By Vincent Egunyanga, Abuja
A former Federal Commissioner of Information, Gen IBM Haruna (retd), has said calls for a new constitution are provocative.
Speaking exclusively with ThisNigeria, Haruna, who said there is no constitution anywhere, stressed that every written constitution has a provision on how it can be amended.
Haruna said the constitution does not make a nation, but the people make a nation.
He stressed that corrupt people uncomfortable with the constitution should change their lifestyle and morality and identify with the people they are ruling.
A former chairman of the Nigeria Institute of International Affairs and a defunct member of the National Political Reform Conference said the ruling class must change its level of inhumanity and accept that change is the only permanent thing in life.
He said Nigeria had made some constitutional progress since 1959, and there have always been calls for constitutional amendments. Still, he stressed that ‘a call for a new constitution is a waste of time, public money, and an intellectual design to provoke people.’
He said we should consider improving the environment for a free, fair, and credible election.
He said there are countries with unwritten constitutions that have yet to progress in nation-building.
Regarding the country’s security situation, the retired general said no country has a perfect security state; ‘there will always be challenges.’
However, he said that to tackle insecurity, we must address ‘hunger, unemployment, lack of trust and faith in the country’s leadership, and the provision of basic amenities. ‘
He said Nigerians should be patient with President Bola Tinubu, who has only been in office for one year.
It would be recalled that a group of eminent Nigerians, known as the Patriots, called on President Bola Tinubu to convene a National Conference or Constituent Assembly to give Nigeria an entirely new Constitution.
The Patriots, led by former Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, had urged Tinubu to immediately send an Executive bill to the National Assembly to that effect.
Anyaoku said a new constitution was necessary owing to the 1999 constitution’s glaring imperfections. But Haruna said no constitution anywhere in the world is perfect.
