A group of prominent Northern Nigerians recently issued a statement titled “State of the Nation,” warning that Nigeria is sliding into a dangerous abyss. They pointed to crumbling democratic accountability, weak institutions, and a security crisis fueled by instability in the Sahel. Their diagnosis is sharp. Their prescription, however, is a Band-Aid on a bullet wound.
The signatories—including Dr. Husseini Abdu, Professor Ibrahim Gambari, and Professor Attahiru Jega—called for reforms within the existing system: better governance, stronger courts, cleaner elections, and smarter diplomacy. Their intent is noble. But their logic rests on a fatal assumption: that Nigeria’s constitutional foundation is sound.
It is not.
The 1999 Constitution was never debated by the people. It was imposed by a military decree. The opening words, “We the People,” are a fiction. That contradiction is the real source of Nigeria’s paralysis. You cannot preach constitutional morality abroad while ignoring the fact that your own political order was born without popular consent.
The crisis in the Middle Belt, for example, did not start with terrorism in the Sahel. It began decades ago, when the ruling elite in the old Northern Region suppressed indigenous peoples fighting for their own region. The splitting of Jos Local Government to hand control to Fulani settlers was not a spillover from regional instability—it was a political decision driven by power struggles over land and identity.
Insecurity is not simply a governance problem. It is a political problem rooted in who controls territory, resources, and authority. And as long as the center hoards power—controlling security, policing, revenue, and political incentives—every election becomes a fight for that center. Every reform becomes a negotiation with the very structure that created the dysfunction.
The Concerned Citizens appeal to civil society, the judiciary, and traditional rulers. But these institutions derive their authority from the same contested constitution. You cannot fix a house by painting the walls when the foundation is cracked.
The real remedy is not another round of elite amendments. It is an autochthonous constitution—one born from the consent of the people themselves. That requires nationality referendums, where every community in Nigeria decides the terms of its association. Only then can questions of federalism, security, and resource control be settled on legitimate ground.
The Concerned Citizens have done a service by sounding the alarm. But their recommendations remain trapped inside the cage they seek to repair. Nigeria does not need better management of a broken order. It needs a new order entirely.
Signed,
1. Professor GG Darah
2. Professor SWE Ibodje
3. Professor Ropo Sekoni
4. Chief Tokunbo Ajasin
5. Professor William Ehwarieme
6. Mr Taiwo Akinola
7. Professor Victor Jike
8. Barrister Luke Aghanenu
9. Chief Samuel Oluwadare Yerokun
10. Professor Lucky Akaruese
11. Engineer Caleb Osiobe
12. Dr Femi Folorunso
13. Alagba Femi Odedeyi
