June 12: Kalu, Shittu, Okunniyi, Adewole, Gidado, Others Call For A New Constitution, Compensation To Abiola’s Family

A group of eminent Nigerians under the aegis of The Patriots and the Democrats, Thursday, called for a new people-oriented constitution, blaming Nigeria’s current socio-economic and political challenges on the straightjacketed 1999 military constitution.

Led by former Minister of Finance, Dr Kalu Idika Kalu, the group who later gathered at the residence of Abiola to pay tribute canvassed for compensation to be paid to his family for what they suffered before, during and after the annulment of June 12, 1993 election.

It would be recalled that the wife of Abiola , Alhaja Kudirat Abiola was murdered in Lagos on June 4, 1996 while Abiola later died in detention on July 7, 1998.

The elder statesmen made the call at an event held in conjunction with June 12 Pro-Democracy Movement of Nigeria to commemorate 32nd year of annulment of the June 12, 1993, presidential election by the military regime of President Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida.

The June 12 annual Democracy Day National Dialogue was held under the theme, ‘Democracy without democratic constitution: which way forward?’ Secretary-General of The Patriot, Comrade Olawale Wale Okunniyi reiterated the importance of democratic and people-oriented constitution, noting that without it there can’t be democracy in Nigeria.

He urged President Bola Tinubu to stand up and declare an emergency in Nigeria particularly on the ineffectiveness of the 1999 constitution.

He said, “This is a Pro-Democracy programme. It is a programme designed to set agenda for our democracy for the next one year and that’s what we do annually. Annually, we gather together to pay tributes to Martyrs of our struggle. What are we going to drawn from years of government? Why celebrating for the fact that we have something that looks like democracy because there is no way we would have democracy without people’s constitution. It is an aberration. What happened in 1998 was an aberration? That was why we have on our hands till today a military decree instead of a constitution and that has not helped the course of democracy in anyway. It has not helped the course of development and it has impeded everything. It has put power in the hands of State captors and therefore today, we will always have civilian dictators when we have this kind of structure. It is inevitable because power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely. It is inevitable when we have the constitution that is military and unitary in nature. There is no democracy to be built on such constitution. Without the constitution there is no country, what you have is state of anarchy. Except we have people’s constitution, no one can succeed with the way the constitution is constituted. They are overwhelmed by the juices of office and don’t want to lose their absolute power o the power that is why they don’t want to change it.What we have today is short of people’s constitution. There is no democracy in Nigeria because it is not possible to have a democracy without people’s constitution. The president should stand up and declare an emergency in Nigeria and that the constitution is not working and that nothing is working and promise a will to implement the submissions of the people.”

Chairman, Planning Committee, Prof Anthony Kila, described June 12 as a day of reflection on personal sacrifice and collective resolve on the kind of Nigeria the people want.

He declared that June 12 is bigger than May 29 and October 1, noting that it was a time the entire Nigeria stood up for something.

He stated, “The essence of today’s gathering is to reflect and take inspiration from this particular day, June 12 which arguably is the source of this republic. It is a time to reflect on personal sacrifice and collective resolve and national vision of our future. The June 12 was a time when the whole country was united in most part of the country to say this is what we wanted. I must appreciate those that stood up for something. I must also remember those that didn’t stand up for anything or were truly on the other side. But because we are prone to the virtues of forgiveness and hope, hope is what we should be driving at and put aside those that are not part of the struggle. We must remember those that stood for something and take inspiration from them. The theme of today is to reflect on their future. After all these years, somethings that happened are not the same again. June 12 is recognised and we must give thanks to President Muhammadu Buhari. He did that one thing and June 12 election, 1993 and the winner of that election which was adjudged the freest and fairest election has been recognised. The next step forward in the view of June 12 election is the peoples’ constitution and that is where we need to go now. This is why the Patriot of leading that charge through a summit. later in the year. It will be ideal for those that are committed to June 12 to take it upon themselves to educate that were not there during the struggle, the generation that came after and those that will come later.”

Chairman of the occasion and a leading member of The Patriots, Dr Kalu Idika Kalu urged Nigerians to celebrate the survival of the entity called Nigeria.

He said, “It’s a pleasure to be here. We have something to celebrate. Let us celebrate the survival of the entity called Nigeria. The composition of that entity is very clear. We need that humility to appreciate where we are and the road we still have to take.”

Prof. Pat Utomi who spoke via zomm reminisces on the journey of the June 12 struggle while expressing hope that Nigeria will rise again.

He urged Nigerians to take up the culture of freedom and claim freedom as a right and surely Nigeria will rise again.

He said, “On June 12, we constructed a future for Nigeria and today, Nigeria would have been one of the top ten economy in the world. I recall the passion with which we interact on the election that took place on the 12th of June, 1993. I also recall when the people of Nigeria were betrayed with the cancellation of the June 12 elections. It was the pain of that cancellation that led us to match on the streets of Lagos and we were beaten by policemen even when many of us were CEOs of leading multinational companies but we cared more for our country than for our egos. It was after then that the military threw in the towel and today, we ask ourselves, is this the democracy we laid down our lives for? This calls for reflections. Nigeria will rise again. It is this quest for Nigeria to rise again that led to the constitutional conference that we are embarking on and the national public dialogue so that we can build a future our children will be proud.”

Chairman, Northeast Mobilisation and Advocacy Committee of The Patriots for the National Summit, Prof. Maxwell Gidado, SAN, called for the amendment of the 1999 constitution for the country to get out of the current quagmire.

He said, “This contraption we called 1999 constitution was put together in two weeks under General Abdulsallam Abubakar-led military government. Among the 25 wise men that drafted the 1999 constitution, there was only one woman representing Nigerian women on that constitution drafting committee. Little wonder that they overwhelmed the woman to the point that she overlooked the flaws in the constitution. If there were good representation of women on the Abdulsallam Abubakar constitution committee led by Justice Nikki Tobi, they would have rejected it. There is nothing federal in the 1999 constitution, it is unitary in nature.”

A legal luminary and a Democrat, Dr Wahab Shittu avowed that Nigeria needs democratic culture, arguing that democratic constitution is embedded in the latter.

He said, “We need an autonomous people’s constitution. It’s a constitution that is people driven. What we have presently is a cash and carry democracy. It is defined by how much money you are able to throw around. In Nigeria, we have a democracy by anointing. Except you are anointed you cannot have a place in an election. Our is a kill and go democracy because the entire election has been militarised and defined by stomach infrastructure. The only way we can a true democracy is for us to change our mindset. The kind of constitution we have depends on how democratic your mindset is.”