It is no longer news that Nigeria ranks as one of the most corrupt countries in the world. To many Nigerians, if the country could resolve the problem posed by corruption, Nigeria will become a beautiful place. What many do not realize is that corruption is merely a symptom of the disease plaguing Nigeria. The real disease is the dual and conflicting ideologies in the 1999 Constitution (as amended).
Every nation is identified by its national ideology. There are countries that embrace democracy, there are communist and socialist, and there are countries that subscribe to a religious ideology, like Sharia. Nigeria is openly touted as a democratic country, but its very Constitution makes provision for Sharia. Most analysts believe that it is the contest between Democracy and Sharia within the 1999 Constitution that is pulling the country in two opposite directions. It is this conflict that is at the root of the dysfunction of the Nigerian state.
The 1999 Constitution contradicts itself when in Section 10 it asserts as follows: “The Government of the Federation or of a State shall not adopt any religion as State Religion”, yet in Section 275, it makes provision for Sharia. Both democracy and sharia are antithetical to each other. The late Justice Mohammed Bello summed it up as follows, “Section 38(1) of the Constitution ensures for every person the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion, including freedom to change his religion or belief, whereas under Sharia, ‘ridda’ (change of religion) is a capital offence. Consequently, the offence of ridda is inconsistent with Section 38(1) and by virtue of Section 1 is unconstitutional.”
The late Prof. Ben Nwabueze added, “The conclusion is thus inescapable that the prohibition in Section 10 of the Constitution stamps with an indelible taint of unconstitutionality, the Sharia criminal law, whether in its original form as contained in the Quran and the Sunnah or in a codified form to be enacted by the National Assembly or a State House of Assembly”.
It is safe to conclude that if the Constitution of a country is at conflict with itself, that country cannot have peace. The question that rises therefore is, how did Nigeria obtain the 1999 Constitution? Which Constituent Assembly sat to put such a document together for Nigeria?
Chief John Nwodo, a former Minister of Information, in a video clip that went viral, stated that, as the substantive Minister of Information in 1999, he did not know where the 1999 Constitution came from. It was not printed by his ministry, and the document surfaced at the swearing-in ceremony of President Obasanjo. Until then, no one had sighted a copy of the 1999 Constitution.
The saving grace for Nigerians is that those who crafted the 1999 Constitution retained Section 10, as it was in the 1979 Constitution, before adding elements of the Sharia ideology to the document. If Section 10 was not in the Constitution, there might have been a wholesale handing over of Nigeria to other forces using religion as a masquerade for cultural and political domination of the country.
This conspiracy is inherently the promotion of one religion over and above other religions. It has nothing to do with religion. It is a cultural agenda to dominate the indigenous ethnic nationalities that make up Nigeria, irrespective of religion, tribe, or gender. As the Hausa Muslims in Zamfara, Niger, and Kebbi, are beginning to find out, religion has nothing to do with this matter.
Elections in Nigeria have been drifting away from democratic norms, while the judiciary has been giving some rulings that are unquestionably in favour of undemocratic processes. If Nigeria is truly a democratic country, yet critical decisions are not in conformity with democratic norms, then, we may ask, which ideology is running the country?
It is this conflict of ideologies that promotes corruption, because a lot of compromise must be made to have people look the other way. This compromise has affected the security units, the legislature, the judiciary, religious leaders, traditional rulers, and of course, the media.
There is need for prayer mobilization against this conspiracy. Christians should be aware of critical issues that affect Nigeria and prayerfully seek divine intervention. Some issues run deep, and are too complex for civil agitations alone to resolve them. It is time to go to the root of the current crisis in Nigeria and prayerfully provide solutions. Nigeria requires a new Constitution, not an amended Constitution. The indigenous ethnic nationalities should accept responsibility for the introduction of a new Constitution for Nigeria.
