A group of elder statesmen and opinion leaders from across the country, known as the Patriots, has called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to commence the process of constituting a new Constitution for the country.
The group, led by former Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, met with President Tinubu at the State House, Abuja, on Friday, August 9, blaming the prevailing dislocations noticed with Nigeria’s nationhood on the 1999 Constitution.
Speaking to correspondents after the meeting with the President, Chief Anyaoku explained that Nigeria needs a pluralistic constitution to tackle its development problems.
The former Secretary-General of the Commonwealth observed that countries that have failed to manage their pluralism through a federal constitution have disintegrated citing the examples of Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia and Sudan.
According to him, those with pluralistic constitutions, such as India and Canada have remained strong.
He said the constituent assembly should be mandated to produce the draft constitution to be subjected to a referendum.
According to him, the referendum will give the new constitution the legitimacy it requires.
On the #EndBadGovernance protest, the group urged President Tinubu to dialogue with the leaders.
It also advised that law enforcement agencies should avoid using lethal weapons in the management of the protest to avoid deaths.
Other members of the Patriots who joined Chief Anyaoku were former governor of Ogun State, Chief Olusegun Osoba, ex-Senator Shehu Sani, former Women Affsirs Minister, Paullen Tallen; former governor of Adamawa state, Bonnie Haruna and former Information Minister, Labaran Maku, among others. A group of elder statesmen and opinion leaders from across the country, known as the Patriots, has called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to commence the process of constituting a new Constitution for the country.
The group, led by former Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, met with President Tinubu at the State House, Abuja, on Friday, August 9, blaming the prevailing dislocations noticed with Nigeria’s nationhood on the 1999 Constitution.
Speaking to correspondents after the meeting with the President, Chief Anyaoku explained that Nigeria needs a pluralistic constitution to tackle its development problems.
The former Secretary-General of the Commonwealth observed that countries that have failed to manage their pluralism through a federal constitution have disintegrated citing the examples of Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia and Sudan.
According to him, those with pluralistic constitutions, such as India and Canada have remained strong.
He said the constituent assembly should be mandated to produce the draft constitution to be subjected to a referendum.
According to him, the referendum will give the new constitution the legitimacy it requires.
On the #EndBadGovernance protest, the group urged President Tinubu to dialogue with the leaders.
It also advised that law enforcement agencies should avoid using lethal weapons in the management of the protest to avoid deaths.
According to The Nation, other members of the Patriots who joined Chief Anyaoku were former governor of Ogun State, Chief Olusegun Osoba, ex-Senator Shehu Sani, former Women Affsirs Minister, Paullen Tallen; former governor of Adamawa state, Bonnie Haruna and former Information Minister, Labaran Maku, among others.
