Oby Ezekwesili
Oby Ezekwesili tasks media to lead reforms of Nigerian constitution
The founder of Human Capital Africa, Dr Oby Ezekwesili, has emphasized the need for a fresh constitution that will help address all the imbalances and the inequalities.
Ezekwesili, who appealed to the media to be in forefront at the vanguard of the demand, spoke on Thursday on the topic “Reworking Nigeria’s Federalism: Perspectives on Restructuring and Fiscal Federalism” at the 7th Penpushing Media anniversary and annual lecture held in Abeokuta.
She said a new constitution is a matter of life and death, stressing that having it in place defined the current constitution in Nigeria, and that there must be a constitutional conference that will enable citizens to have honest conversation
“The media should take the front seat and be at the vanguard of a demand for new constitution. We must have a constitutional conference that enables the people of this country to have honest conversation around things that will make us make progress and make Nigeria work for all of us’, she stated.
“If there is anything that will come out of this annual lecture it must be that the media should be at the vanguard of a push for a constitutional conference, one that will enable the constituent part of this country, a constituent assembly elected by the people, they go, they sit, they have the discussion on the basis of the issues that makes fiscal federal system of government to work and come out with issues that are eligible for constitution which is put before the people to vote in form of referendum.
‘This is what Kenya did after almost collapsing, and since then, you never hear them talking about break-up, they will talk about the need for good leaders’, the humanitarian and an activist stated.
The former Minister said only a new constitution that prioritises devolution of powers, justice, equity, and fairness to all irrespective of tribes and ethnicity will solve the agitation for secession by some part of the country, the problem of insecurity, the challenge of unemployment and poverty, and maladministration.
The advocate for transparency, accountability, good governance berated the National Assembly efforts on the ongoing constitutional amendment, stressing that it is nothing but a charade and a conduit pipe to waste public funds.
Ezekwesili, who was accompanied by her husband to the event, added that hijack of the nation’s political space and, by extension, that of the continent by a set of criminal enterprise gangs who now sit at the table and slice governance in the direction that best suits them while the larger interest of the people suffers is worrisome.
She added that the National Assembly decided to embark on a venture that will do little or nothing to help address the need to restructure the country along the practice of true federalism.
She stressed that a fresh constitution that will help address all the imbalances and the inequalities.
‘The ongoing constitutional amendment cannot work, it cannot address our problem, it is a charade and sheer waste of resources. The demand for a new constitution is a matter of life and death.”
According to her, “For instance, when the engineer tells us that the foundation of a building is structurally defective, is it not to take the whole building down because it will continue to constitute an endangerment to the people.’
“You won’t say, Oga, can we just do some little adjustment to the building, no, it won’t work, and this is same with nation building. So, this expensive charade that the National Assembly is embarking on and spending money on won’t take us anywhere.”
She explained that there is nothing mysterious about good governance, as it has been done in other parts of the world and could be replicated in Nigeria and Africa as a whole.
“Unfortunately, today’s politics has been hijacked, what we now have is a criminal enterprise gang and this is not only in Nigeria but across the continent. A criminal enterprise gang has taken hold of politics and excluded the society and these people just sit at the table and just slice governance in the direction that suits them but that must not be made to continue,” she explained.
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