Writing The Constitution

BY

Chief S. O. IGBE

Once again, we are engaged in what seems to be our favourite past time, the writing of constitutions. The last decade of the 20th Century saw the writing of the Babangida, the Abacha, and the Abubakar Constitutions, which like their predecessors, have now been consigned, to the dustbin of history. The first decade of the new millennium is kicking off with the making of the Obasanjo Constitution. Will it be the final effort, or will it go the way of those before it?

So far, we have had ten Constitutions spanning the Lord Lugard era from 1914, through Arthur Richards and the John Macpherson eras to the present day. Five of these were sponsored by the Military during their thirty years of occupation. If the present efforts materialise, the resultant Constitution would make the eleventh in the series. The naked fact is that the previous ones have all failed, and I quote Gen. Babangida, "to guarantee us a political order capable of ensuring sustained economic growth and social development". It would appear his own effort failed for exactly the same reason. And we have had this woeful record of failures because, without exception, these constitutions succeeded in undermining our cultural values, and have attempted without real success but with a lot of damage to the polity, to enshrine the ways of life of other people into our body politic. Our culture, our cultural values, mores and norms of behaviour have been badly eroded, giving birth to moral depravity and unmitigated indiscipline, which are twin enemies of constitutional progress.

The European and American Constitutions we try to copy grew out of the circumstances of dynamic historical processes. The lessons of these processes all indisputably point to the fact that all constitutions should be very deeply rooted in, and strongly based on the traditions, culture and social ethos of the people. For ideas on the construction of our tomorrow, let us begin therefore by looking at our yesterday.

We must then evolve our own Constitution from the facts of our historical and socio-cultural development. Culture, contrary to what people seem to think is not a belief. It is a way of life. Our culture is the sum total of the components of our living. Politics is a belief, which should be nurtured and fed by culture. Any political system, therefore, which attempts to ignore culture, must fail. We would be writing no constitution if what we were writing ignores our way of life. And our way of life is tutored and fed through the many ethnic nationalities that make up this country.

In spite of lip services paid to unity by some people, it is as true today as it was during the time of Lord Lugard, that the name, NIGERIA, is a mere geographical expression. Before Lugard, the ethnic groups existed as separate and independent nations, and the British found ways to govern them as such, without problems. These nationalities have now become more aware of their culture and ethnicity, and of what their rights and duties should be within the system. This is so because many of them feel short - changed, I hate the word "marginalised", in the general administration of the country. It has become more and more logical therefore, that the country must be structured to keep together those of them with ethnic and cultural affinity, with adequate and just provisions made for them to reap from the nations resources, and secure commensurate participation in the discussion and operation of their own affairs. I think the people who should be ignored are the jokers, who are urging the nation to forget ethnicity. It is self-deception. You cannot forget what is there on the ground. The ethnic groups are there with their varying cultures. Their survival and convenience as against the centre must be emphasised and sustained to give them greater sense of belonging. They should not look up as beggars to the centre. Without these ethnic nationalities, there is no Nigeria; no matter from whatever angle the matter is viewed.

In conclusion, I like to sound this note of warning as I have done before. We must heed the lessons of history or history will, as it has done ten times before, repeat itself. If we again fail to consider the dynamism of our historical and cultural processes, and refuse to see that Constitutions must take cognisance of traditions, culture and social ethos to survive, then, the eleventh failure in our efforts to formulate a lasting Constitution for our country is around the corner.

But, I have a hunch that this time around, we might just make it.

 Chief Igbe is the Iyase of Benin.