Present Nigerian constitution destroying us —Arogbofa

Chief Sehinde Arogbofa, Secretary General of the Pan-Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere, speaks with Hakeem Gbadamosi in Akure about the present Nigerian constitution, the path Nigeria has refused to take and the solutions to its problems.

The National Assembly recently embarked on the amendment of the 1999 Constitution. Do you think this is what the nation needs now?

Members of the National Assembly, as if they have nothing serious to engage their time, have been spending time on the 1999 military constitution, instead of settling down to draft the constitution of the people. They hardly ask, who are the ‘we’ that made the 1999 Constitution. They are dissipating energy upon? Obviously, not you and I but the military boys that crafted it and imposed it on us. That’s why we’ve been saying we don’t want the 1999 Constitution because it was military in tone, intension and application.

It concentrates too much power in the centre, and this is not good for a true federal system. The National Assembly members must stop patching up the constitution, because it won’t help us. We want a constitution made by us, Nigerians, the people of this country, not the 1999 Constitution designed by the military. Since we were not involved, amendment is an aberration and out of the way. We should forget the 1999 Constitution and go back to the 1963 Constitution for a start.

You talk about the 1963 Constitution. Do you see it as a way out to rescue the nation from the myriads of challenges confronting it?

I see it as a way out for now, especially with a feeling that we made it and because it contained some true federal practices. That constitution had its merits but we may have to update one or two things. It gave power to the regions; it made Nigeria federal system and not a unitary system of government. Regions were free to initiate ideas and policies, and heads of government then were able to do a lot of things without federal encumbrances.

For instance, Chief Obafemi Awolowo was able to perform wonders in the Western Region by using his initiative and talents. He made use of the natural endowments of the people then, to make the region unique even in the whole of Africa. He recorded a lot of firsts: the television was a novel thing in the whole of Africa then, the industrial base in Ikeja, the Liberty Stadium in Ibadan and many others. Nnamdi Azikwe followed in his wake.

Ahmadu Bello also tried to perform some of these things in the North-all because that constitution allowed it. They were also able to pay something to the centre, not going to the centre cap in hand to beg for anything. The constitution was not a confederation, either because the centre still retained certain powers, like defence, currency and the Customs holding Nigerians together. But agriculture and education belonged to the regions, unlike now when the centre controls everything. We have abandoned God’s given state endowments we could have tapped to make a headway. It’s no surprise that our roads are bad, our hospitals are like dispensaries, and kidnapping, armed robbery and joblessness have taken over the land flowing with milk, honey and peace.

The six South-West governors met not too long and came up with the idea of the regional economic integration. Do you see this as going back to the days of Awolowo, and do you see this working for the region?

Let me congratulate our governors in the South-West for this regional economic integration. I want to salute them for at last seeing the need for it because this is quite different from political integration. But things cannot be the same as when Awolowo was the premier of the whole Western Region and was in control of the whole west. Now we have six governors each representing each of the states; which means every governor has his own state to govern and manage. It is good, that they have now decided to come to help oneanother, so that educationally, socially and economically they can help one and another. By coming together, they will think of things that can bind them together like good economic base, better road network and better life for the people. it is a welcome development and it must be sustained.

You proffered some solutions to Nigeria’s problems in your last book, ‘Nigeria’ The Path We refused to Take. How do you think this can solve the nation’s problems?

To be able to understand the spirit of that book, we need to look back at the previous two books written by me on Nigeria. In the first book entitled ‘Searchlight on Nigeria, Our Education and the Polity.” I tried to proffer some solutions to our poor economy, failing education and wobbling political system. I argued that military intervention in civilian government was an aberration and should go. I argued that the 6,3,3,4 system which was bastardised is the best system in education so far because it did not give room for failures. The political will to do it wasnt there.

We advised Nigerians then that they should look at all these issues critically. When the second book, ‘Nigeria, the Sociopolitical Discourse, a Commentary’ came out in 2009, we had gone back to the civilian era as the military had gone back to the barracks. I talked about the 1963 constitution as a better option to the 1999 military constitution and that we should not wait until that system destroyed us before we put it aside and make our own constitution.

I also talked of other issues like a fraud-free electoral system, and the need to tackle corruption. But a few years ago, I discovered that things were getting worse; hence the third book, ‘Nigeria, the Path We Refused to Take’. In the previous books, I laid down the path we should follow. For instance, political reconstruction is most vital because once we are able to get the structure right and we are able to get the leadership right, all other things will follow, but we have never got it right.

I also reminded Nigerians in the book that Nigeria must have the right leader, a focused leader, a leader who has the political will to rule this country, a detribalised leader, a leader who has Nigeria as his constituency, a leader who is not tainted by religious bigotry, a leader who will come out on his own that he wants to rule this country, not a leader who is coaxed or manipulated to lead.

He should be a leader who can tackle our cankerworms kerworms like unemployment, kidnapping and corruption without fear or favour. I reminded Nigerians that all these were not my first time of calling attention to them, but that we just refused to listen. Nigeria should throw away the 1999 Constitution for the 2014 Confab report, the best attempt so far towards reconstructing the Nigeria polity. Abacha tried to have his own Constitution, he failed: Obasanjo tried too but failed because he wanted to use the restructuring of Nigeria as his own third term agenda. But we had to almost force President Goodluck Jonathan to summon the 2014 confab. All Nigerians met for four months, discussing Nigeria, and came out with 600 resolutions without voting. We also advised on how the report could be implemented, but some people have not stopped accusing Jonathan of not being sincere.

I think those accusing Jonathan should now know that Jonathan had problems with the National Assembly as the Senate and House of Representatives did not want the confab to take place. If Nigerians look back, they can now see who was insincere. For instance, some couples of days ago, the National Assembly voted against devolution of power! It also gave powers to the local governments as against the confab resolution that each state should be allowed to create the number of local governments it can manage.