Opinion

Rejoinder to Simon Kolawole’s Misrepresentation of The Patriots’ Position on the 1999 Constitution

Published

11 months ago

August 15, 2025

Eric

By Prof. Mike Ozekhome, SAN, CON, OFR, Ph.D.

INTRODUCTION
On Sunday, July 27, 2025, respected columnist,Simon Kolawole, published an opinion piece in ThisDay titled,“Back to the 1999 Constitution – Again?” In the said piece, Kolawole sought to downplay or outrightly discredit the persistent and growing calls for the restructuring of Nigeria’s constitutional framework. He targeted, in particular, the longstanding position advanced by patriotic intellectuals and elder statesmen under the collective known as The Patriots, portraying them as revisionists of Nigeria’s constitutional history. But Kolawole’s interpretation not only misrepresents the actual arguments being advanced by The Patriots, it also rests on selective history, unverified assumptions, and a concerning disregard for legal scholarship and political truth. He claimed, among other things, that The Patriots had falsely asserted that the 1999 Constitution was authored by the military and that their stance was either uninformed or deliberately misleading. (See Simon Kolawole, “Let’s Tell Ourselves the Truth about the Constitution,” ThisDay, July 28, 2024.)

PURPOSE OF THIS INTERVENTION
This rejoinder seeks to correct these misrepresentations and restate – clearly and accurately-the long-held position of The Patriots on the 1999 Constitution. It will also address broader issues surrounding the unsuitability of Nigeria’s overcentralized federal structure in a pluralistic society, and highlight areas of the Constitution, particularly the Exclusive Legislative List, that require urgent reform if Nigeria is to remain a just, united, and functional federation.

CLARIFYING THE PATRIOTS’ POSITION ON THE 1999 CONSTITUTION

Simon Kolawole alleges that The Patriots have repeatedly claimed that the 1999 Constitution was “written by the military” and that such a claim is false because “it was drafted by a committee of legal experts and approved by the Provisional Ruling Council.” He suggests that this position lacks intellectual rigor and should be dismissed by well-meaning Nigerians.

However, this is a complete mischaracterization of the Patriots’ position. The Patriots have never claimed that soldiers sat down with pens and drafted the Constitution in a vacuum. No.What they have consistently stated is that the 1999 Constitution is a product of military imposition, lacking the democratic legitimacy that should accompany any foundational legal document in a pluralistic society such as Nigeria.

In a public statement by Professor Ben Nwabueze, SAN – renowned constitutional law scholar and founding member (later Chairman) of The Patriots-it was clearly argued that:
“The 1999 Constitution was imposed by a military regime without a referendum, without public debate, and without the participation of the Nigerian people. It cannot therefore be considered a people’s Constitution.”

Similarly, in a 2001 press briefing, Chief FRA Williams, SAN, another founding member and pioneer chairman of The Patriots, described the 1999 Constitution as:
“A document that merely adapted the 1979 Constitution and was handed down to us by a departing military junta.”

The use of the term “military Constitution” by The Patriots refers therefore not to its literal authorship by soldiers, but to the flawed process of imposition and the absence of participatory legitimacy through a people’s referendum. It is this absence of democratic authorship and validation that underpins The Patriots’ sustained call for a truly autochthonous Constitution-one emerging from the will and deliberation of the Nigerian people.

To suggest otherwise, as Kolawole did, is to either misunderstand the semantics of constitutional discourse or to deliberately distort the message.I prefer to believe that the former is the case. The consequence of such distortion is dangerous: it undermines the gravity and urgency of constitutional reforms by reducing it to a mere semantic disagreement rather than the existential democratic concern that it actually is.

CRITIQUE OF NIGERIA’S OVERCENTRALIZATION
The evolution of Nigeria’s federal structure is marked by a troubling contradiction: although it is constitutionally designated a federation, the actual distribution of power closely resembles that of a unitary state. This paradox can be traced back to the 1966 military coup and the subsequent unification of the country under a single military command structure. The military, inherently centralist in its command hierarchy, dismantled the regional autonomy that had defined Nigeria’s First Republic (1960–1966). (See Olumide Akanbi, “The Evolution of Nigeria’s Federalism and the Military Factor,” Journal of African Federalism, Vol. 3, No. 2, 2018, p. 45.). What some Northern soldiers considered to be the original sin of General J.T.U. Aguiyi-Ironsi, (the then Head of State who seized power during the chaos and crises that ensued during the 15th January, 1966 military coup),was his promulgation of Decree No. 34 pf 1967 which abrogated the federal stricture in favour of a unitary one.
Before the 1966 military intervention, Nigeria’s federalism allowed each of the three (later four) regions (with the creation of the Midwest Region on 10th August, 1963, from Western Region by popular referendum of the people) to exercise substantial control over local affairs. These regions had their own Constitutions, public services, and developmental priorities. However, from General Yakubu Gowon’s Decree No. 8 of 1967, which effectively abolished regional governments in favor of 12 militarily-administered states, to the eventual promulgation of the 1999 Constitution by General Abdulsalami Abubakar’s regime, Nigeria has grown increasingly centralized. Thus, there has never been any conscious effort by successive governments – colonial, civil or military, since Nigeria’s Lugardian almagamation on January 1, 1914 – to have a buy-in of the people through a referendum. None from the 1922 Clifford Constitution;1946 Richards Constitution; 1951 Macpherson Constitution; 1954 Lyttleton Constitution; 1960 Independent Constitution; 1963 Republican Constitution; 1979 Constitution; 1989 Constitution; and up to the 1999 Constitution.

This over centralization of powers at the centre poses severe governance challenges in a country as ethnically,culturally, religiously and linguistically diverse as Nigeria. With about 374 ethnic groups (Prof Onigu Otite), at least 500 spoken languages and strong regional identities, a one-size-fits-all approach to governance is both ineffective and inflammatory. As Rotimi Suberu notes, “centralized federalism in Nigeria breeds disaffection, weakens accountability, and fuels centrifugal tensions.” (Rotimi Suberu, Federalism and Ethnic Conflict in Nigeria, United States Institute of Peace Press, 2001, p. 112.)
For example, the same educational policy enforced in Zamfara State may be culturally, religiously or economically inappropriate in Bayelsa State. Federal government’s directives on land use, resource control or school curriculum rarely accommodates local realities. Similarly, national security priorities are often applied uniformly without sensitivity to regional insecurity dynamics such as the age-long farmer-herder clashes in the Middle Belt, or self-determination agitations in the South East.
Another critical example is the administration of religion. While the federal Constitution of 1999 claims secularism (section 10), certain states enforce Sharia law, while others either remain secular, practise traditional religion,or remain Christian-dominated. Yet, national laws, judicial and other public structures fail to reflect these peculiar realities, often resulting in policy flip-flops and conflict or discrimination claims. This dissonance between forced constitutional uniformity and lived practical plurality experiences is an enduring source of national instability.
Nigeria’s flawed federalism also impedes development. Federating states are heavily dependent on federally-allocated funds (under section 162 of the 1999 Constitution). This disincentivizes local innovation or internally generated revenue (IGR) strategies. Because federal allocation is distributed by formula rather than performance or resource ownership, states have limited autonomy to plan large-scale infrastructure, education, or healthcare interventions independent of Abuja. This also breeds discrimination and resentment. Oil-rich Bayelsa State, for example, shares from the Federation Account less than may non-oil producing communities notwithstanding the attendant oil and gas–related environmental degradation and prevalent poverty.

OVERHAULING THE EXCLUSIVE LEGISLATIVE LIST
The Exclusive Legislative List in the 1999 Constitution (as amended) contains 68 whole items which only the federal government has power to legislate upon. (See Part I, Second Schedule, Constitution of the 1999 Constitution.This list is excessive and counter-productive in a federal system we pretend to operate in our pluralistic society. It takes away vital areas of governance from the reach of states and local governements, despite their proximity to the people. Among the most problematic items are police and security, prisons, railways, mineral resources, electricity generation and transmission, labour and trade unions, education (particularly tertiary), taxation of certain commodities, matrimonial matters, licensing, etc.

This dominant central control over crucial sectors greatly undermines Nigeria’s federal claim and limits each state’s ability to respond to its unique developmental needs.
Take policing, for example. In the United States and India (both federal democracies with complex diversities), subnational units maintain their own police forces with full jurisdictional authority. Yet in Nigeria, only the federal government is constitutionally empowered to create or control the police force under sections 214 and 215 of the 1999 Constitution. The implication is that state governors, though constitutionally described as “chief security officers” of their states, can not control security within their borders. (See Yusuf Olaolu Ali, SAN, Federalism and the Nigerian Constitution: A Legal Perspective, Spectrum Law Review, 2016, p. 78.)

This unitarinsm has proven disastrous. States facing terrorist insurgency, mass kidnapping and ethnic violence are unable to develop local policing models or equip forces that understand the terrain and speak local languages or respond to such vices as they occur. The result is a reactive and overstretched federal police, further alienating citizens from security providers.
Similarly, prison administration is fully centralized; yet most of the crimes prosecuted in Nigeria occur under state criminal laws,not federal laws. This mismatch causes logistical and financial burdens on the federal system while delaying justice. A state-based correctional system, aligned with state judicial authority, would be more efficient and localized to deal with local offences.

In the education sector, control over accreditation, curriculum and policy located at the federal level stifles local creativity and ignores peculiar local needs. States such as Lagos and Rivers which have made giant strides in digital learning and school reforms are constantly required to comply with federal laws that may not reflect their educational needs,local priorities or resources.

Another major area of great concern is resource control and mining. Under the 1999 Constitution, all mineral resources are owned by the federal government, with states entitled only to derivation funds. This has perpetuated sustained injustice leading to the conflict in the Niger Delta.It has created a retrogrssive culture of dependence where resource-rich states remain poor due to limited control over their God-given assets while non-oil producing states live fat on such poor states.An unjust and obnoxious system of sharing the cake without contributing to its baking has thus emerged.

Globally, federations assign such matters to local authorities. In Canada, provinces control natural resources and generate revenue from them. In India, states co-legislate on police, education and public health under a Concurrent List. In the U.S., the Tenth Amendment reserves unenumerated powers to the states. Nigeria’s failure to adopt similar devolution of powers has painfully hindered innovation, democratic accountability and balanced development.

What is therefore needed is a restructuring of the Exclusive Legislative List, pruning it to only essential national matters such as defence, foreign affairs, banking and currency, while moving most socio-economic functions to the Concurrent or Residual Lists. This would not only align with global federalist principles but also reflect Nigeria’s diverse socio-political realities. Only a brand new Constitution emanating from the people’s will after a Constituent Assembly and referendum can bring about such a revolutionary outcome,not piecemeal amendment of the present 1999 Constitution.

ROLE OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY IN CONSTITUTION-MAKING:
THE LEGISLATURE AS ENABLER, NOT ORIGINATOR
It is axiomatic that under constitutional democracy, sovereignty resides in the people. The legislature, while clothed with enormous powers of lawmaking, is not the primary source or originator of the people’s will. Rather, it is a conduit-a servant and enabler-of that will. Nigeria’s National Assembly, as presently constituted, draws its powers from the 1999 Constitution which is itself a product of military fiat, not of popular affirmation of the people. This reality raises a fundamental legal-philosophical contradiction: can a creature of a flawed document presume to re-birth it? Can a child reconfigure its own paternity? The National Assembly, being a product of a schedule attached to Decree No. 24 of 1999, cannot, ab initio, claim any right to author a new grundnorm that overrides its own existential basis. All it can do is to amend, amend and amend the flawed Constitution under section 9 thereof. The reason is that being the tail (representative agent), it cannot wag the dog (the people that own the will).

The National Assembly’s attempts at constitutional amendment-however noble-have therefore largely been elitist and parliamentary, not popular or plebiscitary. Several constitutional alteration bills have been passed (up to 5 already); yet none has bridged the democratic gap of a sovereign national consensus. None has dared to make Chapter 2 justiciable (the Fundamental Objectives and Directive Principle of State Policy). They would never! The people thus watch from the sidelines as professional politicians hold sway over what should be their social contract. That is akin to medical doctors prescribing medication to patients they have not examined. The people’s voice is conspicuously absent in the very document that governs their lives. The legislative arm must therefore reposition itself-not as the progenitor of a new Constitution, but as the facilitator of a new constitutional order birthed by the people themselves through a referendum.
[See Mike Ozekhome, “The Illegality and Illegitimacy of the 1999 Constitution,” ThisDay, April 22, 2024].

CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM VS. CONSTITUTIONAL REWRITING
There exists a grave conceptual and legal dissonance in conflating constitutional reform with constitutional rewriting. Reform is cosmetic; rewriting is foundational. The former merely plasters the gaping cracks of a collapsing edifice. The latter reconstructs its very foundation. Nigeria’s current approach has been that of tentative and timid reforms. Reforms through amendments involve mere tinkering with clauses, altering sections, inserting or deleting subsections-all within the same defective legal framework. This is akin to merely repainting a termite-ridden house while ignoring the need to first fumigate and wholly rebuild; or merely cutting off the branches of a tree threatening the foundations of a house, rather than uprooting it completely.
Rewriting on the other hand is a revolutionary act-peaceful, yet radical. It is negotiated. It requires a complete break from the past; a tabula rasa; a fresh convening of the people; and a new social contract that reflects the genuine aspirations of today’s Nigerians;not those of 1998 military oligarch. Countries like South Africa, Kenya and some others have walked this noble path through convocation of Constituent Assemblies participation in national referenda. Why not Nigeria?
To continue operating the 1999 Constitution is to perpetuate a fraud-a self-deceit that we live under democracy when in fact we are governed by relics of khaki rule. The National Assembly must embrace its transitional role and work with civil society, the judiciary, the executive and all Nigerian stakeholders to midwife-not manufacture-a new constitutional dawn.
[See Jibrin Ibrahim, “Why Nigeria Needs a New Constitution, Not Another Amendment,” Premium Times, March 4, 2021].

NEW REFERENDUM-BASED CONSTITUTIONS: GLOBAL TESTAMENT TO POPULAR SOVEREIGNTY OF THE PEOPLE
The world is replete with nations that emerged from constitutional darkness into the light of participatory democracy and popular governance. Some examples will suffice here to advance this point. Kenya, in 2010, rose from the ashes of electoral violence to birth a new people-oriented Constitution through a referendum. The Kenyan model was not merely legal-it was moral. It sought to heal, not just to rule. South Africa’s 1996 Constitution is another golden standard: a document forged through exhaustive public consultations, grassroots submissions, and national soul-searching, culminating in a powerful symbol of unity post-apartheid.
Ghana’s 1992 Constitution also passed through a national referendum, marking the country’s rebirth after years of military interregnum. In 2022, Chile attempted a similar feat by proposing a new Constitution through a popularly elected Constituent Assembly. Although that version was rejected in a referendum, the process itself showcased the democratic principle: the people must be heard, not herded; their will must prevail, not discarded.
In Iran, a new Islamic Republic Constitution was birthed in 1979 after a 99.5% referendum of the Iranian people. A people’s referendum in Bangladesh in 1991reintroduced a parliamentary system of government, abolished the office of the Vice President and provided that the President must be elected by the Parliament. Morocco held a referendum on 1st July, 2011, for constitutional reforms in response to wide-spread protests. Egypt subjected its new Constitution to a referendum in 2012. The Eritrean people in 1994 carried out a referendum which gave the people a “sense of ownership of the Constitution”. Tunisia, following a revolution and months of protests, set up a Constituent Assembly that drafted a new Constitution on 26th January, 2014, after a people’s referendum. Iraq, on October 15, 2005, carried out a referendum to adopt her new Constitution.
The United States of America (after whom Nigeria’s Constitution is modelled) held a constitutional convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, between May 25 and September 17, 1787, to birth a new Constitution and have a “more perfect union”. Of the 55 Delegates that attended the Convention presided over by George Washington (who later became the first American President), 39 delegates signed a new Constitution after a people’s referendum. Broad outlines of a new Constitution were proposed, debated and agreed upon by these delegates that represented the autonomous confederates. It was this initiative that brought about America’s federal system of government; Executive Presidency; Republicanism; Separation of Powers (a doctrine earlier popularized in 1748 by Baron de Montesquieu, a great French philosopher); and judicial review. It witnesses inclusive inputs by great Federalists such as George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, John Jay, John Adams and John Marshal. Since 1789 when the Constitution birthed ( 236 whole years ago),has just 7,591 words with only 27 amendments. The reason it has withstood its stability and acceptability is because it emanated directly from the will of the people and so enjoys their legitimacy and respectability.Why not Nigeria,I ask? (See Mike Ozekhome: Constitutional Autochthony and a Referendum for a New People’s Constitution: A Comparison with the 1999 Constitution; February, 2025, Mikeozekhomeschambers.com).
What unites the above examples is one common thread-referendum. This is the power of the people expressed directly; not elected, selected or appointed through legislative surrogates. The people must see their fingerprint on the agreed charter that governs them. That is the essence of legitimacy through a yes-or-no referendum on the people’s grundnorm. Referendum makes a Constitution autochthonous, homegrown,people-owned.
[See Yash Ghai, “Kenya’s Constitution: An Instrument for Change,” Open Society Foundations, August 2011]
[See Christina Murray and Heinz Klug, “Constitution-Making in South Africa: A Model for the World?” Review of Constitutional Studies, 1997].

LESSONS FOR NIGERIA FROM THESE COUNTRIES
Nigeria must jettison the illusion that piecemeal amendments can yield a legitimate, people’s Constitution. We must learn from America, our African and Latin American siblings that the legitimacy of a Constitution lies not in its legal grammar but in its popular genesis. A new Nigerian Constitution must be drafted by a Constituent Assembly comprising of Representatives of the people elected on a non political or partisan basis-civil society, labour, youth, men and women’s groups, professionals, students, traditional institutions, faith-based organizations, persons living with disabilities and other stakeholders. It must then be subjected to a national referendum where every citizen, from the creeks of Yenagoa to the plains of Sokoto, from the savannah to the mangrove swamps, etc, casts a vote.

This process is not just a legal imperative-it is a national therapy. A referendum-based Constitution would erase the ghost of military rule and birth a fresh beginning and identity for Nigeria. It would convert cynical citizens into patriotic stakeholders. It would replace imposed obedience with inspired allegiance.

The time has come. Let the eagle soar again-not on colonial graves; not on military Decrees and diktats; but on the wings of popular consent of the people.
[See Clement Nwankwo, “Towards a People’s Constitution for Nigeria,” Cleen Foundation Policy Paper, 2021].

THE PATRIOTS’ PATRIOTIC BLUEPRINT FOR A PEOPLE’S CONSTITUTION
A Constitution must not only be written-it must be born. And like all legitimate births, it must pass through the womb of collective consent. The Patriots, a formidable assembly of distinguished elder statesmen and women, jurists, constitutional scholars, professionals, traditional and religious leaders and public intellectuals, have for years championed the cause of a People’s Constitution, not by revolution but by resolution; not with bayonets but with ballots; not by Decrees but through dialogue and democratic deliberation.
Their thesis is clear: no nation can build peace on the foundation of falsehood or silence, and no union can last where one part feels conscripted rather than convened. In the interest of national salvation-not sentiments-they propose a blueprint for constitutional rebirth anchored on Nigeria’s plurality.

PRACTICAL STEPS FOR NIGERIA’S CONSTITUTION-MAKING PROCESS
Step 1: Enactment of Enabling Legislation:
• Executive Bill Pathway: The President submits an Executive Bill to the National Assembly, requesting promulgation of a law to enable INEC conduct elections into a Constituent Assembly on a non-partisan basis.This will comprise of 110 members made up of three representatives from each Senatorial zone of the 36 states of Nigeria and the FCT,Abuja (one per senatorial district). Such candidates are to campaign and run on their personal merit based on their own manifestos, not on political party platforms. This approach follows global best practice, as seen in Uganda (1989) and South Africa (1996).
• Constitution Drafting Committee (CDC):

Step 2: The elected Constituent Assembly sits publicly for the sole
purpose of drafting a new people’s Constitution. In this historic task, the Constituent Assembly shall consult widely across all segments of the society. They shall also draw inputs from:
• The 1960 Independence and 1963 Republican Constitution;
• The 2014 National Conference Report (over 600 consensus-based recommendations);
•Relevant provisions of the 1999 Constitution;
• Relevant reports from Senate and House Committees on their Constitutional Review exercise;
• Nationwide submissions from ethnic nationalities, civil society, the military, Police, media, business,private sector,persons living with disabilities, academia,students leadership, labour, diaspora, traditional and religious leaders, elder statesmen and women, market men and women, and more.
Deliberations at the Constituent Assembly must be open to the public, transparent, and all-inclusive; modeled after the 1996 South African process which received over two million citizen submissions.

Step 3: Public Engagement and Harmonization
Once the initial draft is produced:
• The document must be translated into major local languages and subjected to town hall meetings, digital consultations, and public critique across the six geopolitical zones and the diaspora.
• The drafters shall revise and harmonize the draft based on inputs received.
This step ensures that the Constitution reflects lived realities, promotes civic ownership, and withstands democratic scrutiny.
Step 4: National Referendum
The harmonized final draft is subjected to a national referendum—a democratic mechanism for the people to either accept or reject the new Constitution.
The Constituent Assembly may in its wisdom adopt one of two suggested formats:
• Single Yes/No Vote on the entire draft Constitution (as done in Kenya in 2010 and Bangladesh in 1991).
• Clause-by-Clause Referendum, where citizens vote section-by-section, enabling granular endorsement or rejection. This format mirrors the 1963 Midwestern Referendum of 10th August, 1963.
A minimum voter turnout threshold shall be set to ensure democratic validity.
Step 5: Presidential Proclamation and Entry into Force
Once the referendum is concluded and the draft is approved,it is submitted to the President for assent.
• The President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, acting under section 5 of the Constitution and in line with the powers vested in nim as head of the Executive, shall sign and proclaim the new Constitution into law, thus bringing about its enforcement.
It is only then that Nigeria can truly affirm the genuine foundational democratic statement: “We the people of Nigeria… do hereby give to ourselves this Constitution.”

This process is not about undermining state institutions—it is about restoring them to legitimacy. It blends legality (via executive and legislative action) with legitimacy (via citizen participation and referendum). It affirms that sovereignty indeed resides with the people, not a political class; not a elitist group.

This roadmap ensures that Nigeria’s next Constitution is not a product of Decree, convenience, or elite consensus, but of collective national will, built through openness, participation, and inclusion.

CONCLUSION

A CALL TO NATIONAL ACTION

Nigeria stands today, not merely at a constitutional crossroads, but at a moral precipice. The air is thick with constitutional fatigue, the soil weary of authoritarian roots masked by democratic branches, and the soul of the nation suffocate under the weight of imposed structures (foreign and military) that neither resemble nor respect its people’s will.

It is no longer a question of whether the 1999 Constitution is flawed. That is settled. It is a graveyard of imposed ideas, a mausoleum of military fiat dressed in borrowed democratic robes. What is now urgent, pressing and constitutionally obligatory is what we, the Nigerian people must do to salvage her soul.

We must not tinker any longer with palliative amendments. The process of constitutional reform cannot merely be an elite sport, played behind closed doors in committee rooms in Abuja, choreographed by a political class more interested in electoral advantage than nation-building. No. It must begin and end with the people.
The people, in their villages and towns, their religious centres and schools, their market places and offices-they are the sovereigns. Not military Decrees of yesteryears. Not the colonially inherited scaffolds of exclusion. Not the self-serving silence of our complicit elites.

As argued above, the role of the National Assembly under sections 4 and 9 of the 1999 Constitution is not to wear the toga of originators. It is not their prerogative to determine in isolation the next chapter of our nationhood. Rather, they must become enablers, facilitators of a people-driven process rooted in popular sovereignty.
The Patriots, in their timeless wisdom, hug this national moment. Their peaceful blueprint for constitutional renewal, laid out with clarity and democratic precision, calls for a step-by-step people’s conference, one divorced from state capture, one driven by inclusivity, and culminating in a national referendum.

This process is not a romantic idealism. It is national necessity. It is legal realism. It is historical debt owed to a citizenry long ignored and dedpised.

Furthermore, at a time where the sword increasingly overshadows the scale, when guns echo louder than reason, the law must reassert itself-not in violence, not in Decrees, but in institutional dialogue. We are not a banana republic. We are a sovereign Republic founded on law and justice.And it is time we returned to that foundation with humility and courage.
Now therefore, dear Nigerians-activists and artisans, farmers,professors and pensioners, youth and students, academia,diaspora, market men and women,military and police, and elderstatesmen and women,religious and traditional leaders- we call upon you. Let this be the hour of national reawakening and rebirth. Let this be the season when democracy is not just recited but rewritten. Let it not be said that in our moment of reckoning, we chose silence over courage, cynicism over hope, and apathy over action.
Let the President, National Assembly initiate enabling Executive Bill; Let the NASS pass it into law. Let the process commence towards a truly people-led constitutional process. Let the Constituent Assembly deliberate and agree on a draft new Constitution.Let the NASS in its new law mandate INEC to organsise a people’s referendum . Let civil society and other stake holders mobilize town halls, public debates grassroots dialogues to aid the Constituent Assembly. Let the courts be courageous in defending the people’s right to re-found their nation. Let the press amplify, not suppress. Let the young rise and the old lead by example and with conscience.

Let it be said of this generation: They inherited a broken Constitution. They rebuilt it and gave us a new one.
Let Nigeria rise anew, not on the crumbling scaffolds of imposed legality, but on the sacred shoulders of popular legitimacy. This is the lens I recommend to Kolawole and others to appreciate the Patriots’ pateiotic position. God bless Nigeria.

Opinion

A Cry from the Creeks: A Daughter’s Plea for the Niger Delta

Published

22 hours ago

June 29, 2026

Eric

By Boma Lilian Braide (Esq.)

The water does not lie. It carries no political allegiance, no corporate agenda, and no capacity for deception. It simply mirrors the truth of what we have allowed to be done to it.

A deeply disturbing video recently shared by veteran actress and social justice advocate Hilda Dokubo has laid bare the agonising reality facing communities in the Niger Delta. In the footage, filmed in Bille Kingdom, Rivers State, clean water is drawn from a private borehole. Within less than sixty seconds, under the pressure of underground gas, the clear liquid undergoes a sickening transformation. It darkens, thickens, and pours out as pitch-black crude oil. This is not a scientific curiosity. It is a damning indictment of a systemic humanitarian catastrophe hiding in plain sight.

As a daughter of the Niger Delta, that video did not merely break my heart. It ignited in me the ancestral fury of a people who have been poisoned, marginalised, and forgotten while the rest of this nation prospers on the wealth extracted from our soil.

For generations, the creeks, wetlands, and rivers of the Niger Delta were our sanctuaries, our markets, and the very foundation of our identity. As Hilda Dokubo rightly recalled, our people once walked to the riverbank whenever they needed to provide for their families. Fishing was not merely a livelihood; it was a covenant between our communities and the natural world that sustained them.
Today, that covenant has been shattered. Our fishermen have abandoned their nets because the rivers are fouled with oil. Our young people, stripped of the traditional occupations their fathers and mothers once practised, are channelled into the grinding machinery of poverty, idleness, and despair.

The Niger Delta has been reduced to an ecological ruin. Crude oil has saturated underground aquifers. Contaminated seafood and poisoned water are now daily realities for millions of people whose only crime is living above one of the most oil-rich territories on earth. International oil companies have abandoned corroded infrastructure that leaks without ceasing, transforming the very resource that was meant to be our salvation into a slow and methodical death sentence. We have raised this alarm for decades. Yet successive administrations have treated our suffering as an acceptable cost of doing business, a tolerable footnote so long as the petrodollars continue to flow to Abuja.

The veteran activist Annkio Briggs has devoted her life to making this injustice visible. For decades, she has documented with precision and moral clarity how the collusion between international oil interests and Nigerian state institutions has systematically dismantled the future of Niger Delta communities. She has shown how pipelines laid through our mangroves, and gas flared across our skies, have become instruments of slow violence, causing respiratory diseases, cancers, and developmental disorders in children who should never have known such afflictions. Annkio Briggs has also exposed a deeply troubling double standard; the disparity between how oil spills are handled in the industrialised world and how they are managed in Nigeria is not a matter of oversight. It is a calculated display of environmental injustice.

When a spill occurs in a Western nation, governments mobilise emergency responses and demand full remediation to international standards. In the Niger Delta, contaminated sites are patched with sand, filed away in bureaucratic reports, or left entirely unaddressed. The regulatory agencies established to protect us have been rendered impotent through underfunding, political interference, and sheer institutional neglect. Meanwhile, oil corporations exploit these weaknesses, leaving communities such as Bille suffocating beneath toxic soot and eruptions of subterranean gas. Grief, in these communities, is not a passing season. It is a permanent condition. And we refuse to allow the slow death of our homeland to be buried beneath corporate disclaimers and government platitudes.

Nigeria cannot claim to be a nation at peace with itself while one of its most productive regions is being chemically erased. We will not stand aside as these foreign companies divest their interests, collect their profits, and depart, leaving our land irreparably damaged. This is not a complaint. It is a demand, issued by a daughter of the Niger Delta who refuses to watch her homeland perish in silence. We are not data points in a corporate environmental impact assessment. We are human beings who breathe poisoned air and draw crude oil from our taps. I am therefore calling on every authority with a mandate and the power to act, to do so immediately, and to end the unconscionable treatment of the Niger Delta as a sacrifice zone.

To the President and the Federal Government of Nigeria; we demand the immediate declaration of an environmental state of emergency in Bille Kingdom and all affected riverine communities across the Niger Delta. The administration must enforce without equivocation the principle that those who pollute bear full responsibility for remediation. The era of negotiations that protect corporate balance sheets at the expense of human lives must end.

To the Niger Delta Development Commission; the mandate for which this agency was created demands urgent renewal. The Commission must redirect its priorities, without delay, toward meaningful environmental remediation, the delivery of reliable infrastructure, and the immediate provision of emergency water purification systems to communities that are drinking poison today.

To the Ministry of Petroleum Resources and NNPC Limited; the continued extraction of national wealth from Niger Delta soil, while leaving communities with nothing but fire and contamination, is morally indefensible. Every abandoned wellhead must be identified, securely decommissioned, and fully removed. There can be no further tolerance of neglected infrastructure that poisons the ground beneath our children’s feet.

To the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency; your regulatory authority must be exercised with rigour and without compromise. International clean-up standards are not aspirational; they are the minimum obligation owed to our communities. Any multinational corporation that attempts to exit the Niger Delta without fully restoring the damage it has caused must face enforceable legal and financial consequences.

To international environmental bodies and development partners; the hydrocarbon saturation of freshwater sources in communities across the Niger Delta has reached a scale that demands independent technical intervention and comprehensive ecological auditing. We ask that you bring your expertise and your authority to bear, not in the conference rooms of Abuja and Geneva, but in the creeks and villages where people are dying.

To the multinational oil corporations and local operators who have enriched themselves from Niger Delta resources; you will not walk away from what you have destroyed. No company should be permitted to divest, restructure, or withdraw from this region without having first restored our land, rehabilitated our waterways, and made full and fair reparation to the communities whose lives and livelihoods they have dismantled over decades of irresponsible operation.

Look at the black water pouring from our taps and understand what it represents. Every oil slick that spreads across our rivers is the grief of a mother unable to feed her children. Every gas flare that burns through the night is the laboured breath of a child whose lungs have never known clean air. Bille is in crisis.

The Niger Delta is bleeding. And its waters are bearing witness to crimes that have gone unpunished for far too long. The season of committees, communiqués, and hollow summits is over. We are not asking for sympathy. We are demanding accountability. Give us back our clean water. Restore our ancestral creeks. Save the daughters and sons of the Niger Delta before there is nothing left to save.

Opinion

The Deluge We Built: Rain Does Not Create Catastrophe, It Reveals It

Published

1 day ago

June 29, 2026

Eric

By Richard Dablah

At 1:00 a.m., the rain began. By dawn, Accra had become a familiar theatre of submerged roads, stranded commuters, flooded homes, interrupted livelihoods, and the ritual exchange of outrage across television screens and social media. By tomorrow, we will have identified the usual villains: plastic waste, choked drains, irresponsible citizens, climate change, and inadequate enforcement. By next week, the water will have receded, but so too will our memory.

The rain did not surprise us.

Our surprise is the most astonishing part of the story.

Perhaps we have misunderstood what a flood actually is.

A flood is not the moment water overflows its banks. It is the moment decades of invisible decisions become visible. Rain merely serves as the auditor.

The deluge begins long before the first cloud gathers.

It begins when wetlands are described as “vacant land.” It begins when streams disappear beneath concrete because they interrupt commercial ambition. It begins when planning permission becomes more negotiable than hydrology, when maintenance budgets become political opportunities instead of engineering necessities, and when urban expansion is celebrated without asking whether the land itself consented to becoming a city.

Every signature placed on a permit inside a floodplain becomes a future tributary.

Every neglected drain becomes a future river.

Every compromised inspection becomes tomorrow’s emergency.

The rain simply connects decisions that were never meant to meet.

We have become accustomed to describing flooding as a natural disaster. It is an intellectually comforting phrase because it transfers responsibility from institutions to nature. Nature, however, is remarkably innocent in this story.

Water is perhaps the most honest element on Earth.

It negotiates with no political party.

It ignores campaign promises.

It does not recognise ministerial authority.

It simply obeys gravity.

When water returns to places it once occupied centuries ago, we accuse it of invading our communities. Yet rivers have never invaded cities. More often, cities have quietly occupied rivers.

Hydrologists understand something politicians rarely acknowledge: every river possesses memory. A watershed remembers its ancient channels. A floodplain remembers where excess water belongs. Wetlands remember how to absorb storms. We imagine that maps redraw geography. Water disagrees.

Concrete cannot erase memory.

It merely postpones its expression.

We therefore continue to debate blocked drains while ignoring blocked landscapes. We widen roads while narrowing waterways. We celebrate visible infrastructure while dismantling invisible infrastructure—the wetlands, soils, vegetation, lagoons and natural floodplains that quietly performed engineering services long before engineers arrived.

The irony is profound.

A forest can receive extraordinary rainfall and rarely flood because every root, every microorganism, and every layer of soil participates in slowing, storing, and redistributing water. A modern city, by contrast, has replaced absorption with acceleration. Asphalt rejects rainfall. Concrete hastens runoff. Buildings compress the earth. Heat hardens the soil. Every improvement intended to modernise the city simultaneously reduces its ability to behave like land.

The city has become hydraulically impatient.

Perhaps that is our greatest misunderstanding.

We believe cities are machines.

They are not.

Cities are living metabolisms. Like every living organism, they must balance what they consume with what they can process. Accra continuously consumes land, population, vehicles, plastics, concrete, energy, and waste faster than it expands its ecological capacity to absorb them. The consequence is not merely congestion or pollution. It is systemic metabolic failure.

Flooding is one of its symptoms.

Yet the problem extends even beyond engineering.

It is temporal.

Nature operates on geological time. Wetlands require centuries to mature. Rivers evolve over millennia. Soil develops patiently. Aquifers recharge slowly.

Politics operates on electoral time.

Four-year cycles reward ribbon-cutting ceremonies, not invisible maintenance. The culvert that no one notices receives less attention than the flyover everyone photographs. Maintenance loses elections. New construction wins them.

The result is predictable.

Infrastructure quietly accumulates entropy while governments accumulate announcements.

Physics teaches that every system naturally drifts toward disorder unless energy is continually invested to preserve order. Cities obey the same law. Drains clog. Roads crack. Regulations weaken. Institutions decay. Maintenance postponed is entropy invited.

The flood is not merely an engineering failure.

It is entropy-defeating governance.

Then there is the uncomfortable question we seldom ask.

Who benefits from recurring disasters?

Disaster creates contracts.

Emergency procurement.

Reconstruction projects.

Political visibility.

Institutional relevance.

Entire bureaucracies become more active after a catastrophe than before it.

This observation is not an accusation against individuals. It is an invitation to examine incentives. A society that consistently invests more in responding to disaster than preventing it eventually normalises catastrophe as part of governance itself.

The deluge becomes an administrative season.

History offers another warning.

Civilisations rarely collapse because nature suddenly becomes hostile. More often, they ignore environmental feedback until it becomes impossible to negotiate. Rivers shift. Forests disappear. Soils degrade. Cities overreach. Institutions mistake temporary resilience for permanent immunity.

Every civilisation eventually discovers that nature does not negotiate deadlines.

It only delivers consequences.

Perhaps that is what Accra experienced between 1:00 a.m. and dawn.

Not simply rainfall.

Not merely flooding.

But an examination.

An examination of our planning philosophy.

An examination of our political incentives.

An examination of our ecological literacy.

An examination of whether we still understand the land upon which we continue to build our future.

The biblical deluge was remembered not because water fell from the heavens, but because it exposed the moral condition of a civilisation. Whether one reads that account as theology or metaphor, its enduring lesson remains unsettling: catastrophe often reveals what prosperity successfully concealed.

Our modern deluge performs the same function.

It reveals that resilience cannot be legislated after rivers overflow. It must be designed before foundations are poured. It reveals that environmental stewardship is not an aesthetic concern but a constitutional obligation to future generations. It reveals that engineering cannot indefinitely compensate for ecological illiteracy, and that governance detached from geography eventually becomes governance against geography.

Tomorrow the skies will likely clear.

The floodwaters will retreat.

Traffic will resume.

Life will continue.

Until the next storm.

Unless we finally recognise the uncomfortable truth.

R.D

Opinion

Elevating Societies: Leadership As Enduring Bridge from Ruler-ship to Generational Prosperity

Published

3 days ago

June 27, 2026

Eric

By Tolulope A. Adegoke PhD

“Real leadership is never about ruling over others—it is about standing beside them, lighting the path forward, and helping them discover strengths they never knew they possessed. Where rulership builds walls to protect power, true leadership builds bridges to a better future. In every choice we make between control and inspiration, we decide what kind of world our children and grandchildren will inherit. Let us choose the harder, nobler path: to lead with humility, vision, and unwavering commitment to the common good.” – Tolulope A. Adegoke, PhD.

Leadership and ruler-ship represent two fundamentally different approaches to power and governance. Ruler-ship tends to emphasize control, hierarchy, personal authority, and the maintenance of dominance, often prioritizing short-term gains or elite interests. In contrast, authentic leadership focuses on vision, service, empowerment, integrity, and the development of collective capacity. It inspires people to rise above immediate challenges and collaborate toward shared, enduring objectives. Far from being a mere management style, leadership serves as the critical systemic foundation enabling sustainable, inclusive, and transformative growth across every domain of human endeavor—political, economic, social, environmental, technological, and cultural—while securing a more prosperous and equitable world for generations to come.

This detailed examination highlights the profound differences between these concepts, analyzes their real-world consequences, showcases compelling examples of success, and proposes practical pathways for embedding genuine leadership at all levels of society.

Understanding the Core Distinction

Ruler-ship often manifests as top-down command, relying on coercion, patronage, or suppression of opposition to maintain order. While it may produce rapid decisions or visible projects, it frequently fosters corruption, stifles innovation, breeds resentment, and leaves institutions vulnerable once central authority weakens.

Leadership, particularly in its transformational, servant, and sustainable forms, operates differently. It seeks to elevate others, build resilient systems, and balance immediate needs with long-term well-being. Transformational leaders motivate people to achieve beyond their perceived limits by fostering purpose, trust, and shared vision. Sustainable leadership explicitly integrates economic vitality, social equity, and environmental responsibility, recognizing their interdependence.

This distinction matters deeply because it shapes outcomes not just for the present but for decades ahead. Ruler-ship extracts value; leadership multiplies it.

Real-World Impacts on Development and Society

History and contemporary evidence consistently show that rulership-driven systems tend toward fragility. Concentrated, unaccountable power may deliver initial stability or growth, but it often leads to elite capture, policy reversals, social divisions, and eventual crises.

Leadership-oriented governance generates self-reinforcing progress. By promoting transparency, human capital investment, innovation, and adaptive institutions, it equips societies to navigate complex global challenges such as climate disruption, technological change, and inequality. Transformational approaches enhance motivation, performance, and cohesion across organizations and nations.

The benefits span key sectors:

Economic Growth: Leaders who prioritize education, infrastructure, diversification, and fair competition create environments where entrepreneurship and productivity thrive sustainably.
Social Advancement: Inclusive leadership expands access to quality healthcare, education, and opportunity, strengthening social fabrics and reducing disparities.
Environmental Stewardship: Forward-thinking leaders align development with ecological limits, driving innovation in clean technologies and responsible resource management.
Political Stability: They reinforce institutions grounded in accountability, rule of law, and citizen participation, enhancing resilience.
Cultural and Technological Evolution: Leadership that values creativity and ethics accelerates responsible innovation and enriches societal progress.

Illustrative Cases of Transformational Leadership

Several standout examples demonstrate the power of leadership over ruler-ship:

Singapore’s Transformation: Under Lee Kuan Yew’s guidance, a small, resource-scarce nation evolved into a global hub of prosperity through disciplined investment in education, merit-based systems, anti-corruption efforts, and pragmatic long-term planning.
Rwanda’s Post-Conflict Renewal: Facing immense challenges after genocide, focused leadership emphasized good governance, infrastructure, gender equity, poverty reduction, and economic modernization—dramatically improving living standards and positioning the country as a development leader.
Liberia’s Recovery: Ellen Johnson Sirleaf steered her nation through post-civil war reconstruction by championing reconciliation, institution-building, and inclusive policies, demonstrating servant leadership committed to national healing rather than personal power.
Broader Inspirations: Figures like Christiana Figueres in climate diplomacy and pioneering corporate leaders at organizations such as Patagonia illustrate systems-oriented leadership that builds coalitions and drives meaningful, large-scale change.

These cases contrast sharply with instances where authoritarian approaches yielded temporary gains followed by setbacks or instability.

How Leadership Functions as a Systemic Ladder

Leadership builds enduring progress through interconnected mechanisms:

1. Clear Vision and Foresight: Articulating inspiring, realistic futures that unite stakeholders around generational goals in areas like sustainability and innovation.

2. Talent Development and Empowerment: Investing in education, mentorship, and broad participation to cultivate capable successors and unlock widespread potential.

3. Strong, Accountable Institutions: Creating frameworks of transparency and integrity that endure beyond any single individual.

4. Collaborative Inclusion: Engaging diverse actors—public, private, and civil society—to generate creative, equitable solutions to complex problems.

5. Ethical, Balanced Decision-Making: Weighing economic, social, and environmental considerations to ensure holistic, responsible advancement.

6. Adaptability and Continuous Learning: Embracing feedback, monitoring results, and adjusting strategies to maintain relevance amid changing circumstances.

These elements create compounding benefits, strengthening societies’ capacity to thrive over time.

Fostering Leadership for Lasting Impact

Shifting from rulership to leadership demands intentional action:

Integrate ethics, critical thinking, and sustainability principles into education systems at every level.
Reform institutions to emphasize merit, accountability, term limits, and citizen oversight.
Actively prepare youth, women, and underrepresented groups for leadership responsibilities.
Protect civic space, independent media, and participatory governance to sustain pressure for integrity.
Promote cross-border learning and collaboration among reform-minded leaders and nations.

While obstacles such as entrenched interests and global uncertainties persist, committed coalitions have repeatedly shown that meaningful change is possible.

A Call to Legacy: Building Tomorrow Today

Leadership, rather than ruler-ship, offers the most reliable pathway to sustainable and progressive development. It replaces extraction with multiplication, control with empowerment, and short-term expediency with generational stewardship. By embracing service, vision, and accountability, leaders in every sphere can help construct societies that are more innovative, equitable, resilient, and harmonious with the natural world.

The true test of our efforts lies in the inheritance we pass forward: healthier institutions, empowered citizens, preserved environments, and expanded opportunities. This vision calls for a deliberate cultural and structural shift toward authentic leadership—from local communities to global institutions. The responsibility is collective, the opportunity transformative, and the potential legacy profound. Through courageous, principled leadership, we can climb steadily toward a brighter, more sustainable future for all who follow.

Dr. Tolulope A. Adegoke, AMBP-UN is a globally recognized scholar-practitioner and thought leader at the nexus of security, governance, and strategic leadership. His mission is dedicated to advancing ethical governance, strategic human capital development, resilient nation building, and global peace. He can be reached via: tolulopeadegoke01@gmail.com, globalstageimpacts@gmail.com