LAGOS—A Professor of Public Law at the University of Lagos, Professor Taiwo Osipitan, has said that the Constitution Review Committees set up by the president and the National Assembly are not the solution to the nation’s constitutional problems. He equally submitted that the National Assembly is also not the appropriate forum for these problems to be exhaustively addressed.
Professor Osipitan made these submissions in an inaugural lecture he delivered at the University of Lagos titled: "An Autochthonous Constitution for Nigeria: Myth or Reality?"
According to him, "we need a forum where representatives of all stakeholders will convene to address the nation’s problems and arrive at a consensus on political restructuring and the terms of the continued corporate existence of Nigeria. He argued that a Sovereign National Conference is normally convoked in a nation without a Sovereign government and since the 1999 constitution has established a Sovereign government which is not subordinate to the government of any other country, it will be imprudent of the Sovereign Federal Government to legislate itself out of existence by acceding to the clamour for a Sovereign National Conference. Professor Osipitan therefore, suggested a Constitutional Conference.
Said he: " the Federal Government should consider it imperative to organise a Constitutional Conference where the identified defects in the 1999 constitution would be addressed. The Conference should comprise elected representatives of the people and representatives of identified interest groups, registered professional bodies, labour organisations, religious bodies, human rights groups, Council of Women Society, market men and women, Farmers’ Union, Universities and National Association of Nigerian Students.
"The conference should also benefit from the experience of experts in constitutional law and constitution-making who are unlikely to either contest or win elections. These experts should be selected in order to enhance the quality of debate at the conference. I suggest that a search committee consisting of the Chief Justice of Nigeria, the President of the Court of Appeal, Chief Judges of Federal and State High Courts should select fixed number of experts who will join other members of the proposed Constitutional Conference. In the case of elected members, it is suggested that each state should send equal number of representatives to the conference."
The university don further suggested that members of the conference should be honourable enough to disqualify themselves or be disqualified through legislation, from holding elective positions or accepting government appointments for a period of not less than five years after the conference, noting that such disqualifications would enable them avoid diversion and ensure concentration by members of the conference.
Professor Osipitan also stressed the importance of the operators of the constitution, saying the text of the constitution is as important as its operators, adding that "if bad operators are in charge of the constitution, there will be negative results no matter the degree of autochthony of the constitution. Unless we have good operators who faithfully apply the provisions of the constitution for the benefit of the people, there will be continuing discontent and the search for an autochthonous constitution will be perpetual."
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