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Former Commonwealth Secretary-General, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, says it will be difficult for anybody to fix Nigeria with the present constitution.
Anyaoku spoke at the launch of the book: “The Noble Academic and Patriot: A Biography of Emeritus Professor Akinjide Osuntokun,” held in Lagos State.
The ex-diplomat and elder statesman said Nigeria as a pluralistic country needs to address its diversity with true federal constitutions.
He said as long as the status quo remains, not even angels can tackle the country’s problem under the present system.
Anyaoku said, “To those who think that the trouble with Nigeria today is the political leadership, I would say that as long as we have the 1999 Constitution as our grundnorm”, it (would be difficult)
“Not even Angel Gabriel or Malaikah Jibril as leaders can successfully tackle the divisiveness, underperforming economy with the resultant poverty, insecurity, humongous corruption and other major challenges currently facing Nigeria.”
Anyaoku, who was the chairman on the occasion said, “the country’s population consists of groups of peoples long established in their separate geographical areas with different histories, cultures, languages and religions.
He added that pluralistic countries which have survived as single political entities in unity and progress are those that addressed their diversity with genuine federal constitutions.
Citing examples of India, Canada and Switzerland, the former Commonwealth secretary-general, stressed that if our pluralistic Nigeria is to achieve true unity and political stability to successfully tackle the serious challenges it currently faces, it must have a truly federal constitution”
Lauding Osuntokun, Anyaoku recalled how the renowned professor campaigned for him when he was vying for the position of Secretary General at the Commonwealth.
Speaking at the event, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 elections, Peter Obi, lamented that Nigeria had cultivated a culture of celebrating those who contributed nothing to nation-building, noting that it was destroying society.
Obi said, “When the National Universities Commission Secretary-General said they are looking for PhD people to teach in our universities, I called him and said, why do you want anybody to do PhD when you don’t pay them and you pay thugs 100 times what they are paid.
“We are choosing the least among us to be our role models. And that is destroying our society”.
He said he had so much to learn from Osuntokun going by the testimonies of “these wonderful people who spoke about you today”.
On his part, a former governor of Ekiti State and the book reviewer, Dr Kayode Fayemi, explained how Osuntokun authorised the biography in 2021, though the idea was conceived by the authors in 2018.
The Serving Overseer of the Citadel Global Community Church, Tunde Bakare, extolled Osuntokun as a great teacher, whom he also said was very crucial to his sojourn as a student at the University of Lagos.
Bakare, who did the unveiling of the book, said, he (Osuntokun) and his late wife were a blessing to him at one of the most critical periods of his life.
