The Patriots, a non-political group, has called on President Bola Tinubu to constitute a new 109-member Constit- uents Assembly with the responsibility of drafting a new people-oriented constitution for the country. The group, was led by the former Secretary General of the Commonwealth, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, and the Secretary, Olawale Okuniyi, consisted of the former Ogun state governor, Chief Olusegun Osoba, ex-Senator Shehu Sani, former Women Affairs Minister, Paullen Tallen; former governor of Adamawa state, Bonie Haruna, former Information Minister, Labaran Maku, Chief Ben Obi, Chief Mike Ozhehome, former Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Chief Kanu Agabi amongst others. Addressing newsmen after the meeting, Any- aoku said they told the President the need for him to send Executive Bill to the National Assembly to fast track the evolution of a people’s constitution for Nigeria.
Anyaoku equally said that a clause mandating a referendum to authenticate the outcome of the Constituent Assembly be inserted into the draft constitution Briefing newsmen after the meeting with the President, Anyaoku said “Nigeria, we affirmed to Mr. President is a pluralistic country. And you all know that pluralistic countries exist all over the world. Those of them that adressed their pluralism by having true federal constitutions have survived. Ex- ample is India and Canada. “But those pluralistic countries that failed to address their basic challenge of pluralism through federal Constitution have ended up disintegrating. Examples of that are Yugo-slavia and Czechoslovakia and here in Africa, Sudan.
“These countries existed in the case of Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia for about 100 years as one country, but they eventually disintegrated because they could not manage their pluralism through truly federal constitution. “And we put some pro- posals to Mr. President and urged him to send a president’s executive bill to the National Assembly, a bill that will call for two essential measures. “One the convening of a National Constituent Assembly, to be mandat- ed to produce a new draft constitution. And we suggested that such National Constituent Assembly should consist of individ- uals elected by the people on non party basis. Say for example, three individuals per state, per each of the 36 states and one from the Federal Capital Territory and they should be man- dated to produce a new draft constitution.
And we also suggested that in the bill, the National Assembly should be asked to legislate for a national referendum because as our laws stand at the moment, we have no provision for a national referendum. “And we concluded by saying that the Draft Constitution to emerge from the constituent assembly should be subjected to the national referendum in or- der to give the peoples of Nigeria a chance to deter- mine the new constitution. “We also talked about the current crisis of protests throughout the country and we advised the Pres- ident that in our view, the government at the federal and state levels should dialogue with the leaders of the protests.
The government should take the initiative in dialoguing with the leaders of the protests. And secondly, we advised that the law enforcement agencies, namely the police and the army, should avoid using lethal weapons in the management of the protests, so that we do not have casualties, people killed because the law and order enforcement agencies are managing the protests.” Responding, the Pres- ident who expressed his respect for the Patriots, as- sured the eminent leaders that he would review their requests insisting however tha strengthening the nation’s economy was top- most of his administration’s agenda He said: “I have listened to you carefully, and this is not a group that I can ignore.
This is a group of patriots reflecting the heart and aspirations of society. I thank all of you for being here. ”I have faced the chal- lenge of this democracy that I inherited from your struggles. I must recognise the fact that these challeng- es are most required for good governance. ”We have no other choice, and I believe also that it is most difficult to manage the twist and turns of democratic governance. ”I want to assure all of you that as I listened to your two major requests on the path to referendum and that should lead to constitutional measures that will fit our diversity and governance so that we avoid conflicts and break-ups.
”I believe in the unity of this country and I want to assure you that whatever is necessary to put happiness and good governance in the hands of all Nigerians is what I would do,” the President said. Tinubu also noted that the clamour for constitu- tional reforms was a long- standing issue in national discourse. He acknowledged the examples presented by the Patriots on pluralistic countries, such as Canada and India, which have maintained unity by address- ing their diversity through their constitutions.
”The avoidance of chaos is necessary to build this country and move its aspirations forward for the benefit of all of us. ”I am currently preoc- cupied with economic reform. That is my first priority. Once this is in place, as soon as possible, I will look at other options, including constitutional re- view as recommended by you and other options,” the President said. He also used the occasion to pay glowing tribute to the founding chairman of The Patriots, Chief Rotimi Williams, SAN, and Professor Ben Nwabueze, who succeeded him. Describing both men and other members of The Patriot as strong believers in Nigeria, the President said the question on the minds of many Nigerians is: ”How will Nigeria be governed constitutionally, legitimately without unnecessary aches and pains of its diversity and this needs to be addressed constitutionally, so that we can build a nation that we can proudly hand over a banner without stain to our children,” the Presi- dent said, quoting a line from the second stanza of the National Anthem. Tinubu told Chief Any- aoku that he would be in- vited again for a more de- tailed conversation on the submissions of the Patriot. ”As you present this, just believe that it will be reviewed, and I commit myself to the belief that you want a stable and prosper- ous Nigeria,” Tinubu con- cluded.
