The alarming rise in public protests by Nigerians to express their grievances was as a result of the improperly structured constitutional democracy in the country, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Godwin Omoaka has said.
The senior lawyer, who called for the amendment of the 1999 constitution to address the protests and agitations, which he said, has triggered tension and heightened insecurity, causing security agencies to resort to excessive force to quell the protest.
Omoaka (SAN) stated this in a paper titled, “Growing agitations and political instability in Nigeria, the imperatives for a constructive constitutional amendment,” he delivered at the 50th year colloquium of an Abuja based lawyer, Godwin Sunday Ogboji.
He said, “To ensure political stability in the country, there must be concerted efforts to put an end to all forms of injustice, marginalisation, lopsided revenue sharing and other discriminatory practices.
“Even though the 1999 constitution has experienced four separate alterations, with the fifth in the works, none has addressed the core issues of uneven revenue distribution, deprivation formula, excess powers in the centre, central police, quota system, creation of local governments by states among others.
“A truly federal state is one in which the regions exercise control over their resources and affairs in the manner that best suit their unique abilities,” he said.
Omoaka said amendment of the 1999 constitution will avail protesting regions and local communities the opportunity to participate in decision-making processes concerning their land and natural resources while providing access to legal avenues to resolve matters of dispute thereby reducing recourse to militancy.
“If Nigeria is to make progress and remain one indivisible and indissoluble country as the 1999 constitution preaches, there must be significant amendments, if not a total rewriting or overhaul of the 1999 constitution,” he said.
He also called on the Federal Government to, as a matter of urgency, set up a Truth and Reconciliation Commission to identify areas of friction between the separatist agitators and the rest of the country as well as to proffer solutions on how to strengthen the relationship.
Omoaka, who was the guest speaker at the occasion marking the 50th birthday of Barrister Ogboji called on the government of President Muhammadu Buhari to revisit the confab reports of the previous government.
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