From last week, continue excerpts of General Obasanjo’s broadcast to the nation following the promulgation of Decree 25 which proclaimed the 1979 Constitution endorsing the presidential form of government for Nigeria.

WE are, of course, aware, and I am sure that no member of the Constituent Assembly can claim that the Constitution is a perfect document. Neither is the Supreme Military Council claiming that all the necessary adjustments which the general public may consider desirable or necessary have been made. But I believe that the essential thing has been done: that is to have a document which, despite all its imperfections, is capable of launching us in the right direction. 

Of course, the Constitution, as a living document, can be changed as and when necessary, in the light of the experience gained in working it. This, I believe, is the most we can hope for, given all the circumstances, including the short-time constraint, in which the constitutional issues were debated, discussed and approved.

The coming months would pose testing challenges not only to the participants in the ensuing political activities, but also to the mass media who have responsibility of interpreting and informing the public of the issues, as well as correctly conveying the public mood to those vying for political leadership. 

I am sure you will rise to the occasion and not let the nation down.”

It is left for all to judge whether the hopes of General Murtala Mohammed and General Olusegun Obasanjo had been met with the implementation of the presidential system of government. 

That is not to say that the process for the Presidential Constitution went unchallenged; of course, it was challenged. I remember that two members of the Constitutional Drafting Committee wrote a minority report disengaging themselves from the presidential system of government. They were Dr. Y. Bala Usman, then Senior Lecturer in History at the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria and Dr. Segun Osoba, then Senior Lecturer in History at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife. Their reports were not considered by the Constituent Assembly. The then Chairman of the Constituent Assembly, Mr. Justice Egbert Udo Udoma (June 21, 1917 – February 2, 1998) made sure that their minority report did not see the light of the day. 

I remember three of my colleagues who covered the proceedings of the Constituent Assembly at that time, Femi Ogunsanwo of The Daily Times, Mohammed Haruna of The New Nigeria, Tunde Thompson of Daily Sketch and myself tried in vain to get a copy of the minority report. 

Since then, till today, there has been a clamour that the presidential system of government is not suitable for us. It is getting stronger these days. Let us take an example with the issue of our culture and tradition.

 In the Third Schedule of the 1979 Constitution, the following were named as members of the Council of State. They were: “The President, who shall be the Chairman; the Vice-President, who shall be the Deputy Chairman; all former Presidents of the Federation and all former Heads of the Government of the Federation; all former Chief Justices of Nigeria are citizens of Nigeria; the President of the Senate; the Speaker of the House of Representatives; all the Governors of the States of the Federation; the Attorney-General of the Federation; and one person from each state, who shall as respects that State be appointed by the Council of Chiefs of the State from among themselves”. 

Part II Section 178 of the same 1979 Constitution declares that there shall be a State Council of Chiefs which shall comprise of  “a Chairman and such number of persons as may be prescribed by Law of the House of Assembly of the State; the Council shall have power to advise the Governor on any matter relating to customary law or cultural affairs, intercommunal relations and chieftaincy matters; the Council shall also have power to advise the Governor whenever requested to do so on—(a) the maintenance of public order within the State or any part thereof and (b) such other matters as the Governor may direct”.  

If you look at the 1999 Constitution, one will notice the absence of the institution of traditional rulers. No institution represents our culture better than the institution of traditional rulers.

The Russian novelist Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn wrote that “to destroy a people you must sever their roots “. James Baldwin added that “know from whence you came, if you know from whence you came, there are absolutely no limitations to where you can go”.

The Wikipedia tells us constantly that people without culture and tradition are a lost people yet our Constitution has deleted that vital institution out of existence.

To be concluded