A former Minister of Education and Chief Executive Officer of Human Capital Africa, Dr Oby Ezekwesili, on Thursday, knocked the National Assembly over its efforts on the ongoing constitutional amendment, describing it as a charade and a conduit pipe to waste public funds.
Ezekwesili equally lamented the hijacking 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.
The former minister stated this on Wednesday while delivering her keynote address on “Reworking Nigeria’s Federalism: Perspectives on Restructuring and Fiscal Federalism” at the 7th Penpushing anniversary and annual lecture.
Ezekwesili said that rather than acceding to the people’s demand for a fresh constitution that will help address all the imbalances and the inequalities that defined the current constitution, 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 explained that the agitation for secession by some part of the country, the problem of insecurity, the challenge of unemployment and poverty, and maladministration as a whole will only be resolved with a new constitution that prioritises devolution of powers, justice, equity, and fairness to all irrespective of tribes and ethnicity.
The former minister has equally called on the media to be at the vanguard of demanding a new constitution that is powered by the people and will ultimately serve the progress and development of the country.
Ezekwezili said, “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.
“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.
“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.
“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.”
Ezekwezili added that there is nothing mysterious about good governance, as it has been done in other parts of the world and could be replicated here too in Nigeria and Africa as a whole.
She disclosed, “There is nothing that is mysterious about good governance, this thing has been done elsewhere and could be replicated here in the country.
“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.”
Ezekwezili explained that there is a strong connection between the quality of African politics and its economic performance and prosperity, adding that this sad reality may, however, not change for a long time to come if nothing is done to improve the quality of its politics and the political leaders.
The activist said that the true practice of fiscal federalism will foster greater regional autonomy and collaboration, satisfy the demand for self-determination without breaking up the country, boost productivity and accountability, and improve leadership capabilities, among other things.
The PUNCH