A former Minister of Education, Dr. Oby Ezekwesili, has criticised the National Assembly’s current constitutional amendment process, calling it a “charade” and a wasteful effort that would not solve Nigeria’s deep-rooted governance issues.
Speaking at the 7th Penpushing Anniversary and Annual Lecture on Wednesday, the founder of Human Capital Africa said the National Assembly’s refusal to heed citizens’ calls for a new constitution is a missed opportunity to fix the structural challenges holding Nigeria back. Her address, titled “Reworking Nigeria’s Federalism: Perspectives on Restructuring and Fiscal Federalism”, underscored the urgency of creating a constitution that addresses inequity, injustice, and imbalance.
“The ongoing constitutional amendment cannot work, it cannot address our problem, it is a charade and sheer waste of resources,” she said. “The demand for a new constitution is a matter of life and death.”
Ezekwesili likened the situation to a building with a faulty foundation. “When the engineer tells us that the foundation of a building is structurally defective, is it not to take the whole building down because it will continue to constitute an endangerment to the people?
“You won’t say, ‘Oga, can we just do some little adjustment to the building?’ No, it won’t work, and this is the same with nation building. So this expensive charade that the National Assembly is embarking on and spending money on won’t take us anywhere.”
Ezekwesili calls on media to advocate new constitution
She urged the media to take an active role in advocating for a new constitution. “The media should take the front seat and be at the vanguard of a demand for new constitution. We must have a constitutional conference that enables the people of this country to have honest conversation around things that will make us make progress and make Nigeria work for all of us.”
According to Ezekwesili, a legitimate path forward includes an elected constituent assembly that will “have the discussion on the basis of the issues that make fiscal federal system of government work and come out with issues that are eligible for constitution which is put before the people to vote in form of referendum.”
Drawing from Kenya’s experience, she said, “This is what Kenya did after almost collapsing, and since then, you never hear them talking about break-up, they will talk about the need for good leaders.”
Ezekwesili also pointed out that good governance is not unattainable. “There is nothing that is mysterious about good governance, this thing has been done elsewhere and could be replicated here in the country.”
However, she lamented that politics in Nigeria and much of Africa has been hijacked by selfish interests. “Unfortunately, today’s politics has been hijacked, what we now have is a criminal enterprise gang and this is not only in Nigeria but across the continent. A criminal enterprise gang has taken hold of politics and excluded the society and these people just sit at the table and just slice governance in the direction that suits them but that must not be made to continue.”
She stressed that Africa’s political quality is directly tied to its economic outcomes, and unless deliberate reforms are pursued, “this sad reality may not change for a long time.”
Ezekwesili advocated for genuine fiscal federalism, which she said would offer regional autonomy, encourage cooperation, support self-determination without fragmentation, and improve governance, leadership, and accountability.
Also speaking at the event, former Nigerian High Commissioner to the UK, Sarafadeen Ishola, said Nigeria’s federalism exists more in theory than in practice. He argued that the current structure fails to give sufficient autonomy to federating units or encourage the type of competitive development necessary for national progress.
“True federalism is not only about devolution of power but about responsible governance, institutional clarity, fiscal equity, and citizen-driven accountability,” Ishola said.
He emphasised that restructuring should not be viewed through a sectional lens but embraced as a strategy for national renewal.
