Former Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) President Dr Olisa
Agbakoba (SAN) Tuesday faulted the Federal Government’s position
that Nigeria’s sovereignty was not negotiable.
At a briefing in Lagos, Agbakoba called for flexibility.
“Nigeria’s sovereignty is not sacrosanct. Government needs to
adopt a flexible stance. The attitude should be: ‘How do we bring
Nigerians together?’” he said.
According to Agbakoba, in Nigeria’s evolution from colonialism,
independence, military rule and “military democracy”, there has
been authoritarian governments and “exclusion of the people”.
Nigeria, he said, was yet to produce a “home-grown
constitution”.
“No serious effort has been made to engage the people and build
consensus. The colonial and post-colonial constitutions did not
emanate from the full involvement of the Nigerian people. The
result is that Nigeria has remained a geographical expression,” he
said.
Agbakoba argued that contrary to the Acting President Yemi
Osinbajo’s position, every constituent part of Nigeria has a right
to self-determination as guaranteed by Article 1 (2) of the United
Nations (UN) Charter and Article 20 (1) of the African Charter on
Human and Peoples’ Rights.
“The Acting President was wrong when he said ‘Nigeria’s
sovereignty is not negotiable’. This position is inflexible,” he
said.
Agbakoba said self-determination has origins in natural law and
fundamental rights which led to the American declaration of
independence, the French revolution, the Scottish referendum and
Catalan referendum.
“Aspiration for self-determination is not new or peculiar to
Nigeria. The caveat, however, is that self-determination must be
carried out peacefully and within the law. Nigeria’s situation can
be likened to a failing marriage. To salvage it, the couple needs
to make adjustments/changes to make the marriage work,” the former
NBA president said.
Agbakoba believes Nigeria’s problems go deeper than mere
restructuring.
“The cleavage is deeper than restructuring. We have to agree
whether we want to live together. You cannot force sovereignty on a
people. You cannot force people to live together. What should be
sacrosanct about Nigeria is the agreement for us to be
Nigerians.
“Some people have advocated restructuring as the solution.
Restructuring is conceptually wrong without reviewing why it is
needed. Restructuring will also not work in the context of a
military democracy and political elite conspiracy,” he said.
Agbakoba believes most of those championing restructuring have
ulterior motives.
He said: “The agitation for restructuring is a political
calculation for 2019. Most politicians advocating restructuring
today will abandon it when they get power. What Nigeria needs is a
new deal and the present political elite cannot deliver it because
of entrenched personal interest.
“Going forward, civil society needs to wrest power from this
ruling political elite to achieve a new system that is inclusive
and works for all and not a few. Nigerians need to determine if
they want to stay together and under what arrangement. I believe
Nigeria needs federalism,” he said.
Asked whether he was proposing a conference where the agreement
to live together would be reached, he said: “The President is the
one to initiate the discussion and pull people together. What
Nigeria needs is a political system that we all accept. Right now
we don’t have it.”
On President Muhammadu Buhari’s long absence, Agbakoba said how
long the President stays away due to ill-health does not matter
much as long as the Acting President exercises full powers.
“The presidency is fractured. The extent to which the Acting
President has real power is open to question. The only thing I’d
love to see is that the Acting President has full powers to
function. Let’s be sure Osinbajo has full powers,” he said.
He said agitations for secession as championed by Nnamdi Kanu of
the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) must be “according to
constitutional law”.
He said the quit notice issued the Igbo by Northern youth groups
was “not politically correct”, but he did not “see what law they
broke”.
Former Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) President Dr Olisa
Agbakoba (SAN) Tuesday faulted the Federal Government’s position
that Nigeria’s sovereignty was not negotiable.
At a briefing in Lagos, Agbakoba called for
flexibility.
“Nigeria’s sovereignty is not sacrosanct. Government needs to
adopt a flexible stance. The attitude should be: ‘How do we bring
Nigerians together?’” he said.
According to Agbakoba, in Nigeria’s evolution from colonialism,
independence, military rule and “military democracy”, there has
been authoritarian governments and “exclusion of the people”.
Nigeria, he said, was yet to produce a “home-grown
constitution”.
“No serious effort has been made to engage the people and build
consensus. The colonial and post-colonial constitutions did not
emanate from the full involvement of the Nigerian people. The
result is that Nigeria has remained a geographical expression,” he
said.
Agbakoba argued that contrary to the Acting President Yemi
Osinbajo’s position, every constituent part of Nigeria has a right
to self-determination as guaranteed by Article 1 (2) of the United
Nations (UN) Charter and Article 20 (1) of the African Charter on
Human and Peoples’ Rights.
“The Acting President was wrong when he said ‘Nigeria’s
sovereignty is not negotiable’. This position is inflexible,” he
said.
Agbakoba said self-determination has origins in natural law and
fundamental rights which led to the American declaration of
independence, the French revolution, the Scottish referendum and
Catalan referendum.
“Aspiration for self-determination is not new or peculiar to
Nigeria. The caveat, however, is that self-determination must be
carried out peacefully and within the law. Nigeria’s situation can
be likened to a failing marriage. To salvage it, the couple needs
to make adjustments/changes to make the marriage work,” the former
NBA president said.
Agbakoba believes Nigeria’s problems go deeper than mere
restructuring.
“The cleavage is deeper than restructuring. We have to agree
whether we want to live together. You cannot force sovereignty on a
people. You cannot force people to live together. What should be
sacrosanct about Nigeria is the agreement for us to be
Nigerians.
“Some people have advocated restructuring as the solution.
Restructuring is conceptually wrong without reviewing why it is
needed. Restructuring will also not work in the context of a
military democracy and political elite conspiracy,” he said.
Agbakoba believes most of those championing restructuring have
ulterior motives.
He said: “The agitation for restructuring is a political
calculation for 2019. Most politicians advocating restructuring
today will abandon it when they get power. What Nigeria needs is a
new deal and the present political elite cannot deliver it because
of entrenched personal interest.
“Going forward, civil society needs to wrest power from this
ruling political elite to achieve a new system that is inclusive
and works for all and not a few. Nigerians need to determine if
they want to stay together and under what arrangement. I believe
Nigeria needs federalism,” he said.
Asked whether he was proposing a conference where the agreement
to live together would be reached, he said: “The President is the
one to initiate the discussion and pull people together. What
Nigeria needs is a political system that we all accept. Right now
we don’t have it.”
On President Muhammadu Buhari’s long absence, Agbakoba said how
long the President stays away due to ill-health does not matter
much as long as the Acting President exercises full powers.
“The presidency is fractured. The extent to which the Acting
President has real power is open to question. The only thing I’d
love to see is that the Acting President has full powers to
function. Let’s be sure Osinbajo has full powers,” he said.
He said agitations for secession as championed by Nnamdi Kanu of
the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) must be “according to
constitutional law”.
He said the quit notice issued the Igbo by Northern youth groups
was “not politically correct”, but he did not “see what law they
broke”.
Read more https://nairalaw.com/agbakoba-to-fg-nigerias-sovereignty-not-sacrosanct/