The Archbishop Emeritus of Lagos, Anthony Cardinal Okogie, in this piece, says those who wrote the Constitution appeared to have in mind only a Nigeria awash with petro-dollars.

Nigerians are witnessing two scenes of a drama. Scene one is the drama of clamour and resistance – clamour for restructuring and resistance to restructuring of the federation, that is, if Nigeria can be called a federation in the proper sense of the word. Scene two is the drama of accusations and mutual accusations.

The party in power today accuses the party in power yesterday of corruption, and the party in power yesterday accuses the party in power today of the same offence.

These two scenes cannot be ignored. What is going on, underscores the need to be truthful about our past and our present, so that our future will not be a continuation of falsehood and the corresponding failure to build a just society.

Terms of debate The debate on restructuring is cloudy, the drama heightened. What is intriguing is that neither side of the debate seems to know what the terms of the debate are. Many of those who call for restructuring have not been able to explain what precisely they mean by restructuring.

By restructuring, some expect the reduction of the current 36 states to six geopolitical regions. Some others want the local governments to be reduced or removed altogether. At the same time, many of those who are afraid of restructuring come across as people who do not know what they are afraid of. Certainly, there is a case to be made for shrinking the size of government prescribed in our Constitution.

This Constitution was written by persons who appeared to have in mind only a Nigeria awash with petro-dollars. The number of government offices provided for by the Constitution can only be maintained by a stupendously rich Nigeria. That was the Nigeria of the 1970s, the era when the 1979 Constitution was drafted. And the 1999 Constitution is substantially identical with the 1979 Constitution.

They both reflect the squander mania and prodigality of the period of their birth. The size of government we have is such that government is the largest employer of labour. It is extremely difficult, almost impossible, to prevent political office holders from placing men and women of their ethnic, religious and political affiliation on government payroll, even when they lack requisite intellectual, moral and technical competence.

Now that the price of petrol has taken a plunge, with an insurgency further complicating the problem, it is obvious that Nigeria can no longer sustain this big government Maintaining the kind of government provided for in our current Constitution has simply impeded the average Nigerian from gaining access to the good things with which the Creator has endowed this land and its diverse peoples.

This Constitution has never served and can never serve the citizen. A Constitution whose exclusive legislative list is longer than its concurrent legislative list is anything but federal. But given the size and diversity of Nigeria, running such a constitution is a recipe for economic deprivation, instability and corruption.

The length of the exclusive legislative list has effectively made any sitting President an Emperor, one who sits on Nigeria’s wealth, particularly her oil wealth, to the detriment of the people on whose land the wealth is found. This has made it attractive to be in government or to befriend those in government while millions of our fellow citizens are shut out of the way their country is run. In a genuine democracy, the servant is the government official while the master is the citizen whose participation in the electoral process led to hiring the servant. But the current Constitution has made the servant more powerful than the master who hired him.

The problem being highlighted here will not be solved by simply reducing the number of states or removing the local government as the third tier of government. That, of course may be necessary. But in this case, that which is necessary is not sufficient. Nigeria needs a Constitution whose underlying philosophy is that the citizen is superior to the government he or she puts in place to serve the land.

The obnoxious philosophy underlying government-citizen relationship perpetuated by the current Constitution is seen in practice in the way government—at federal, state or local level—disables the citizen. The call for restructuring might not have been clearly articulated. But it is a call for far-reaching constitutional reforms in Nigeria. Cosmetic changes will amount to treating the symptoms while neglecting the cause.

In concrete terms, it is a call to reduce the power of government and its officials, a call to return the land and its wealth to the people, a call to make being in government a lot less lucrative than what it has always been. Given the fact that access to political power in Nigeria is access to Nigeria’s wealth, given the enormous privileges of enormous powers, it is going to be very difficult to convince people in power to have their power reduced. They are afraid of relinquishing power. That is why they are afraid of restructuring.

We all know petro-dollar is behind the fear for a restructured Nigeria

Hmm

Captured in essence fear of hunger but they keep telling igbos say they are doing us a favour

Buhari is inviting anarchy. Let him continue being stubborn.

OP

Buhari doesn't have the power to restructure Nigeria. If you want to restructure Nigeria, call your National Assembly members.

who ever said the fear of restructuring nigeria is the beginning of wisdom?

Summary Pls

Butom the title of the thread is different from the content of the post.

The cardinal spoke very well without any bias.

He seems to understand the problem and the way forward for the whole of Nigeria.

otukpo:
Butom the title of the thread is different from the content of the post.

The cardinal spoke very well without any bias.

He seems to understand the problem and the way forward for the whole of Nigeria.

You dey mind the olodo op.

And somehow the op dragged buhari's name into this? Haba! Haba!

The feeding bottle system.

Nigeria is like a lost sheep wandering in the wilderness

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The facts speak for themselves. Nigeria is fundamentally sick and impaired from the foundation. It is necessary to face the real problems head on, have a real national debate or build on that of 2014 which should be expanded to cover every conceivable area so there is nothing like a 'no go area'. When substantial consensus is reached then a brand new constitution must be drawn from the resolutions of such national discourse.

It may well be that there is no common ground and respective ethnic nations choose to forge their own paths as separate entities. That should not cause any fears or apprehension because all tribes are of age to fend for themselves. It is only when an organic process is in place and the conscious choice is made to remain under one name subject to agreed terms and conditions that Nigeria can begin to really manifest her real prospects. Until then, we will not move beyond this point. It will remain the vicious cycle of survival of the fittest where winner tales all; an unjust society where the weaker or fewer are never protected and unable to rise unless of course by use of deadly force. When that happens, we start hearing that 'The state (Nigeria) is indivisible, must remain one, and will not be blackmailed'! The underlying cause of such restiveness remains unaddressed so how about curing these ailments so that people can develop and live free of fear and the tension of unity or otherwise is doused? Must it all be by bloodshed and military force?

Meanwhile op, you must not let your bias show all the time. Modify ur topic.

This has always be a prudent spoke man,..absolute true comment

What has this wrote up got to do with buhari

AZeD1:
OP

Buhari doesn't have the power to restructure Nigeria. If you want to restructure Nigeria, call your National Assembly members.

why can't ppl get this simple concept through their thick skulls

They didn't ask for restructuring under Jonathan

They haven't asked national assembly

It's buhari

He said the absolute truth.

Maybe he will need to teach some of the well meaning National Assembly members cause probably their brain has not reasoned it upto this level.

Long Epistle, summary please

Noted

nigeria's constitution is a satanic document dat gives more power to sharia north at d expence of oda regions. d only hope for restructuring is to organise a french type Revolution.

AZeD1:
OP

Buhari doesn't have the power to restructure Nigeria. If you want to restructure Nigeria, call your National Assembly members.

d same national assembly dat gives majority voting power to d north no tanks to nigeria's satanic constitution guess which region hate restructuring of nigeria Revolution is d only solution.

mikolo80:
why can't ppl get this simple concept through their thick skulls

Listen pls, the president to an extent has more power than NASS. A bill passed by NASS can't be implemented without the president endorsing it. However, a bill pass by the president is always endorsed by NASS if it means well for the country. In this case restructuring is good for the country. It must start from the president. Let him proposed a bill on restructuring and let see if NASS will reject it.

TruthisGOD:
Listen pls, the president to an extent has more power than NASS. A bill passed by NASS can't be implemented without the president endorsing it.


Yes they can

Download a copy of constitution
It's free
They only need ⅔ votes to override presidential assent

However, a bill pass by the president is always endorsed by NASS if it means well for the country.


Only if Ghana must go is shared


In this case restructuring is good for the country. It must start from the president. Let him proposed a bill on restructuring and let see if NASS will reject it.

Do you know how many bills were stalled for 4 years by republicans in USA

Presidential power comes from the fact that all legislators have corruption cards that efcc can open anytime

of course restructuring is the answer but most times we only tend to portray the problem and not a pragmatic solution on what terms are we intending to restructure what would be the template. what system of government would we tend to run? this are salient questions begging for answers.

nonetheless restructuring is a subject our leaders won't want to dive in, since they are enjoying the national cake at the moment look at the budget padding scenario going on in the national assembly it depicts where the loyalty of this our representatives lies in money. I believe if we look at the documents of the previous national conference we might find a solution that would help us in the short and medium term.

The problem still lies colonial masters of Nigeria,their invisible influence is still haunting against Nigeria good.the North were ill-advised and it continued like that.

This man was a staunch critic of Jonathan then that he has no good plan for Nigeria. Guess Buhari have been providing the so called good governance he alongside Tunde Bakare and Ft.Mbaka have greatly sought? "Change" is being served red,red,hot.Pls enjoy it to the fullest.

drss2:
d same national assembly dat gives majority voting power to d north no tanks to nigeria's satanic constitution guess which region hate restructuring of nigeria Revolution is d only solution.

Epic! Welcome bro-missed your contributions here for some long time now.