Former Minister of Education, Obiageli “Oby” Ezekwesili, has warned that Nigeria cannot survive the next decade under its current constitutional and governance structure, calling for an urgent citizen-led process to restructure the country.
Ezekwesili issued the warning in a public memorandum addressed to Nigerians, the Senate, the House of Representatives and President Bola Tinubu on Wednesday, arguing that the country’s growing insecurity, weak institutions and governance challenges are symptoms of a deeper constitutional crisis.
She said Nigeria requires a properly constituted Sovereign National Conference to negotiate a new federal structure, fiscal arrangements, security architecture, human rights protections and a national identity suitable for a modern state.
According to her, the conference must be broad-based and inclusive, reflecting the diversity of the country by involving ethnic nationalities, women, youths, labour, civil society, persons with disabilities, traditional institutions, faith communities, the private sector, diaspora Nigerians and elected representatives.
Ezekwesili said the process must be transparent, participatory and accessible to Nigerians, with the final constitutional proposal subjected to approval through a national referendum.
She dismissed suggestions that the administration of President Tinubu has already achieved restructuring through policy reforms, describing such measures as insufficient to address Nigeria’s fundamental challenges.
“Piecemeal adjustments are not restructuring,” she said, arguing that administrative reforms cannot replace a citizen-owned constitutional process.
The founder of the School of Politics, Policy and Governance said Nigeria must stop relying on elite agreements to determine its future, insisting that a country of more than 200 million people cannot be transformed through closed-door negotiations.
She urged the National Assembly and state Houses of Assembly to support a single constitutional amendment that would transfer constitution-making authority to Nigerians.
“Not many amendments. Not cosmetic amendments. Not amendments that pretend to restructure Nigeria on behalf of the people. Just one: the amendment that empowers Nigerians to restructure Nigeria for themselves,” she said.
Ezekwesili said Nigeria’s current security crisis was not merely a failure of policing but the consequence of a constitutional arrangement that concentrates power without accountability, centralises authority without capacity and imposes unity without consent.
“Our condition is dire. Our window is narrowing. Nigeria cannot survive the next decade on the foundation of the last one,” she warned.
She called for the creation of a pathway for the conference, the submission of its recommendations to a referendum and for Nigerians to decide the future direction of the country.
Ezekwesili also cited Kenya as an example of a nation that used a constitutional referendum to address deep divisions and strengthen national unity.
She said Nigeria must seize the opportunity to reset itself and answer a long-standing question of whether the country can become a leading force in Africa and “claim the 21st century.”
