Emeka Anyaoku, the former secretary-general of the Commonwealth has said that Nigeria as a country cannot do well with the 1999 Constitution as amended.
Anyaoku said this while speaking at the launch of the book: “The Noble Academic and Patriot: A Biography of Emeritus Professor Akinjide Osuntokun,” held at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs, Victoria Island, Lagos.
The elder statesman said it is imperative for Nigeria to do away with the constitution and fashion out ways to develop using a new one.
He said it would be difficult for any leader to fix the nation with the old Constitution as expected by many.
His words, “To those who think that the trouble with Nigeria today is the political leadership, I would say that as long as we have the 1999 Constitution as our grundnorm, not even Angel Gabriel or Malaikah Jibrin as leaders can successfully tackle the divisiveness, the underperforming economy with the resultant poverty, the insecurity, the humongous corruption, and the other major challenges currently facing Nigeria.”
Describing Nigeria as a pluralist country, Anyaoku said the nation’s population consists of groups of people long established in their separate geographical areas with different histories, cultures, languages and religions.
He said, “The universal lesson is that pluralistic countries which have survived as single political entities in unity and progress are those that addressed their pluralism, that is their diversity, with genuine federal constitutions. Examples of such countries are India, Canada and Switzerland.
“I believe, therefore, that if our pluralistic Nigeria is to achieve true unity and political stability, and to successfully tackle the serious challenges that the country currently faces, it must have a truly federal constitution,” he said.