The Chairman, Board of Trustees of the Full Gospel Business Men’s Fellowship International (FGBMFI) Nigeria, and former lecturer at the University of Lagos, (UNILAG), Dr Olusola Ajolore, has called for the renegotiation and reconfiguration of Nigeria before the country holds another election.
Speaking with ARISE NEWS on Friday, Dr Ajolore, who spoke against the backdrop of Nigeria’s political and constitutional challenges, argued that the country needs a period of transition to redefine its structure and establish a stronger foundation for governance.
“We need to renegotiate and reconfigure, then we will be talking about a referendum. It is then we can be talking about restructuring. Renegotiation, reconfiguration, then we talk about referendum, then we talk about restructuring. How are we going to get it? Maybe instead of an election… because holding elections, we can only be getting worse. It’s not election we need now. What we need is a time of transition. Let us plan what to do, and then there will be a change,” he stressed.
The centenarian argued that Nigeria must first renegotiate the terms of its union before any meaningful restructuring can take place, describing the country’s current arrangement as resembling a “master-slave relationship.”
According to Ajolore, the 1999 Constitution lacks the collective ownership that should underpin a national constitution, as Nigerians were not involved in its making.
“My way of looking at it is that we need something that will make us move. I am talking now about a document called the 1999 Constitution. My advice is that we try to stick together, because we are stronger. But then, if we renegotiate, then we will reconfigure what we have now. It looks like a master-slave relationship.
“The so-called 1999 Constitution—I choose to call it the edict that is there in the document—says something has to be omitted, I don’t know why. In constitution writing, that is what you call the preamble. It says, ‘We, the people of the Federal Republic of Nigeria…’ There was no ‘we.’ There was no ‘us.’ There was no ‘our.’ That’s why you cannot amend it. How do you amend ‘we’? We didn’t meet,” he argued.
Calling for an open and transparent process of constitutional rethinking and renegotiation, the centenarian insisted that Nigerians must be given the opportunity to determine the country’s future.
Dr Ajolore identified the Nigerian Indigenous Nationalities Alliance for Self-Determination (NINAS) as one of the groups advocating self-determination, maintaining that “the owners of Nigeria are the indigenous people of this country” and should be the ones to write a constitution for themselves.
“It has to be open. And there are organizations that have been trying to do something about this. I think of one called NINAS—Nigerian Indigenous Nationalities Alliance for Self-Determination. The young man, Tony Nnadi, has spoken on some of the television stations in the East. The owners of Nigeria are the indigenous people of this country. They are the ones who can write a constitution for themselves, by themselves, for us,” he insisted.
Reflecting on the January 15, 1966 coup, Ajolore said it marked the beginning of Nigeria’s departure from true federalism, arguing that the country has effectively operated a unitary system ever since.
“I think January 15, 1966. It’s a very unfortunate incident in this country because that declared this place… I think there was disabrogation of the constitution. In fact, even the word ‘federal’ was canceled for ‘unitary.’ We have been running a unitary government since 1966. We’re just deceiving ourselves when we call ourselves a federation. This is not the way a federal government functions,” he lamented.
Dr Ajolore also lamented Nigeria’s loss of a shared sense of responsibility, urging citizens to focus less on “sharing the cake” and more on “baking the cake” through collective contribution and hard work.
“I think it’s because we have forgotten what we should contribute towards Nigeria, always talking about sharing the cake. Why don’t we think about baking the cake first of all? We must all work together. I don’t see it as the responsibility of only one person; no, it is all of us, collective,” he urged.
Drawing from his own experience as a farmer, Ajolore criticised what he described as government’s lip service to agriculture, recounting how inadequate support, delayed access to a tractor and the absence of an effective system to buy farmers’ produce left him frustrated despite investing in farming.
“Government has been lip service. I went into farming, I was supposed to be able to take a loan. I took the loan, but I didn’t have the use of the tractor in time. I’m talking about a period of about 10 years consistently, because I didn’t have the money. I was sacked in 1980. Just because they didn’t like the face of some of us.
“If you produce, there must be a system. I heard that in Ghana, the government had a way of taking what the farmers produced, which is the way it is internationally. Even in the Eastern Region, there was a marketing board taking those things. Why can’t we go back to learn from those who are still alive?”, he quizzed.
The centenarian, however, warned of what he described as the dangers of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) to Nigeria’s agricultural independence, particularly for smallholder farmers. Ajolore argued that reliance on GMO seeds could make farmers dependent on commercial seed suppliers, as they would have to purchase new seeds rather than replanting from their harvests.
“We are in serious danger. There’s this GMO thing, Genetically Modified Organisms. God put in each place what will do them good. The corn in America may not necessarily produce what the corn in Nigeria will produce. God placed it there. GMO is intending to completely wipe those things off so that we will become dependent on Bill Gates, the big CEO in Monsanto or whatever. When you begin to plant GMO, you cannot take from your harvest to plant; you have to go and buy seed every year. What’s going to happen to the small farmers the year that he doesn’t have enough money to buy new seed?”
Identifying the erosion of values and the centralisation of education as major challenges facing Nigeria, the centenarian argued that states should have greater control over their education systems. He also lamented the decline of moral instruction in schools, recalling a time when education placed greater emphasis not only on academics but also on character, discipline and values.
“Yes, we have a societal value problem, because we have tinkered with all kinds of things. This same Constitution I’m talking about is talking about education. Education should be something… In the United States, we have in-state fees and out-of-state fees, which means that each state controls its own education. We should control our own education. They replaced what they call national values. When we went to school, not only did you have Bible knowledge, you also had moral instruction. It’s not there anymore. These things are no longer there,” he decried.
Concluding, Dr Ajolore reaffirmed his belief in Nigeria’s future, saying his faith remains rooted in the conviction that God is not yet done with the country. Ajolore insisted that Nigeria’s renewal must begin with a new constitutional foundation, calling for “a constitution written by us, for us.”
“I still believe in Nigeria because God has not told me that He is done with Nigeria. If He is done with Nigeria, He will let me know. He will confirm through His prophets.
“This Constitution has to go. We need a constitution written by us, for us,” he insisted.
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