Who is the source of power in Nigeria? – Only a Sovereign National Conference Can Answer this Question There is no where in the present Nigerian Constitution where you can find that the people of Nigeria are the source of power apart from the first paragraph which states: We the people of the Federal Republic of Nigeria having firmly and solemnly resolve, to live in unity and harmony as one indivisible and indissoluble sovereign nation under God, dedicated to the promotion of inter-African solidarity, world peace, international co-operation and understanding; And to provide for a Constitution for the purpose of promoting the good government and welfare of all persons in our country, on the principles of freedom, equality and justice, and for the purpose of consolidating the unity of our people; Do hereby make, enact and give to ourselves the following Constitution. However, this is a false statement! It is a lie deliberately perpetuated by those conscripted by the Nigerian Armed Forces to write a jaundiced version of the Constitution. Nigerians were not asked if they have firmly and solemnly resolve to live in unity and harmony as one indivisible and indissoluble sovereign nation under God. Even the colonialists never exercised any illusion that this amalgamated countries would ever agree, even by force, to be one indivisible and indissoluble nation because even their understanding of God is absolutely irreconcilable! However, it is not impossible for them to agree on such notion. However, they must be given the opportunity to do so voluntarily and peacefully. The most important provision in the present Constitution of Nigeria that is conspicuously missing is the question of the source of power in Nigeria. Who is the source of power? And why is this question important? It is important to ask this question because there is a provision that says: The Federal Republic of Nigeria shall not be governed, nor shall any persons or group of persons take control of the Government of Nigeria or any part thereof, except in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution. And there is the next provision that says: Nigeria is one indivisible and indissoluble sovereign state to be known by the name of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. However, there have been many coups and counter coups by the Nigerian Armed Forces that have flagrantly and criminally violated this provision in the past by taking over the control of the country by force with impunity! Therefore, it is possible for such violation to repeat itself again! Today, we have different groups in the country who are attempting to take over the control of government either in part or whole, by force. No Nigerian should kid by saying this is not the realities of the present condition of the country. Successive military governments have written their own Constitution for the people of Nigeria stating that they represented Nigerians. But, can any sensible person say that they were telling the truth? Regardless of the Constitutional conference handpicked individuals have taken part in; have any of these conferences being truly representative of the people of Nigeria? For example, during Sani Abacha’s regime, I was called for a secret meeting by one of his high ranking executives in Ogun State. He and another official told me that Abacha have nominated me as one of the representatives of Ogun State for his Constitutional Conference. I told them that I have no money to run such campaign. I was told that everything has been taken care of. All that I needed to do is to say “Yes.” I was offered two bags of “Ghana Must Go” full of money which, they said, was just for the preliminary planning of my campaign. Anyone can imagine how much money (in new notes) can fill up each of such bags. I rejected it and told them that I have been emboldened to campaign against the Conference by their disrespectful actions. I said their action constituted a rape on the people of Ogun State. This was among the reasons why Mrs. Kudirat Abiola was assassinated the week following her attendance of the protests against the Conference organized by the Campaign for Democracy which I led in Ogun State at the time. Sani Abacha, who wanted to succeed himself by all means necessary and at all costs, can never be underestimated on the extent he was willing to go to rule Nigeria by force. He even “bared” his teeth by kidnapping my daughter from her teacher’s college at Osiele and detained her in place of me three days after he murdered Kudirat Abiola because I escaped death by not being in the car with her on that day. I was to be executed with her because I was scheduled to go to the Canadian embassy with her. No-one should forget that such Constitutional conference campaign was used to trap Ken Saro Wiwa in the murder accusation that led to his been unlawfully hanged with eight Ogoni leaders without any due process. My question to Nigerians still believing in this army arrangements kind of government and constitution is this: Would any reasonable family allow armed robbers to write the domestic law (constitution) for their family after invading them, violating their rights and taking control of the family resources by force? If they were forced to use such criminally crafted law (policy or constitution), would they continue to use it as genuine document to guide their day-to-day activities after the robbers have left their home or would they change such constitution and write a better one that should secure their lives against future attack by armed bandits? Without rectifying these defects, Nigeria cannot move forward by trying to build any reasonable and enduring structure on the past military arrangements, including the illegal Constitution that is being used to govern the country today! Without the specific provision in the present constitution stating the source of power in Nigeria, then one can assume that it is not vested in the people of Nigeria. The proposed National Conference as organized by the PDP led President Goodluck Jonathan will not and cannot make this happen. It is mere waste of the peoples money. It is another charade to help him and his dying PDP to gain illegitimate control and advantage over other political Parties in the country because the most important question, which is: Have Nigerians firmly and solemnly resolve to live in unity and harmony as one indivisible and indissoluble sovereign nation under God; cannot be answered decisively without violating the present constitution. It would be unconstitutional to even discuss issues like self determination, freedom to secede from the union, regional autonomy and resource control at this proposed conference because it would be a direct violation of the current constitution. So, why waste money and time to discuss the unimportant issues? The people of Nigeria should be the bearer of sovereignty and source of power. Therefore, it is absolutely necessary for Nigerians to hold a Sovereign National Conference to determine the nationhood of the amalgamated countries. This conference should be absolutely SOVEREIGN! Organized by the civil society and represented by all Nigerians from every part of the country. They should not be nominated by anyone in government, but elected or chosen by their local representatives. After the conclusion of such conference; if it is mutually agreed that Nigeria should remain as one country, then, the task of nation building can begin with the writing of a new Constitution which shall vest the power of the bearer of sovereignty on the people. They can then use such power, as has been mutually agreed, to elect the people that they want to govern the countrys affairs. This power should include, but not limited to, the use of force by all means necessary to remove any persons or group of persons that take over the government of Nigeria by any other means not included in the new Constitution. The absence of this bold action is why Nigeria is getting broken to several pieces day-by-day by different groups using the cruelest force imaginable. If Nigerians are too afraid to stand up together and say: “No, to army arrangements; yes, to peoples power and democracy,” they will die separately as the world is witnessing day by day. The worse example of dying separately is what happened to jobless Nigerians on March 15, 2014. Nigerians who came out peacefully to look for jobs were met with pain, sorrow, tears and blood - the regular trademark of irresponsible, inefficient, corrupt and insensitive government of the elite, by the elite, for the elite. If such crowd had come out to seek change in Nigeria - A new history would have been in the making with immediate effect! My condolences goes to the families and friends of the deceased and wounded.
Posted on: Sun, 16 Mar 2014 15:57:10 +0000
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