No constitution can ever be regarded as perfect —Ex-President Obasanjo

The letter written by former President Olusegun Obasanjo to the Chairman of The Patriots, Chief Emeka Anyaoku on the convening of the constitutional summit.

Let me wish you and the other patriots success in your deliberation on Constitution to which you have invited me.  Unfortunately, I have other appointment which prevents my being able to be physically with you.

But as we discussed on telephone, a nation’s Constitution as the fundamental  law  must  reflect  the  history,  the  constituents  and  the aspiration of its people.   It must be sacrosanct.  From my experience in operating our Constitution, I will be the first to point out some areas of our Constitution that need amendment. However, for me, no Constitution can ever be regarded as perfect.  But whatever the strength or weakness of a Constitution, the most important issue to my own understanding and experience are the operators of the Constitution.

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The  best  Constitution  can  be  perverted  and  distorted  by  the operators and we have experienced that all over Africa, Nigeria not exempted.  I  am more concerned about the operators of the Constitution to lead in good governance and promotion of welfare and well-being  of the citizenry.   No matter what you do to Nigerian Constitution, if the operators of the Nigerian Constitution for the past one decade and a half remain unchanged  and continue in the same manner,  the welfare and well-being of Nigerians will continue to be sacrificed on the altar of selfishness, self-centeredness, corruption, impunity, and total disregard of the  Constitution,  decency,  morality, integrity  and  honesty.    At  this crucial time, the operators matter more and the searchlight should be on them.  When we get the right operators, they will give us the amended or new Constitution close to what we need to make every Nigerian a proud stakeholder in the Project Nigeria.

Accept, my dear Chief, the assurances of my highest regards.