Atlantic Post

ABUJA, Nigeria — The Nigerian Indigenous Nationalities Alliance for Self-Determination (NINAS) has announced in an exceptional public notice that the 1999 Nigerian Constitution is dead, marking a turning point in the history of the country’s constitution. The long-running fight by NINAS against what it refers to as the fraudulent and flawed constitutional order culminates in this momentous announcement.

The demise of the 1999 Constitution, according to NINAS, marks the end of the unitary union erected upon it and calls for urgent action from the constituent peoples of Nigeria. They must now embark on a path of unfettered self-determination to either dismantle the failed union or initiate immediate transitioning for the constitutional reconfiguration of the Nigerian state.

The strategic objective of NINAS’ constitutional force majeure, initiated on December 16, 2020, aimed to trigger a constitutional logjam leading to a transition for reconfiguring the Nigerian union. This goal has now been accomplished, as the 1999 Constitution’s distress and disablement attest to.

This was further reinforced by the recent emergency “National Colloquium on the Constitutional Future,” which took place in Lagos on March 18, 2024. The 1999 Constitution is acknowledged to have failed. This incident marks a change in Nigeria’s contentious constitutional framework, as does the National Assembly’s attempt to unilaterally design a new constitution by 2026.

Important individuals like Obong Victor Attah and Prof. Ben Nwabueze acknowledged the shortcomings of the unitary constitutional framework during the Lagos Colloquium, supporting the ideas put forth by NINAS. This consensus marks a significant turning point in Nigeria’s constitutional discourse, with NINAS tasked to galvanize the emerging countrywide consensus for constitutional reconfiguration.

Regarding proposals such as adopting the 2014 National Conference Report or entrusting Nigeria’s National Assembly with constitutional reconfiguration, NINAS maintains a critical stance. The collapse of recent constitutional amendment attempts by the National Assembly underscores the urgency for a new approach.

NINAS emphasizes the need to address fundamental questions of federating and negotiating terms of union before drafting a new constitution. This idea is echoed by Chief Emeka Anyaoku’s proposal for a zero-party constituent assembly, which emphasises the importance of community participation in the constitutional process.

Nigeria is at a crossroads; the task ahead is to enable the constituent peoples to engage in conversation and reach an agreement on how to move forward with a constitutional structure that is more inclusive and participatory. Nigeria has the chance to update its constitution and create the foundation for a more just and sustainable future with the repeal of the 1999 Constitution.

Link to Vanguard report on the Lagos Colloquium

Link to Wole Olanipekun’s articulation of constitutional imperatives

The full NINAS Extraordinary Public Notice reads as follows:

“Operators of Unitary Nigeria Now Acknowledge that the 1999 Constitution is Dead

(NINAS Declares that the Unitary Union Erected Upon the 1999 Constitution is Now at an End and the Constituent Peoples of Nigeria Must Now Proceed In Unfettered Self-Determination to Either Dismantle the Failed Union OR Get into an Immediate Transitioning to Commence the Constitutional Reconfiguration of the Failed Nigerian Union)

In its Decisive Onslaught against the Fraudulent 1999 Constitution, the Strategic Objective of the NINAS Constitutional Force Majeure of December 16, 2020 was to trigger a chain of events that will precipitate a Constitutional Logjam that will of precipitate a Transitioning for the Constitutional Reconfiguration of the Nigerian Union. The crux of this Operation, codenamed DOMINO-2 was a directional strike at the 2023 Presidential Election in a manner that knocked over the 1999 Constitution to Dislodge the Union Erected on it.

NINAS Secretariat is delighted to report that the Constitutional Force Majeure has delivered that Strategic Objective as the 1999 Constitution is now Distressed and Disabled from remaining the Basis of the Federation of Nigeria. 

The Demise of the 1999 Constitution means that the Unitary Union Anchored Upon that Constitution is at an End and so the Trapped Constituent Components of Nigeria MUST Now Renegotiate and Rework the Distressed Union in Unfettered Self-Determination OR proceed Unilaterally with the immediate Extrication of their Territories from the Failed Union.

On the heels of the desperate attempt by Nigeria’s National Assembly to Unilaterally Write a New Constitution for Nigeria by 2026, the well-choreographed execution and outcome of the Emergency “National Colloquium on the Constitutional Future”, staged in Lagos on the 18th of March, 2024, is evidence of the spectacular success of the NINAS Constitutional Force Majeure as both initiatives represent an acknowledgment of the Demise of the Distressed 1999 Constitution. (Here is the link to a report on the Lagos Colloquium – https://www.vanguardngr.com/2024/03/nigeria-doomed-without-new-constitution-anyaoku-adebanjo-others/)

For an insight into the wider picture of what has shifted in Nigeria’s Disputed Constitutional Arrangements, the NINAS Preliminary Notes on the Outcome of the Patriots’ March 18, 2024 National Colloquium will be a window. Here are Notes:

NINAS’ PRELIMINARY NOTES ON THE OUTCOME OF THE PATRIOTS’ LAGOS COLLOQUIUM ON THE CONSTITUTIONAL FUTURE OF NIGERIA: 

 – March 18, 2024.

(1) Summary of Colloquium Outcome:

From the Execution and Outcome of the National Colloquium on the Constitutional Future of Nigeria, it is evident that the NINAS Propositions and Campaign has triumphed over ALL other suggestions. The witness borne by Obong Victor Attah, of Prof Ben Nwabueze Admission and Confession of 2013, brings the System to a U-Turn on their erstwhile rigid position and posturing on the Disputations around Nigeria’s Flawed Unitary Constitutional Arrangements. 

NINAS Task right now is to galvanize and give direction to the Spectacular Countrywide Consensus that has emerged around the hitherto largely confused and often dishonest debates around the Union Dispute.

(2) On the Suggestion that 2014 Conference Report be Adopted to cure the Foundational Anomalies of the 1999 Constitution:

“Premised on the False Premises that the Unity of Nigeria was not Negotiable, the 2014 National Conference did not address the Union Question and so its Report does not offer any Solution to the Multifaceted Challenges Now Threatening the Nigerian Union  from Grave Constitutional Grievances flowing from those Foundational Constitutional Anomalies” – NINAS.

(3) On the Suggestion that Nigeria’s National Assembly could lead the Constitutional Reconfiguration of Nigeria:

The current round of Constitution Amendment gambit by Nigeria’s National Assembly suffered a sudden collapse yesterday March 17, 2024 from the frontal onslaught of NINAS against the Proprietors of Unitary Nigeria who tried to railroad the 2014 National Conference Report through the National Assembly, to become the replacement to the Fraud of 1999 via a One-Day Colloquium. 

The NINAS Open Memorandum to the Patriots’ Lagos Colloquium, upended that plot.

On the other hand, the response of NINAS to the National Assembly’s announcement of another round of Constitution Amendments was equally frontal and decisive. That Amendment charade was to prepare the ground for the aforementioned adoption of the 2014 Conference Report which was premised on the idiotic heresy that the Unity of Nigeria was Non-Negotiable.

(4) In advancing to Fresh Constitutional Arrangements from the present point of the Demise of the 1999 Constitution, the first order of business is not “the Writing of a New Constitution” as that would be tantamount to putting the cart before the Horse. There are two Questions that MUST be settled before getting to the stage of Drafting of any New Constitution or Constitutions.

In the brief openning remarks of Chief Emeka Anyaoku at the Lagos Colloquium, he listed “only two options” of pathways via which Nigerians could approach the inevitable Constitutional Reconfiguration of the Nigerian Union, namely: EITHER the adoption of the 2014 Conference Report OR the setting up of a Constituent Assembly elected on a Zero-Party Basis to Draft a New Constitution.

These two options both result in heading straight to Constitution Drafting without the Identification of who will be Federating (ie the Constituent Peoples of Nigeria in whatever Formations of their choice); AND the Negotiations on Terms of Union. 

The Preliminary Questions that must be asked are those same two questions that Bola Ige raised repeatedly, namely: “Have We Agreed To Federate as One Political Union?” And “On What Terms?”. 

The Challenge before Nigeria right now is to get the Constituent Peoples of Nigeria to Negotiate and AGREE on those two Questions before going to the third Task of Writing Down and Ratifying same by Referendums. It is that written Union Agreement emerging through the Process outlined hereinbefore that is called a Constitution. The Foundational Flaw of the 1999 Constitution for which it is now rejected Countrywide, is that it was just written and imposed by fiat without the input of the Peoples. 

(Here is the link to Wole Olanipekun’s articulation of these two preliminary Constitutional imperatives: