1999 Constitution Is A Fraud - Turaki

A member of the Nigerian Indigenous Nationalities Alliance for Self Determination, Yusuf Turaki, has said that the country's 1999 Constitution is a fraud.

Turaki stated this in an interview with The Sun, stating that Nigeria's problems were laid down by empire builders or social reformers.

"What I have discovered on what is happening to us today had a historical foundation, which was laid down by empire builders or social reformers," he said.

In the interview, Turaki noted that he had done some research into the country's foundational history, and how the British colonial rulers "set up the socio-political social order of Northern Nigeria and Nigeria itself".

He said that his research led him to work on a doctoral thesis with the topic, 'The institutionalisation of the inferior status  and socio-political woes of the non-Muslim group in the hierarchical structure of the Northern Region of Nigeria: A social ethical analysis of the British Colonial Legacy.'

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Turaki went on to say that "the chaos, the conflicts, the lack of direction that this country is facing right now is rooted and placed upon the foundation which the British colonial masters laid upon Nigeria.

"Usually, the solutions or answers that Nigerians give don’t address the foundational issues – how Nigerians were set up against each other by the colonial system."

When asked if the foundational problem of the country could be fixed, Turaki said, "Yes", adding that during his research he found that the solution to the problem in Nigeria is "that if Nigerians will be willing to go back and address the fundamental issue, which is a threat to Nigerian state."

Speaking on the country's Constitution, he said that the current one that serves as the country's framework for governance was a fraud, as it was not developed by the people but the military regime.

He said, "the 1999 Constitution is a fraud ... How was that constitution formed, and who did it?

"Did Nigerians develop that constitution? The answer is No. It was developed by the military regime; the soldiers. Who has the right to develop a constitution for the people, it is not the government; it is the people. 

"Nigeria is not a homogenous state; it is multi-ethnic, multi-religious, multi-cultural. For you to make a constitution for Nigeria, you have to call these ethnic nationalities that comprise what we call Nigeria.

"Anybody who says the 1999 constitution is the best instrument for Nigeria that fellow is using this constitution that has given him or her an advantageous position over all others in Nigeria and that is, we repudiate that this constitution is a product by a military clique imposed upon unwilling Nigerians."