A Senior Advocate of Nigeria and founder, Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti, Chief Afe Babalola, has called members of the Nigerian Bar Association to support the crusade for a new constitution to save the country from imminent collapse.
Babalola said that Nigeria would have caught up with Britain if the military had not suspended the 1963 Constitution, which he described as the people’s constitution, and in 1999 imposed one that could not address Nigeria’s issues.
He spoke on Wednesday in Ado Ekiti during the 11th Aare Afe Babalola Public Lecture organised by NBA, Ado Ekiti Branch, with the theme, ‘Judicial independence: A recipe for democracy in Nigeria.’
Babalola said, “There is poverty in the land, hunger, insecurity, naira depreciation, unpaid emoluments, public universities have not opened for months, inflation has risen, public and internal debt are rising while local production is depreciating, the poor are crying while the rich are gnashing their teeth.
“For the sustainability of the law profession, in the interest of the majority of Nigerians and the country’s sustenance, I hereby urge you to support the crusade for a new constitution to save this country from total collapse.
“If Nigeria had continued with the 1960 and 1963 constitutions where Nigeria was developing at a fast rate and if the military had not intervened on January 15, 1966, suspended the 1963 Constitution and imposed the 1999 Constitution on Nigeria, Nigeria would have caught up with England.
“It is for this reason that many Nigerians have protested to the National Assembly and to the government at different times, asking for a new federal parliamentary constitution similar to what we had in the 60s.
“I, in particular, started agitating for a new People’s Constitution in 2001. Now, we have even asked for a Sovereign National Conference, which they have failed to accede to in four years.
“You are all aware that the jostling for the 2023 elections has begun. Suppose nothing is done before the next general election. The same failed leaders who have brought Nigeria to where we are today will be recycled back to power. For this reason, I recently asked the government to put in place an interim government.”
Babalola, who said many countries had used interim governments to solve their problems and come out with new constitutions, proposed that members of the interim government would include “all past living presidents, all past living vice presidents, some governors, some parliamentarians, some ministers and professional bodies and associations whose members will be elected on zero party basis who will jointly fashion a new constitution for the country.”
Prof Damilola Olawuyi (SAN), while delivering the lecture, said, “The best legacy that the outgoing government can leave for Nigerians is a true people’s constitution.”
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