Aare Afe Babalola, the founder of Afe Babalola University, has revealed that in order to avoid the recycling of leaders, Nigeria needs to restructure by all means before the forthcoming general elections.
In a statement in which he made this known, the legal luminary said anything to the contrary would result in “recycling the same failed leaders that have brought Nigeria to where it is today.”
He explained that “the 1999 constitution breeds transactional leaders instead of transformational leaders. It is the same constitution that makes the opinions of those outside government to be irrelevant to those in government,” hence the need to have another one.
While advising the political stakeholders of the country to ensure that a new truly federal constitution with provision for parliamentary government is in place before the 2023 general elections, Babalola lamented the democratic system Nigeria is practising.
According to him, the 1999 constitution “allows Nigeria to be running the most expensive democracy in the world with government functionaries earning exorbitant salaries and allowances in a country riddled with unemployment, poverty, insurgencies, kidnapping, ferocious terrorist acts, killings, murder, robbery and widespread destruction of properties.”
Encouraging unity among the Nigerian populace, Babalola advised that “those who wish this country to remain an indivisible entity must unite to ensure that we replace the present 1999 constitution with a truly federal constitution and a parliamentary system of government which is more involving and less expensive.”
He, therefore, explained that should a new constitution be put in place, “priority attention must be accorded to the multi-religious, multi-cultural, multi-linguistic nature of the country made up of over 400 ethnic groups speaking over 295 dialects.
“Particular attention must be paid to the issue of poverty, reduction of population by limiting the number of children per couple. This will prevent the present untoward situation where the offer of a mere N5,000 could induce poor Nigerians to vote against the dictates of their conscience.”
“Nigeria does not need two houses in the National Assembly. All we need is one house with the number of legislators reduced to 50 per cent of what it is today,” he added.
