Cardinal John Onaiyekan, the pan-Yoruba socio-political organization, Afenifere, on Friday, came out in support of restructuring as a solution to the current challenges facing Nigeria, rather than pursuing a constitutional amendment.
This was as they raised concerns over Nigeria’s constitution, highlighting that it is riddled with inconsistencies and contradictions.
The renowned cleric, Onaiyekan, emphasized the urgent need for constitutional reform, stating that the current document does not adequately address how religion relates or contributes to the national progress of the nation.
Onaiyekan pointed out that the constitution has consistently failed to provide a clear framework for governance and religious affairs resulting in confusion and inefficiency within the political system.
He emphasized the need to decentralize power and foster greater autonomy for states, allowing for more effective governance and decision-making at the local level.
These stakeholders and others spoke at a policy dialogue on new governance structure for Nigeria, organized by the Abuja School Social and Political Thought, in Abuja.
His words: “If we take the present constitution, whether as amended or not amended it is riddled with inconsistencies or contradictions, problems when it comes to seriously talking about how religion relates to the nation.
“Which is why it is obvious we must look at it again. So, maybe it is good that we give it a look at changing to a parliamentary system. Perhaps we need to find out to ask those soldiers who threw away the parliamentary system and introduced the presidential system. What reasons did they have?”
Meanwhile, one of the representatives of the pan-Yoruba socio-political organization, Afenifere, Dr. Akin Fapohunda, while emphasizing on the need for restructuring, said Nigeria has not clearly defined the process for restructuring.
He proposed that with restructuring, each region would be encouraged to seek out ways to drive significant development and generate their own resources independently, rather than relying on resources from the nation’s capital.
“The bottom line is that we have no process. We are seeing the good but we have not defined the process, milestones and timelines that’s what is missing. We agree that the house is rotten and it needs to be pulled down and we designed an alternative model, which you are now selling. The political class, their teeth are dug into the one million barrel of crude that they are sharing every time. So, we have to confront them.
“What we are talking about is parliamentary and presidential governance, state/regional constitution—every region must have its own constitution, not one relative one that we are all battling and the third thing is to rework the list of functions”, he said. (Vanguard)
