By The National Prayer Altar
In the prayer call of 25th – 31st March 2024, we posed the question above and drew attention to the need to resolve the constitutional dispute in Nigeria. In that prayer call, we pointed out that the 1999 Constitution (as amended) is of doubtful origin, and it is responsible for most of the crises in Nigeria. That prayer call identified four areas in which the 1999 Constitution (as amended) is dysfunctional and a liability to the Nigerian state:
1. Insecurity
2. Corruption
3. Religious intolerance
4. Unemployment & Poverty
In a short viral video clip, Chief Nnia Nwodo, a former Minister of Information, and a former President of Ohaneze Ndigbo, said, “… 49 people selected to write a constitution, wrote a constitution. 40 people in the Supreme Military Council promulgated a constitution for us, under General Abubakar, a government in which I served. I was in the Executive Council; I never saw the draft constitution and I was Minister of Information. It was my responsibility to publicise it to the country. On the day of swearing-in of Obasanjo, we didn’t have a copy of the constitution. I didn’t know who was printing it and my Ministry was supposed to pay for the printing. And, Obasanjo was sworn on a constitution that had not been read by anybody. And the National Assembly could not be constituted until four days after his swearing-in because there was no clean copy of the constitution! You cannot build on quicksand. A country cannot live on falsehood.”
(Watch the Chief Nnia Nwodo video in the link below)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jq48FP9fQWc
Based on the foregoing, those who claim that the 1999 Constitution (as amended) is an illegitimate and fraudulent document cannot be faulted. The 1999 Constitution (as amended) did not pass any credible test to be considered the sovereign document of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. To worsen matters, it has become the source of poverty, sorrow, and death to Nigerians.
What should concern Nigerians now is how to resolve the constitutional dispute and ensure that the country obtains a legitimate constitution. There are four perspectives presently in the public space. They are as follows:
1. Amendment of the 1999 Constitution by the National Assembly
2. Adoption of the 2014 National Conference Report and its draft Constitution.
3. Adoption of the 1963 Republican Constitution and amendment of the same to reflect current realities.
4. A new Constitution developed by the ethnic nationalities.
There is a school of thought that suggests that the quickest way of replacing the illegitimate 1999 Constitution (as amended) is a return to the 1963 Republican Constitution after due amendments. This school of thought argues that this is the constitution that was negotiated by the ethnic nationalities led by the founding fathers of Nigeria. It was thoroughly debated at various constitutional conferences held in Lagos and in London before it was eventually approved at the Lagos Constitutional Conference which held on 25th – 26th July 1963. This is believed to be the authentic constitution of Nigeria.
It is argued that the 1963 Republican Constitution is still in force because it was only “suspended” by Gen. Ironsi’s Decree No. 1 of 1966. The 1963 Constitution was neither nullified nor abrogated. One immediate advantage in reverting to the 1963 Constitution would be reduction in the cost of governance. Under the 1963 Constitution, Nigeria was funding 5 governments: the Federal Government and the four regional governments. Under the 1999 Constitution, Nigeria is funding 812 governments from the Federation account when one adds up the Federal Government, the 36 state governments, the National Assembly and the 774 Local Governments.
The enormous cost of running government is one of the reasons Nigeria cannot offer free education, free healthcare, and national infrastructure has collapsed. With a political class that is protected from prosecution by the “immunity clause” in the 1999 Constitution (as amended), all the arms of government engage in mad rush to loot whatever is in the national treasury. Consequently, Nigeria became the poverty capital of the world.
There is another school of thought sponsored by the Nigerian Indigenous Nationalities Alliance for Self Determination (NINAS) that conference of the ethnic nationalities is indispensable to put in place new constitutional arrangements for Nigeria. NINAS has produced five-fold proposition to guide Nigeria into seamlessly developing new constitutional arrangements for the Federal Government and the federating units.
On 16th December 2020, accredited delegates of the Nigerian Indigenous Ethnic Nationalities of the Southern and Middle Belt of Nigeria issued a declaration titled “Notice of Constitutional grievances, declaration of constitutional force majeure and demand for transitioning process for an orderly reconfiguration of the constitutional basis of the federation of Nigeria.” The declaration was signed by a total of 140 representatives of the South and Middle Belt areas of Nigeria. It was carried in full in the _Guardian Newspaper_ on 21st January 2021.
https://guardian.ng/features/notice-of-constitutional-grievances-declaration-of-constitutional-force-majeure-and-demand-for-transitioning-process-for-an-orderly-reconfiguration-of-the-constitutional-basis-of-the-federation/
On whichever side of the divide one stands, one thing is clear, Nigeria requires new Constitutional arrangements. The current 1999 Constitution (as amended) has been proven, beyond doubt, to lack legitimacy. Since sovereignty belongs to the people from whom government derives its power, it is imperative that Nigerians must unite to negotiate new Constitutional arrangements for the country.
The political class must be prevailed upon to place the interest of millions of Nigerians above their personal and political interest. It is possible to take a decision on this issue in 2024 while a transition arrangement can be put in place so that the current elected government officials can complete their tenure.
This is a call for Nigerians to focus all their energy and attention on providing a lasting solution to the problems facing the country by going to the root of the problem. Sovereignty belongs to the people. Prayers should focus on dismantling the illegitimate and fraudulent 1999 Constitution (as amended) and the enthronement of the genuine constitution approved by the people for the people.
Where there is a will, there is a way.
PRAYER POINTS
1. Isaiah 10: 27
The 1999 Constitution (as amended) is an instrument of oppression, suppression, and regression upon the indigenous ethnic nationalities of Nigeria. Pray that every power of Satan that is sustaining this illegitimate and fraudulent document shall be nullified and destroyed in the name of Jesus Christ.
2. Isaiah 27: 1; Ps. 74: 12 – 14
Pray that every power and influence of leviathan in Nigeria shall be nullified and destroyed by the power of the Almighty God, in the name of Jesus.
3. Zech. 4: 6
Due to the promotion of personal and selfish interests, the political class would not want to support the decommissioning of the 1999 Constitution (as amended). Pray that the anointing of God shall break through every resistance. The anointing of God shall destroy the yoke of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).
4. Rev. 12: 11
Pray that every blood sacrifice and occult ritual deployed to keep Nigerians docile and in bondage shall be nullified by the Blood of Jesus Christ. Pray that the Blood of Jesus shall answer their bloods.
5. Isaiah 8: 9 – 10
Pray that every foreign nation that is part of the conspiracy to undermine and enslave Nigerians shall have its peace and tranquillity withdrawn.
6. Isaiah 51: 9 – 10
Pray for a stirring in the land, that many voices shall arise, demanding the abrogation of the 1999 Constitution (as amended). Pray for a stirring in the people and great indignation against every instrument of oppression in the land.
7. 2 Cor. 6: 2
Make a righteous demand from heaven, by the Blood of the Lamb of God, that today is the day of the deliverance for Nigeria.
https://everyday.ng/2024/05/christian-group-meets-over-who-owns-nigeria-seeks-new-constitution/
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*PRAYER CONFERENCE*
Theme: *NIGERIA – THE DILEMMA AND THE WAY OUT*
Resolving the Constitutional dispute in Nigeria
Friday 17th – Sunday 19th May 2024
9.00 pm – 10.30 pm daily
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