Legal luminary and former President of Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN), has advanced reasons why the National Assembly should stay action on the ongoing amendment of the 1999 Constitution. Olanipekun said this was for fundamental and significant reasons.
He made the appeal on Monday at Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD), while delivering the institution’s 13th convocation lecture, with the theme, “Nigeria – Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow: Imperative of a Sober and Definitive Recalibration.”
The former Chairman, Body of Nigerian Benchers, and current Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of Governing Council, University of Lagos, said rather than a mere amendment exercise, which might not achieve the desired results, the constitution needed complete rebranding and substitution.
Olanipekun, who is also Chancellor of the Ekiti State-owned Bamidele Olumilua University of Education, Science and Technology, said, “Call it autochthonous constitution, or any other name, it has to be a renegotiated document that will pave the way for a new social order.
“We cannot continue to live by the 1999 Constitution, which haunts us as a military albatross.
“Let us borrow a golden leaf from other countries of the world, and determine to live together, an appreciable terms and conditions.”
According to him, “By suggesting to the National Assembly to stay action on any constitutional amendment for now, one is not advocating a state anomie, or normlessness.
“Rather, I am proposing a transition period, of between now and 2031, a phase that will give us sufficient time, to reflect on the ills, plaguing, or that have plagued our previous constitutions to date.”
Olanipekun regretted that Nigeria had been enmeshed in the crisis of lopsided opportunities and shared prospects among the regions, especially regarding unequal local governments distribution across the regions.
He said in the circumstance, a national referendum might become obviously inevitable.
He stated, “I wish to submit that in the circumstance of my earlier recommendations, I wish to submit that a referendum has become overdue.
“A referendum is the solemn act by which a people, collectively speak in unison to decide matters of grave national importance.
“Over the centuries, such had been deployed to determine issues, as fundamental as independence, territorial belonging, constitutional reordering, and the recalibration of political unions, it represents the voice of the Dena’s, I mean unfiltered and undiluted, speaking louder than the usual rhetoric of politicians, or the manoeuvres of the elites.”
On national security, Olanipekun said without prejudice to his earlier submission that the National Assembly should stay action on the amendment to 1999 Constitution, state, community, provincial and zonal police formations should be established now, and without delay.
He commended the founder of the university, Afe Babalola, SAN, who he said he had known since 1966 as a secondary school student, for his outstanding contributions to uplifting the Nigerian nation, thorough his law practice, educational emancipation, and general development efforts.
Olanipekun urged other privileged Nigerians to emulate the good virtues of the legal giant, so as to turn things around for the country.
Babalola acknowledged the extreme brilliance and worthiness of Olanipekun, describing him as a leading light, whose choice for the lecture was well merited and deserving.
Gbenga Sodeinde
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