Former Commonwealth Secretary-General, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, has warned that it would be difficult for anybody to fix Nigeria with the present 1999 Constitution.
The elder statesman spoke at the launch of the book: “The Noble Academic and Patriot: A Biography of Emeritus, Professor Akinjide Osuntokun”, which was held in Lagos State.
According to the ex-diplomat, Nigeria as a pluralistic country needs to address its diversity with true federal Constitutions. He said as long as the status quo remains, not even angels can tackle the country’s problem under the present system.
Anyaoku said, “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”, it (would be difficult). Not even Angel Gabriel, or Malaikah Jibril, as leaders can successfully tackle the divisiveness, underperforming economy with the resultant poverty, insecurity, humongous corruption and other major challenges currently facing Nigeria”.
Anyaoku, who was the chairman on the occasion said, “the country’s population consists of groups of peoples long established in their separate geographical areas with different histories, cultures, languages and religions. He added that pluralistic countries which have survived as single political entities in unity and progress are those that addressed their diversity with genuine federal Constitutions.
Citing examples of India, Canada and Switzerland, the former Commonwealth secretary-general, stressed that if our pluralistic Nigeria is to achieve true unity and political stability to successfully tackle the serious challenges it currently faces, it must have a truly federal Constitution”.
Speaking at the event, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 elections, Peter Obi, lamented that Nigeria had cultivated a culture of celebrating those who contributed nothing to nation-building, noting that it was destroying society.
The Serving Overseer of the Citadel Global Community Church, Tunde Bakare, extolled Osuntokun as a great teacher, whom he also said was very crucial to his sojourn as a student at the University of Lagos. Bakare, who did the unveiling of the book, said, “He (Osuntokun) and his late wife were a blessing to him at one of the most critical periods of his life.
