A Constitutional and International Law expert, Dr Wole Kunuji, on Tuesday said that secession would not end the various agitations and unrest in some parts of the country.
Rather, the don said, the most viable solution to the existential problem of Nigeria is to painstakingly and democratically work out a new constitutional framework.
Kunuji, of the Faculty of Law, University of Lagos, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that secession would create potential economic, logistical and administrative difficulties.
According to him, breaking away to start afresh will lead to fresh struggles for power and ascendancy within the new republics.
Kunuji said that such new constitution would work out the parameters under which the several ethnicities and nationalities that constitute the Nigerian state could peacefully cohabit without sacrificing their age-long desires for significant local autonomy.
“The Federal Government needs to urgently facilitate the birthing of a new constitution that will straighten out the terms of our collective existence as one indivisible state.
“First, government should set up a Constitution Drafting Committee (CDC). made up of eminent constitutionalists drawn from all over the country.
“The CDC should be asked to review the reports and recommendations of all constitutional conferences ever held in our checkered history as a state.
“The CDC should also examine and review all our previous constitutional texts, especially the 1963 constitution which, by any yardstick, remains the most “federal” of all our constitutions till date.
“A draft constitution prepared by the CDC should be submitted to a constituent assembly popularly elected for the purpose of thoroughly debating the draft constitution and membership of the constituent assembly should be drawn from all the 774 local governments in Nigeria.
“Following the constituent’s assembly’s deliberation on and review of the draft constitution, a final draft adopted by the assembly should be presented to Nigerians for ratification at a properly conducted referendum
“All Nigerians of voting age should be allowed to participate in this referendum,” he said
The scholar opined that the way out for the present administration is to rise up to the occasion, jettison conservatism and put in motion the process for the birthing of a truly democratic constitution that is genuinely federal in character.
He noted that the 1999 Constitution was an elitist framework foisted on Nigeria by the military on the eve of their departure from office in 1999.
“It is a lifeless document that is completely detached from the reality of Nigeria. To dust up this document and insist that it is the basis on which Nigeria must be governed is to play the ostrich despite glaring deficiencies in our current governance arrangement.
“The new constitution must foster unity without discountenancing diversity.
“It must enhance togetherness without suppressing local autonomy. This, candidly, is the only way out for a multi-national state like Nigeria.
“Our leaders must stand up to save the country from disintegrating by embarking on a genuine process of restructuring through a new constitutional framework.
“Only then will our children and grandchildren be able to look back several years hence and say “this, indeed, was their finest hour,” Kunuji said. (NAN)
