Ahmed Yahaya – Joe
In 1976, the radical historians, Dr. Yusufu Bala Usman (1945-2005) and Prof. Olusegun Osoba, now in his eighties proposed that “State of Origin” be abolished in Nigeria. They insisted that there should be only Nigerian citizenship, “irrespective of whether such citizenship is earned by birth, naturalization, registration or any means whatsoever, provided that the individual on attaining the age of maturity solemnly affirms his membership of the Nigerian humanity.”
They continued, “A citizen shall be legally entitled to live and work in any community in Nigeria without let or hindrance and shall have full rights to participate in the total life of the community in which he chooses to live and/or work.”
The lecturers warned that for Nigerian political parties not to become, “coalitions of ethnic notables and moneybags”, such should be, “funded exclusively by financial contributions of their individual members, none of whom may contribute in any one year more than the national minimum wage for one month.”
Usman and Osoba, then of ABU, Zaria and University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University) also insisted that, “the financial records of each party is subject to comprehensive auditing by the regulatory body every year, with severe penalties up to and including disbandment imposed for soliciting and obtaining illegal contributions; parties are proscribed from charging their members any fees for seeking nomination, or making a statement of intent, to run for party or public office.”
These and many other recommendations including the rejection of the Land Use Decree and emphasis on grassroots Local Government governance were part of the contributions Usman and Osoba made as part of the 49 members of the Constitution Drafting Committee (CDC) appointed by General Murtala Mohammed in 1975. The CDC was chaired by Chief Frederick Rotimi Alade Williams, QC SAN (1920-2005) who was ably assisted by Chief Ben Nwabueze, SAN.
The 104-page draft document CDC completed in September, 1976 contained none of what the radicals proposed. Williams and Nwabueze simply ignored Yusufu and Osoba!
The Federal Military Government went ahead to set up a Constituent Assembly of 223 members drawn from the then 19 states, Labour, Civil Society and other national stakeholders under the chairmanship of Supreme Court Justice Buba Ardo to deliberate on the CDC draft.
Even when Yusufu and Osoba directly submitted their minority report and version of draft constitution to the Supreme Military Council (SMC) they were similarly ignored. That notwithstanding, Yusufu and Osoba openly described the 1979 Constitution as eventually approved by the SMC as, “a deliberate effort at the mystification of the selfish interest of the Nigerian bourgeoisie” dismissing the document as, “verbose and laden with technical loopholes, unwieldy with contradictory provisions.”
Is the 1999 Constitution any fundamentally different? It is actually a clone of the 1979 version. Interestingly, former President Obasanjo and PMB were part the SMC that completely ignored the minority report of the academics which has back in 2017 been republished intact albeit with a new introduction by Prof. Osoba reflecting contemporary reality.
The Usman-Osoba document still insists that for Nigeria to move forward there must be “Fundamental Economic and Social Objectives” constitutionally enshrined for all. It still maintains access to Basic Education, Primary Healthcare, Housing, Social Insurance and Financial Inclusion must be clearly specified and made a right in Nigeria’s constitution.
It does not still accept the “Immunity Clause” for political leaders and continues to recommend access to information on government officials, activities and spending must be open and made public to prevent elected officials becoming “political emperors and looters”
Chief Nwabueze’s 1978 book, “Constitutionalism, Presidentialism, and Judicialism” was adjudged to be an equivalent of a doctorate in Law and was so awarded to him by University of London. That notwithstanding, the elder statesman has since owned up to some of the mistakes his good self and Chief Williams made on the 1979 Constitution.
See details in Vanguard newspaper edition of March 22, 2013.
Is the recent “Our problem is not ethnicity or religion, it is ourselves,” by President Buhari another belated confession?
