Citizens Town Hall Meeting on Constitutional Review: Nigerians Call for Modification of Nigeria’s Constitution to Reflect Present realities
Speakers and Participants at a Citizens Town Hall Meeting Organized by a faith based Civil Society Organization, Equity International, have called for alterations that will address the current challenges confronting Nigeria as a result of constitutional lapses and loopholes to reflect current realities.
The event which held on Friday 5th April 2024 at the Fox Hotel in Jos, had in attendance speakers and participants drawn from the academia, Civil Society, the Media, Students Union, Youth Organization and other critical stakeholders interested in reforms in politics and the democratic process in Nigeria.
Speaking at the event, President of the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) World Wide, Sir Jonathan Lokpobiri (Snr) called for constitutional alterations that will insist on professional conduct from Nigeria’s security agents in line with their constitutional responsibilities, rather than entangle themselves with the local politics of communities, which according to him will give room dissatisfactions against them by citizens, which can be exploited by criminal elements to find reasons for unlawfully operate.
Sir Lokpobiri sighted an example with the recent incident in Bomadi LGA of Delta State where Officers and soldiers numbers about 16 were reportedly killed by youths in Okuama Community over inter-communal disputes between the Community and Okoloba Community.
The IYC President said that though he was not making excuses for the unlawful actions of the youths of Okuama, he however said that the military should have remained neutral in the matter and allowed the police who have the constitutional power to wade into civil disagreements and address the matter. He took a swipe at the police for not living up to expectations which led to military intervening and the unfortunate incident. He called on the Police not to show weakness in tackling insecurity given their professional training and constitutional backing.
He also called for the creation of additional local governments to complement the current 8 LGAs that make up Bayelsa State to achieve equity among others States in the country. He also used the opportunity to call for merit in appointments which according has been pushed aside for sectionalism, ethnicity and religion in the last 8 years.
Speaking on the significance of the event, the Executive Director of Equity International Ambassador Chris Iyama said that “…the National assembly is saying that citizens should come up with memoranda to form a new constitution. For a long time now, we’ve been saying that we do not have a people’s constitution…So therefore, the set of people that gave us the 1999 constitution were military personnel, and then they just carried one or two persons.”
“There is nowhere in the constitution that has ‘We the people of Nigeria’ and so for the purpose of inclusion, inclusivity people must be carried along. Young people must be carried along and it is high time we begin to ask our national assembly members questions. ‘How do you know that this is what I want?’ You heard one of the presenters who said that for a very long time, the southeast has been having just five states, whereas other regions of this country are having five and even six States.”
“Is that not injustice enough? And so when we are talking about inclusion, we are talking about people’s constitution. Everybody must be carried along. We should look at places where we have deficiencies and arguments so that it can be said that we are people of one country, one destiny, one nation.”
“Again, is Nigeria truly a one country? Have we got to the point where we see that we are a nation?Because if indeed we are a nation, certain things have got to happen for citizens of this country. And this is the point where I say citizens must get involved in practical issues that concerns and affect them.”
“And before the 10th, we are going to be submitting memorandum to National assembly, and trust me, that is the reason why we conveyed a critical stakeholders from different parts of the country.You see, different people from Kaduna, from Imo, from Owerri, all civil society organizations across the country are here to discuss and have an impulse for a better country.”
Keynote Speaker, Mr Gad Peter Shamaki highlighted the importance of citizen engagement, the need to address neglected issues, the importance of complementary measures for effective governance, the role of civil society, the principles of justice and equality, the importance of leadership and accountability, and the consideration of future generations in the constitutional review process.
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