Nigeria To Expire By Midnight – Groups Nigeria expires at 12 midnight, according to
some ethnic nationality groups inn the country. The groups believe the Amalgamation Treaty
of January 1, 1914, which joined Northern and
Southern protectorates created Nigeria with a
life span of 100 years. The ethnic nationalities, which included
Federation of Oodua People, Middle Belt
Congress, Lower Niger Congress and Oporoza
House, which congregated on the banner of
Movement for New Nigeria, MNN, said Nigeria
would become history after today and therefore urged all Nigerians to embrace the
national conference to agree on fresh terms of
co-existing. Speaking at a briefing held at Freedom Park,
Lagos attended by Elder Fred Agbeyegbe, Co-
coordinator; Tony Nnadi, Secretary-General;
Mrs Hilda Dokubo, Timi Kaiser Ogoriba, Chief
Dan Ekpebide, Abuka Onalo, Ambah Binaebi,
Shade Olukoya and Leye Akinmodiro, the groups urged President Goodluck Jonathan to
speed up the national dialogue, warning that it
would be disastrous to hold the 2015 elections
without a new constitution emerging from a
national conference. “The mention of 2015 in Nigeria’s political
discourse instantly evokes two ominous
conjectures. One is the haunt of the US
intelligence prediction that Nigeria will
disintegrate before 2015. “The other very bloody prospect swirls around
the 2015 electoral round in which a northern
politician assumes that there would be trouble
if the elections are rigged.” Nnadi said: “What the British did in the
amalgamation treaty was to consolidate all the
treaties that they signed with the different
ethnic nationalities they subdued in the
process of their conquest. “By 1914, the various treaties were
consolidated so as to be recognised in
international law. Under international law,
every treaty has a life span of 100 years. The
Amalgamation Treaty took effect on January 1,
1914, which means that it will expire on December 31, 2013. “The second challenge for Nigeria is that the
1999 Constitution, which General Abdulsalami
Abubakar gave to Nigeria made certain
proclamations that are rooted in falsehood
because it was not a constitution drawn up by
Nigerians. “What will hold Nigeria after December 31 is a
hope that the national conference will produce
another document that Nigerians would
accept.” Professor Akin Oyebode, a lawyer, however
disagrees with the groups, as he said Nigeria
will not expire because the amalgamation was
not put in place by a treaty, but by an order in
council by the British Parliament. According to him, the process of amalgamation
started in January 1900, when the British
Parliament issued an Order-in-Council through
which the Royal Nigeria Company, which
succeeded the United African Company, ceded
its power to the British Crown and resulted in the amalgamation of the Southern
protectorate. He said the British Parliament also issued an
Order-in-Council which resulted in the
amalgamation of Northern protectorate in
1906. The amalgamation of Northern and
Southern protectorates took place in 1914
through another Order-in-Council. He said the order was used in British territories,
which had no legislature to issue such
legislative instrument. He said it was through
the order that Nigeria got her independence in
1960. Professor Oyebode agreed with moves to
convene a national conference because the
1999 Constitution, which was foisted on
Nigerians by the military, shared the same
features and characteristics with the
Amalgamation Acts which were enacted without the participation and consent of
Nigerians. According to Oyebode, the 1999 Constitution is
nothing but Decree No. 24, which has since
been identified as a fraudulent document. Noting that the 1999 Constitution may be valid
but not legal, he said “what we should expect
is for the proposed national conference to lead
to a constitutional conference through which
Nigerians can produce a document that they
can respect.” Speaking in the same vein, legal icon, Professor
Itse Sagay (SAN), who argued that there was
no law that automatically gives a treaty of 100
years life span said: “I totally disagree with the
group that the 1914 amalgamation was by a
treaty. “It was a union imposed on us by the British
who were colonial overlords of Nigeria, then
recognised by international law, which was a
legitimate power to join the Northern and
Southern protectorates. “So, it was not a treaty at all. If it were a treaty,
both parties could have sat round the table to
negotiate their merger. But there wasn’t
anything like that at all. “The people just woke up one morning and
found out that they have been joined together
by the superior colonial force. “Meanwhile, contrary to their belief that a treaty
can expire, it can be forever and can be
terminated by either party. A party can
withdraw from a treaty at anytime, provided
certain conditions are met,” he said.
Source: http://informationng.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/nigeira-to-expire-by-groups.html