In commemoration of the 32nd Democracy Day Anniversary, eminent Nigerian leaders of thought who are members of the Patriots, in collaboration with the June 12 Pro-Democracy Movement of Nigeria, have called on President Bola Tinubu to salvage the declining Nigerian nationhood with a proper democratic, people-oriented constitution.
Former minister of Finance Dr. Idika Kalu, Prof. Maxwell Gidado (SAN), Prof. Pat Utomi, Comrade Joseph Evah, and Comrade Oluwale Odenye, among other Nigerian statesmen, made the clarion call in Ikeja, Lagos, at the annual ‘Pro-Democracy Day Anniversary in Nigeria’. They also called for the total abolition of the present unitary constitution imposed on Nigeria by the military in I997.
The speakers who spoke at two different venues: the Lagos Travellers Inn and late Chief MKO Abiola’s residence in Ikeja, had a national dialogue on the future of Nigeria with its provocative theme: “Democracy Without A Democratic Constitution: Which Way Nigeria?
In his speech, the chairman of the occasion, Dr Idika Kalu, decried the fast-eroding principles of democracy in the country for which Chief MKO Abiola sacrificed his life.
Kalu, a close ally of Abiola during the June 12 struggle, attributed the present economic impasse and slow development of the nation to the military constitution being erroneously adopted in a democratic government in Nigeria.
“The military constitution has no place for people’s input in the government, as such, there is no accountability and checks and balances, which is key in an ideal democracy,” Kalu said.
He passionately appealed to the present administration, which is a beneficiary of Abiola’s democratic sacrifice, to ensure that a democratic constitution, birthed Nigeria’s rapid progress.
Earlier, Professor Maxwell Gidado SAN, who flew in from Adamawa State for the event, described the constitution as a ‘Unitary Constitution’ that has invested so much power and resources in the federal government and little in the local government, where most Nigerians reside.
He said, “This is very undemocratic, as democracy thrives when the people are well catered for and not the people they elected. Prof Gidado also revealed that the present constitution is full of lies against the people of Nigeria.
“The constitution uses the word “we the people of Nigeria”, this is not true, because the constitution was written in two weeks by the Abdulsalami Constitution Committee, not by the people of Nigeria”, says Gidado.
