasingly the only thing that matters, that is rewarded and celebrated, is success. Everything else is judged harshly.

The art of it

There is of course also the ethical question of boundaries. While there are those who argue that image-alteration is a form of art which has produced such geniuses as Erik Johansson or Rosie Hardy, for example, there are others who take the view – and I agree – that unethical retouching can contribute to body image issues, especially among young people, fostering feelings of inadequacy and insecurity.

To encourage authenticity and hopefully slowly create a society where people are not ashamed – or afraid – to be who they are, perhaps we need to be less severe and more forgiving and transparent when we scrub those images. And yes, we must also learn to take ourselves a lot less seriously.

We may not yet look like the Madonna we wanted to be, but at least we can go to bed satisfied that we have paid our two cents to create a healthier, more responsible visual landscape.

THE NEVER-ENDING CALL FOR A NEW PEOPLE’S CONSTITUTION

The Constitution is the birth certificate and identity card of a Nation. It mirrors the values and aspirations of a people. Such a supreme document is not a mere law or legislation that is crafted by the NASS. Neither the NASS nor the government that can give the Nigerian Nation a constitution. Rather, it is the Constitution that gives the Nation a government, because it is based on the will of the people. It is the dog that wags the tail; the tail does not wag the dog.  In the halls of the Green Chamber, sixty legislators, transcending party lines have only recently advocated for a transition from a presidential to a parliamentary system of government. Simultaneously, the Senate also convened a 43-member panel on Constitution review. These steps to me should be used as an auspicious moment to consider how best to fashion out a truly representative people's Constitution.

The never-ending call for a new Constitution arises from a recognition of the inherent fundamental shortcomings of the present unitary and lop-sided system, which is anything but federalist. Mere amendments to or replacements of the Constitution under sections 8 and 9 therefore, would be akin to merely applying a superficial remedy to a deep-rooted ailment. It simply cannot and will not work. I humbly submit, as I have done since the year 2000, that one million amendments multiplied by another million amendments, with the addition of yet another million amendments, will never work. Merely chopping off the branches of a tree without cutting off the taproot will never kill such a tree. It is akin to merely treating the symptoms of a serious disease. Just as one cannot cure cancer with medication meant for minor skin conditions, the need for a new beginning is dire. This is because the process and procedure for crafting a new Constitution must be democratic and all inclusive, as they are more important than the contents of the Constitution themselves. The simple reason is that it is such procedure or process that confers legitimacy, credibility and acceptability on the supreme document called Constitution.

WHY THE 1999 CONSTITUTION IS ILLEGITIMATE

The fact that a dictatorial and autocratic military junta imposed the 1999 Constitution completely robs it of its legitimacy, credibility and acceptability, as it does not represent the nation’s Identity Card, covenant and the supreme will of the Nigerian people, which are what a Constitution highlights. Though a Constitution may be initiated through or amended by parliament, the final and decisive act of promulgation is strictly reserved for the people through a referendum. It is this act that confers autochthony, ownership, legitimacy and credibility on the document called a Constitution. The 1999 Unitary Constitution of Nigeria lacks all these attributes. It is a schedule attached to the Decree No. 24 of 1999. The 1999 elections were held without a Constitution. The Constitution therefore tells a lie in its preamble by proclaiming its existence with “we the people of Nigeria”. The Nigerian people never gave us such a Constitution through a referendum.

SOME PROCEDURES FOR BRINGING ABOUT A PEOPLE’S CONSTITUTION

1. PROFESSOR BEN NWABUEZE’S SEMINAL THESIS

In a seminar writeup titled "Legal Authority for the Convening and Holding of a National Conference and for the Making of a People’s Constitution," Professor Ben Nwabueze, SAN, NNOM, widely regarded as Africa's pre-eminent and foremost constitutional lawyer, delved into the mechanisms for bringing about a people's Constitution through the National Assembly. He asserts that the National Assembly's power to enact legislation for convening and conducting a National Conference is rooted in its authority to "alter" the Constitution as conferred by sections 8 and 9.

Professor Nwabueze contends that while the power to "alter" does not inherently imply the power to replace, the National Assembly's authority extends beyond alteration vide sections 8 and 9. He highlights the enactment of the 1999 Constitution via Decree 24 and advocates a repeal of section 1(1) this Decree as a means of abolishing the existing Constitution and simultaneously instituting a new one. He drew parallels to the 1963 method in the making of the 1963 Republican Constitution to replace the 1960 Independence Constitution which was established in section 2 of a Schedule to the British Government’s Order-In-Council.

Furthermore, he argued that the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (Promulgation) Decree 1999, qualifies as an "existing law" within the meaning of section 315(4) of the 1999 Constitution, thereby subject to repeal by the National Assembly. Professor Nwabueze maintained that such legislative actions are within the purview of the Legislature, ensuring coherence and conformity with constitutional principles.

In essence, Professor Nwabueze's discourse underscores the National Assembly's dual capacity as both a federal legislative body and the supreme legislative authority for the Federal Republic of Nigeria, affirming its prerogative to effect constitutional changes in alignment with democratic principles.

THE ISSUE WITH PROFESSOR NWABUEZE’S BRILLIANT THESIS

Late Professor Nwabueze’s thesis is a beautiful and attractive intellectual piece of discourse, resonating in its breadth and depth. However, it still fails to answer the critical question: does the mere yanking off of Decree 24 which promulgated the Constitution, and simultaneous replacement of the 1999 Constitution through repealment of section 1(1) of Decree 24 amounts to the enactment of a brand-new Constitution to replace the present 1999 Constitution? Does it cure it of its “original sin” of lack of autochthony? Does it amount to making it the people’s Constitution when same is replete with fallacies and inconsistencies, having been militarily imposed by a little clique of military dictators as a mere schedule attached to Decree No 24 of 1999? Did this tiny clique represent “We the People of Nigeria” as the preamble to the 1999 Constitution falsely states? I think not. Can an illness be cured by attacking the symptoms? This is where the issue of a referendum comes in.

2. PROCEDURE THROUGH ADOPTION OF THE 2014 CONFERENCE REPORT

To have an autochthonous Constitution that derives its legitimacy from the Nigerian people, we may need to look at the 2014 National Conference, (where I was a member and headed the subcommittee on Constitution drafting, human rights and legal reforms). The Committee made appropriate recommendations regarding bringing about a people’s Constitution. The said over 600 recommendations were subjected to the plenary session, hotly debated and consensually agreed upon and adopted. It was agreed that there was the need to have a totally brand new Constitution for the people of Nigeria. The 492 members that were at the National Conference represented all strata and walks of life of the Nigerian people – the Federal Government, States, LGAs, Labour; trade unions; physically challenged; youth; students; Civil Society; market men and women; professionals; technocrats; military; Police; civilians; traditional rulers; educationists; members of the diplomatic corps; private and public sectors; etc. Some people have argued (and with some strong reasons too), that the 2014 National Conference was not representative of the people because the delegates were not elected. The simple answer is that aside the fact that the delegates were all thrown up by the entire Nigerian people – States, LGAs, Civil Society, Market men and women, professionals, the physically challenged, technocrats, youths, students, Labour and Trade Unions – the question of representation was a sore issue at the Conference. It was hotly debated. After many days of arguments, and counter-arguments, it was finally agreed by way of consensus that the 2014 National Conference delegates constituted the true and correct representatives of the Nigerian people. These delegates certainly constituted plurality of representatives of the Nigerian people more than the 28 members of General Abdusalami’s tiny military oligarchy that promulgated Decree 24 of 1999, to usher in the present 1999 Constitution. However, the point must be made that the NASS having been voted into office by the Nigerian people without a Constitution (since the elections predated the 1999 Constitution), can promulgate a law that subjects these over 600 recommendations to a referendum of the people through an appropriate agency. I shall anon state how this can be done.

The 2014 National Conference surely passed for a Constituent Assembly also known as a Constitutional Convention, Constitutional Congress, or Constitutional Assembly. Members of such a Constituent Assembly may be elected by popular vote, drawn by sortition, appointed, or some combination of these methods, as was the case of the 2014 National Conference. Assemblies are typically considered distinct from a regular legislature. A Constitutional Convention or a Constituent Assembly, is usually set up for its specific purpose, which it carries out in a relatively short time, after which the Assembly is dissolved. A Constituent Assembly is a form of representative democracy. This was what happened in 2014 with the National Conference which was a Constituent Assembly of the Nigerian people.

WHAT IS A NATIONAL CONFERENCE?

A National Conference serves as a public platform for representatives from diverse political and civic groups to discuss and formulate a consensus-based plan for the country's political future. Despite its commitment to inclusivity, participation in a national conference doesn't assure immediate political freedom or power-sharing. These conferences, predominantly observed in Francophone Africa from 1990 to 1993, played a pivotal role in transitioning from one-party systems to peaceful alternations of power.

OBJECTIVES OF A NATIONAL CONFERENCE

The multifaceted objectives of a national conference include preventing conflicts, building national consensus, negotiating democratic transitions, establishing new rules and institutions, legalizing multipartism, drafting new constitutions, and facilitating a peaceful alternation of power. These conferences bolster citizens' support for state institutions, reduce internal destabilizing factors, and level the playing field by recognizing the government's inability to maintain the status quo.

It should be noted that the terms "National Conference" and "Sovereign National Conference" are often used interchangeably, but their precise meanings can depend on the context. In a general sense, both terms refer to gatherings or assemblies where representatives discuss and deliberate on important national issues. However, there can be nuances in their usage. While a national conference is a broad term indicating a gathering or meeting of representatives from various segments of society to discuss matters of national importance and may involve discussions on political, social, economic, or constitutional issues (as in the 2014 National Conference), a Sovereign National Conference emphasizes a higher degree of independence and authority for the conference. In some contexts, a SNC implies that the gathering has the supreme power to make decisions without external influence or interference.

EXAMPLES OF NATIONAL CONFERENCE FROM FRANCOPHONE AFRICA

The following Francophone countries are examples of the impact of national conferences highlighting its role in managing conflicts and fostering political dialogue amid significant political changes.

1. Benin:

Amidst turmoil in 1989, a 1990 National Conference challenged President Mathieu Kérékou's authority, leading to the suspension of the constitution. This facilitated a democratic transition, including multi-party elections and a new prime minister.

2. Congo (Brazzaville):

Facing economic decline, Congo (Brazzaville) witnessed a erosion of single-party rule. A 1991 National Conference compelled President Denis Sassou-Nguesso to yield to the opposition, resulting in a new constitution and multi-party elections. However, Sassou-Nguesso's return in 1997 ended this democratic period.

3. Mali:

After President Ibrahim Traoré's ousting in 1991, Mali convened a National Conference focused on crafting a new constitution. This consensus-building process led to the adoption of a new constitution in 1992, paving the way for multi-party systems and democratic elections.

4. Togo:

Demands for democratization in 1990 spurred a National Conference in Togo, challenging President Gnassingbe Eyadéma's regime. Despite initial opposition, Eyadéma retained control, resulting in the collapse of the democratic experiment by 1997–1998.

5. Democratic Republic of Congo:

During President Mobutu Sese Seko's rule, allowing opposition parties in the early 1990s signaled change. The 1991–1992 National Conference expanded political space, but failed to achieve a complete transition to democracy in what became the Democratic Republic of Congo.

THE 1991 IBB NATIONAL CONFERENCE AS A CASE STUDY

The IBB conference of 1991 under the auspices of the then military-led government of General Ibrahim Babangida suffered some predetermined government nuances with certain “no-go” areas specified for the conferees. There was palpable government interference and influence even in the nomination process that had 96 government delegates out of a total of 369.

In stark contrast, the 2014 National conference was totally independent of government control. I was a member; so I should know.

3. PROCEDURE THROUGH THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY

No one is saying the NASS will be ignored in the process of bringing about a new people’s Constitution through a referendum. It is the NASS that must  pass an Act, relying on and using the provisions of sections 4,8,9,13 and 14 and 315 of the 1999 Constitution; and, Items 47, 67 and 68 of Part 1 to the Second Schedule of the Exclusive Legislative List.  It can use these sections to make and amend laws for the peace, order and good government of the Federation.

Thus, the 2014 National Conference surely served such a Constituent Assembly of the Nigerian people. There is therefore no further need to dissipate energy, waste scarce resources and time to convoke yet another Delegates Conference or Constituent Assembly that will gulp billions of naira in this austere period. All we need to do at this stage is to aggregate the 2014 National Conference report with the condensed recommendations made by the Senate and House of Representative Committees on Constitutional amendment, and the salient provisions of the 1963 Republican Constitution and refer them to the NRC to activate a referendum of the Nigerian people. This will enable it command the people’s respect, legitimacy, acceptability and credibility. The emergent product becomes a people’s Constitution. To carry out this exercise is not rocket science.  It can be executed with the urgency of yesterday, through the appropriate processes of first, second and third reading in the respective Houses within few days of a bill to that effect. Thus, it is recommended that the NASS should take the following urgent steps to promulgate a New People’s Constitution for Nigerians:

PROCEDURAL STEPS TO BE TAKEN BY THE NASS IN MIDWIFING A PEOPLE’S CONSTITUTION

1. Section 14(2) of the 1999 Constitution provides that sovereignty belongs to the Nigerian people (not the NASS). The present NASS was itself elected by the said Nigerian People even before the coming into being of the 1999 Constitution. Therefore, to abate their fear of being rendered irrelevant in the process of midwifing a new peoples Constitution, the NASS shall be deeply involved in facilitating the process of the emergence of a brand-new Constitution from its present constitutional review exercise. It its law-making function it can set up a National Referendum Commission (NRC), to drive and actualize the process of a new Constitution through a referendum of the Nigerian people emanating from the 2014 National Conference recommendations; present review by the NASS and desired provisions of the 1963 Republican Constitution. The version of the National Referendum Commission (NRC) was what Iraq termed Constitutional Referendum (2005); Constitutional Assembly by (South Africa, 1996); Constitutional Commission (Eritrea, 1994); Constitutional Convention (USA, 1776).
2. It is this National Referendum Commission (NRC), thus provided for by an Act of the NASS under sections 4, 8, 9 and 14 that will collate the recommendations of the present Constitutional Review Committees set up by the NASS; the 2014 National Conference lofty recommendations and some relevant provisions of the 1963 Republican Constitution. The entire process shall be driven by the National Referendum Commission already set up by an Act of the NASS.
3. This Act enacting the NRC shall also make provisions for a referendum of the people. What the NASS therefore does is to simply catalyse, aid and energise the entire process of the NRC’s collated final draft which the same NRC then subjects to a referendum of the Nigerian people. The referendum is predicated on the emergent draft as collated and propelled by the National Referendum Commission (NRC). The about 374 ethnic groups of Nigeria (Prof. Oniga Otite) will have opportunity through a referendum to speak to the proposed Constitution.
4. The collated draft version shall thus be voted on by Nigerians during a popular referendum in a manner already prescribed by the NASS, in the form of “AYES” or “NAYS”. The emergent Constitutional draft thus becomes the outcome of the will of the people.
5. With this, the new emergent draft of the Constitution becomes autochthonous, indigenous, legitimate, credible and owned by the people.
6. The NRC can, in its collated draft include the new clamour for re-introduction of the Parliamentary system of government as done in Bangladesh on 15^th September, 1991. It is left for the Nigerian people to accept or reject this during the proposed referendum.
7. All these can be done within a space of a mere six months.
8. The President then PROCLAIMS this document into a New Constitution, using his executive powers under section 5 of the Constitution.

9. With this, the new document (Constitution) can truly proclaim, “WE THE PEOPLE OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA…DO HEREBY MAKE AND GIVE TO OURSELVES the following Constitution”.
10. The NASS should therefore eschew its understandable fears of being ignored, side-lined, or marginalized in the emerging constitutional scenario. It is actually the main organ and engine room that drives the entire process of how a National Referendum Commission facilitates a referendum of the Nigerian people through its draft collated from the sources earlier highlighted.

THE IMPORTANCE OF A REFERENDUM

WHAT IS A REFERENDUM?

A referendum is popularly known as a system where the electorate body (voters or citizens of a country) through a ballot approve or reject an act of the legislature. This posits referendum as the practice of submitting to popular vote of the people passed on or proposed by a legislative body or by popular initiative.[2] It is one of the truest ways of ensuring citizens take part in the decision-making process that shapes the future and fate of their country. A referendum is a general vote by the electorate usually taking the form of yes (Ayes) and no (nays) votes of the populace on a single political question which has been referred to them for a direct decision. This may result in the adoption of a new policy or specific law.[3] A constitutional referendum is thus a form of referendum where a popular vote is cast for the adoption or amendment of a Constitution, by members of the electorate. A referendum enables the people to negotiate, agree, express their desires, which may ultimately be different from that of the political ruling class.

COUNTRIES THAT SUBJECTED THEIR NEW CONSTITUTIONS TO CITIZENS’ REFERENDUM

IRAQ

The first Monarchial Constitution of the Republic of Iraq came into force in 1925 and existed till the 1958 Revolution which established a Republic. Interim Constitutions were adopted in 1958, 1964, 1968, and 1970, until the Transitional Administrative Law was adopted in 2003 after the fall of Saddam Hussein. In 1990, a draft Constitution was prepared but never promulgated due to the onset of the Gulf War. The current Constitution was adopted on September 18, 2005, by the Transitional National Assembly of Iraq, and confirmed by a Constitutional Referendum, held on October 15, 2005. It was published on December 28, 2005, in the Official Gazette of Iraq (No. 4012), in Arabic original, and thus came into force.

KENYA

There were three versions of the Kenya Constitution; with the most recent being the 2010 redraft. This replaced the 1963 Independence Constitution. This version of 2010 was presented to the Attorney-General of Kenya on 7^th April, 2010, officially published on 6^th May, 2010, and was subjected to Referendum of the Kenya people on 4^th August, 2010. It was voted for and approved by 67% of Kenya citizens. It was then promulgated on 27^th August, 2010.

SOUTH AFRICA

After the elections of 1994, the new Parliament (working as the Constitutional Assembly) began writing the final Constitution of South Africa. On May 8, 1996, the Constitutional Assembly completed two years of work on a draft of a final Constitution, replaced the interim Constitution of 1993 by the year 1999. The objective to submit the draft to the Constitution Court was to ensure that the final Constitution was legitimate, credible and accepted by all South Africans.

The process of drafting involved many South Africans in the largest public participation programme ever carried out. Nearly two years later, representatives of political parties negotiated the formulations contained in the final draft and ignited an integration of ideas from ordinary citizens, civil society and political parties represented in and outside of the Constitutional Assembly. The Constitution therefore represents the collective wisdom and will of the South African people because it was arrived at by general agreement and consent of all South Africans.

IRAN

A proposed new Constitution which would make Iran an Islamic Republic, introduce direct elections for the presidency, create a unicameral parliament and require any constitutional changes to go a referendum was proposed by the Iranian Government. To bring this about, a constitutional referendum was held in Iran on 2^nd and 3^rd December, 1979. The new Islamic constitution was approved by 99.5% of voters at the Referendum.

BANGLADESH

A constitutional referendum was held in Bangladesh on 15^th September, 1991. Voters were asked "Should or not the President assent to the Constitution (Twelfth Amendment) Bill, 1991 of the People's Republic of Bangladesh?" The amendments altered the existing Constitution and reintroduced of Parliamentary system of government. It also abolished the position of Vice-President and provided that the President be elected by Parliament. 83.6% of Bangladeshis voted in the referendum, with a turnout of 35.2%.

MOROCCO

A referendum on constitutional reforms was held in Morocco on 1^st July, 2011. It was called in response to a series of protests that spread across Morocco which had begun on 20^th February, 2011, when over ten thousand Moroccans took to the streets in massive demonstrations demanding democratic reforms. A Commission was set up to draft proposals by June, 2011. A draft was released on 17^th June, 2011, which brought about fundamental changes upon people’s referendum.

EGYPT

In October, 2012, the Egyptian Constituent Assembly announced that its first draft of a new Constitution and launched a public awareness campaign called “Know your Constitution”, to educate the public.  On November 29, 2012, the Egyptian Constituent Assembly finalized the drafting process of a new Egyptian Constitution.  One week later, on December 8, 2012, Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi issued a new constitutional declaration announcing that the constitutional draft would be voted on in a national referendum. In accordance with article 60 of the Transitional Constitutional Declaration of March 2011, a special Judicial Commission was formed to supervise the referendum process and monitor vote counting.  The referendum took place in two rounds on two different dates: December 15 and 22, 2012.  The majority of Egyptians thus voted in favour of the newly drafted Constitution in a popular National Referendum, a Constitution that brought about profound reforms.

ERITREA

The Eritrea’s Proclamation 55/1994 established a Constitutional Commission which organized popular participation in the process of a new Constitution. The Commission members and more than four hundred specially trained teachers instructed the public on constitutional issues and related political and social questions using local vernaculars. The process took three years to solicit the views of a broad cross section of Eritreans. The participation of a majority of Eritreans gave the people a “sense of ownership of the Constitution”. 

TUNISIA

Tunisia's first modern Constitution was the fundamental pact of 1857. This was followed by the Constitution of 1861, which was replaced in 1956, after the departure of French administrators in 1956. It was adopted on 1^st June, 1959 and amended in 1999 and 2002, after the Tunisian Constitutional Referendum of 2002. Following the revolution and months of protests, a Constituent Assembly drafted a new Constitution in 2014, adopted on 26^th January, 2014 after a referendum.

THE AMERICAN EXAMPLE OF A PEOPLE’S CONSTITUTION THROUGH A REFERENDUM

The birth of American independence in 1776 saw the convening of a Constitutional Convention under George Washington's leadership from May 14 to September 17, 1776, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Fifty-five delegates, representing autonomous Confederates, convened with the aspiration of forging a "more perfect union," engaging in passionate debates over the framework of the new nation.

Similarly, between May and September 1787, fifty American Confederate representatives gathered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to deliberate on achieving a "more perfect Union" following independence from Britain in 1777. Thirty-nine out of the fifty-five delegates endorsed and ratified a new Constitution starting in December 1787. Through a referendum held on June 21, 1778, initially eleven and later thirteen states adopted and ratified it, paving the way for the establishment of a new government on March 4, 1789.

This new Constitution delineated key governmental principles to supersede the earlier Articles of Confederation, embracing Republicanism, Federalism, Presidentialism, and Judicial review. Inspired by the doctrine of separation of powers elucidated by French philosopher Baron de Montesquieu in 1748, they incorporated features such as a Bill of Rights, Bicameral Legislature, Electoral College, Executive Presidency, and a Judiciary comprising Supreme, Circuit, and District Courts.

Notably, the Constitutional Convention gave rise to luminaries like Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, James Madison, and Washington, who assumed the presidency. Revered as a product of the people, the American Constitution spans a mere 192 pages, with 27 amendments, encapsulating a concise 7,591 words—a testament to its revered stature among the American populace. This stands in stark contrast to the figurative "briefcase-like" bulk of the Nigerian Constitution.

In a global context, the United States Constitutional Convention of 1787 remains a poignant example, where delegates from thirteen states converged to address the deficiencies of the Articles of Confederation, laying the groundwork for enduring governmental principles that have withstood the test of time.

OTHER COUNTRIES THAT USED REFERENDUM TO GALVANISE THEIR PEOPLE

Referendum thus simply means that the people are made to buy into an idea and own it. This occurred when a new Constitution emerged from the people of the then Midwest region on the 10^th of August, 1963, to be separated from Western region, through a popular referendum. Heavens did not fall. There are other examples. The Eritrean separated from Ethiopia with a people’s referendum.

Many other countries of the world fashioned out new Constitutions after their people’s referendum. Such examples can be found with the people of Indonesia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Switzerland, Sweden,  East Timor, Hong Kong, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Russia, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, France and Germany. Others are Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Luxemburg, Malta, Poland, Romania, Spain, Slovenia, Ukraine, Canada, Mexico, Chile, Costa Rica, Australia, Uruguay, New Zealand, etc. The people of Norway (53.5%) in a referendum in 1972, voted against being part of the European Economic Community in a referendum, without any provision for such a referendum in their Constitution. The same Norwegians in January, 1994, in a referendum of 52.2% of the people, rejected membership of the European Union (EU). On 23rd June, 2016, the people of UK voted to exit EU in the EU Referendum, also known as BREXIT Referendum.[4]

So, we need a BRAND-NEW CONSTITUTION and it can be done. We do not need to merely amend the present Constitution using section 9, or replace the parent Decree with either existing Constitution because it will never work. Rather, we need a BRAND-NEW CONSTITUTION that is autochthonous, legitimate, indigenous, and people-driven. This will enable it command the Peoples respect, legitimacy, acceptability and credibility.

EXPECTED INNOVATIONS IN A NEW PEOPLE’S CONSTITUTION AND THE IMPERATIVES OF RESTRUCTURING

Restructuring is meant to make the Nigeria project work better and give a sense of belonging to all persons in Nigeria. It is meant to overhaul the current polity by giving power back to the people through their elected; rework a new Constitution that truly reflects their aspirations; address the peculiar needs of the federating units; and, resolve and restore true fiscal federalism. It is meant to afford minority groups a sense of National Identity; afford them control over their natural resources; allow them establish their own Court systems, Police Forces and Community Policing Systems; give them maximum security; afford them a fair and effective political structure; and allow the people develop according to their desire and pace; while paying a fair tax to the central Government to enable it oversee limited areas of jurisdiction within the exclusive Legislative list. To achieve such restructuring of Nigeria, I hereby make the following humble recommendations:

1. We need a fresh people’s Constitution anchored on a six-zonal federal structure, with the present states, still retained as federating units, thus having a two-tier system of Government.
2. There shall be a central Federal Constitution, whose provisions shall prevail in the event of a conflict with the provisions of States and sub-regional Constitutions.
3. Each State shall maintain its own Constitution, have its own Police Force, and its hierarchy of courts up to the Supreme Court.
4. Each sub-regional group (Geopolitical Zone) shall have a Supreme Court that entertains appeals from the Supreme Courts of States within the sub-Regions, as was with the Western Region Court of Appeal. Only serious matters of Constitutional importance between States and States, and between States and the Federal Government shall go to the Supreme Court of Nigeria in Abuja, in like manner of the US Supreme Court.
5. Abolish section 162(4) – (8) of the Constitution and allow each State to be free to merge existing LGCs or create fresh LGCs, depending on its needs and financial capability. Such LGCs shall be made autonomous and not dependent on State Governors.
6. Each of the federating states shall fully control its own resources up to 100% resources and pay 30% of revenue generated from these resources to the central government to enable it take care of its fewer allotted functions. In a proper federation, the central government does not own the resources and then allocate or dole out revenues to the sub-national units. It is the other way round. This was the position under the 1963 Republican Constitution, true fiscal federalism set up that allowed states to own their resources, pay tax to the central Government and develop according to their pace and needs. Let states begin to bake, and not merely share the National Cake.
7. Separate the office of the Attorney-General of the Federation from the highly political office of the Minister of Justice.
8. Separate the office of the Accountant-General of the Federation from that of the Accountant-General of the Federal Government.
9. Enthrone participation by vulnerable groups in governance, and bring about gender equality through a clearly defined Affirmative action.
10. Abrogate one chamber of the NASS (360 House of Representatives members; 109 Senators are too much for Nigeria). Or, allow existing members to sit on part-time and get paid sitting allowances.
11. Maintain Nigeria’s secularity and Governments must hand off religious matters and pilgrimages.
12. Remove the immunity clause in prima facie criminal offences for the offices of President, Vice President, Governor and Deputy Governor while in office. This will stop their criminal proxy activities.
13. Bring about rotation of power between the North and the South.
14. Make provision for independent candidature.
15. Create specific Constitutional and Anti-Corruption courts.
16. Revamp the electoral process; Allow transparent counting of votes and allow the votes to count.
17. Enable funding of members of the NASS by constituent States.
18. Create a specific constitutional role for traditional rulers and the traditional institution. They are the nearest units to the grassroots.
19. Reform the Judiciary by banning mere interlocutory appeals to the Supreme Court and demarcating clearly between pre- and post-election matters. Halt the process of courts conceiving, incubating and delivering Presidents, Governors, Legislators, Chairmen of LGCs and Councilors.
20. Remove the artificial discrimination inherent citizenship, indigeneship and
21. Provide for clearly defined timelines for initiating assenting to and passing bills by all Legislatures in Nigeria.
22. Whittle down the entire bureaucracy in all the three arms of Government in Nigeria.
23. Make justiciable and actionable in a court of law, the entire provisions of Chapter II of the Constitution deal with socio-economic rights.
24. Constitutionalize electoral Reforms and punish electoral offences, including banning for 10 years, politicians that are involved in, or who instigate electoral crimes.
25. Prune down the Exclusive Legislative list of the Federal to few matters concerning Aviation Policy and Regulations; Banking, Bills of Exchange and Promissory Notes; Citizenship, Naturalization and Aliens; Creation of States; Currency, Coinage and Legal Tender; Customs Duties; Foreign and External Affairs; Defence and Defence Matters; Immigration into and Emigration Matters; Nuclear Energy; Ownership of and Control over Educational Matters that border on Federal Tertiary and Research Institutions.

CONCLUSION

THE WAY FORWARD

Finally, evolving development around the globe points clearly to the fact that promotion, respect and preservation of tenets of the rule of law are not only desirable, but are mandatory requirements to ensure a peaceful and civil human society.[5] Executive lawlessness or rascality shall be prohibited by the Constitution. It is very important that the powers of every arm of government to act against the citizen is not stimulated by whims and caprices of the controller of such powers, but only to the extent authorized by the Constitution.[6] The right of every man and woman to have his inalienable rights respected and removed from privations under any guise is God-given and must be taken as such. It is now a compelling necessity that both the governor and the governed must be subjected to the rule of law.[7] The rule of law must therefore be protected by the Constitution. The government should also abide by the law and act within its confines to ensure peace, stability and welfare of the general public.

Democracy must also be rooted in the Constitution. The people should be given a clear voice and mandate to manage the affairs of the nation, through appropriate measures of free and fair elections, and checks and balances. The people should be given the rights of access to information, participation in decision making process and access to justice. Democracy needs to take significance over politics in Nigeria, and oust the current practice of election malpractices which prevent free and fair elections. Democracy and Rule of Law need to be revived once again in Nigeria, and that cannot be done merely by amending the present Constitution. Rather, the present Constitution must be discarded with, and a fresh new Constitution created through a referendum of the people as midwife by the NRC enacted into law by the NASS.

One cannot amend a bad document; it is simply not possible. An illegitimate document remains illegitimate forever. The present Nigerian Constitution is a child of bastardy and nothing can cure it. Even one million amendments multiplied by another million amendments can never cure the present Constitution of Nigeria of its original sin of its illegitimacy. Albert Einstein once said that “it is only a mad man that seeks to get different results by using the same methods that he has been using when a problem commenced”. The Constitution has already undergone several amendments; yet, it is still bad. The problems of hunger, insecurity, corruption, mutual distrust, religious intolerance, favouritism, ethnicity, sectionalism, prebendalism, et al, mount by the day.

The beauty of democracy is the primacy of the wishes of the people and the mutability of the instrument that binds the people and the government.

THE WILL OF THE PEOPLE IS SUPREME (SALUS POPULI EST SUPREMALEX)

The people have a say as to how they want to be governed; this is the whole purpose of democracy. The donor of the power remains the people. A tail cannot wag the dog; it is the dog that wags the tail. Therefore, the government should learn to subscribe to the will of the people, not the people subscribing to the will of the government.

Hippocrates, the father of medicine, once postulated that desperate diseases require desperate remedies. Nigeria now finds herself in a desperate quagmire and hence, desperate solutions are required. The only price we have to pay for our liberty is eternal vigilance, says Learned Hand. Therefore, I urge Nigerians to stand up to their rights and demand for a fresh new Constitution that emanates from the people themselves. The will of the people is supreme (salus populi suprema lex). Nothing less.

*Being a keynote address delivered by Prof Mike Ozekhome, SAN, CON, OFR, FCIArb, LL.M, Ph.D, LL.D, D.Litt, D.Sc , at the National Dialogue (Colloquium) in honour of Prof. Ben Nwabueze, SAN, CON, NNOM, at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), Victoria Island, Lagos, on Monday 18^th March, 2024.

[2] Butler & Ranney, 1994,

[3] Wikipedia, ‘Referendum’ <en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Referendum

[4] https://www.bloomberg.com/quicktake/will-uk-leave-eu

[5] The Rule of Law (June 22, 2016) available at: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/rule-of-law/

[6] Michael John DeBoer, “Equality as a Fundamental Value in the Indiana Constitution” (2004) 38 Valparaiso University Law Review 489.

[7] UN, “Rule of Law and Human Rights”, available at: https://www.un.org/ruleoflaw/rule-of-law-and-human-rights/