The time has come for us, as a people, to stop sitting on the fence and tell ourselves the truth.
The biggest problem confronting Nigeria is the 1999 Constitution.
I refer to it as fraudulent because it falsely claims to have been enacted by “we the people.” That claim is far from the truth. The Nigerian people neither debated nor produced it. It was handed down by departing military authorities in 1999. There have even been claims that when President Olusegun Obasanjo was sworn into office, the constitution itself had not yet been printed, that copies came afterwards.
Yet, this same document, despite countless amendments by successive parliaments, remains the foundation upon which we continue to build a struggling nation.
If we truly desire progress, and if those in power do not favour an outright breakup of the country, then the way forward is simple: Nigeria must urgently return to the negotiated Independence Constitution that established strong regional governments.
Under that arrangement, regions had significant autonomy. They controlled their economies, developed at their own pace, and maintained security structures suited to their peculiar realities. There was healthy competition, productivity, and a greater sense of responsibility.
Let us be honest with ourselves: the colonial authorities would never have granted independence to Nigeria under a structure as excessively centralized as the 1999 Constitution. They handed over a negotiated constitutional framework because they understood the complexity and diversity of Nigeria.
Today, under the 1999 Constitution, we hear repeatedly that governors are the “Chief Security Officers” of their states. But everyone knows this is largely rhetoric. No governor truly controls the security architecture of his or her state. Orders come from elsewhere, and in many cases, before approvals arrive, the damage has already been done.
The way forward is to dismantle the present overburdened state structure and activate a truly functional regional system using the already established six geopolitical zones.
The endless agitation for more states is, in many cases, simply a demand for more bureaucracies, more administrative costs, and more channels for waste and confusion. The six geopolitical zones, already recognized and discussed extensively in national conversations, provide a practical framework for regional governance.
Nigeria must return to a negotiated constitutional arrangement that reflects justice, equity, efficiency, and true federalism.
If we genuinely want this country to work, then we must stop deceiving ourselves and confront the structural problem at the heart of our national crisis.
Let us return to a negotiated constitutional document.
~ Legendary Nollywood Actor Nze Ukwu Ugezu J. Ugezu Writes.
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