-SEPECIAL REPORT-
Nigeria’s Crossroads Moment: Rewrite the Constitution, Rebuild the Politics
As the
year winds down, July 2025 will be remembered not only for the passing of a
former president, but for the passing of an old political order. Nigeria stands
at a rare moment of reckoning, grappling with a Constitution that no longer
reflects its aspirations, and a political realignment sparked by the departure
of a towering Northern figure.
As the National Assembly launches sweeping hearings on constitutional reform, and party lines blur in the post-Buhari landscape, one question looms above all others: Will Nigeria seize the chance to reset its democratic foundations, or squander it in pursuit of narrow interests?
Constitutional Rebirth: The People's
Pushback Against the 1999 Charter
Few
documents evoke as much frustration in Nigeria’s civic space as the 1999
Constitution, a military-era framework riddled with centralization,
ambiguities, and elite-preserving mechanisms. July’s reform hearings mark the
most serious challenge to that status quo since 1999.
Among the
headline proposals:
- Local Government
Autonomy: A
long overdue liberation of Nigeria’s third tier from state-level
manipulation.
- State Police: A pragmatic response to
regional insecurity, letting communities secure themselves.
- Diaspora Voting
Rights: A
bold nod to Nigerians abroad whose remittances and expertise fuel the
economy.
- Independent
Candidacy:
Finally, a crack in the armor of party oligopolies.
- Gender Equity: Time to turn advocacy into
enforceable mandates.
- New States
Creation: A
mixed bag, raising both hopes for self-determination and concerns about
fragmentation.
Yet the
most radical pressure comes from outside government. At the Patriots
Summit, elder statesmen, legal scholars and civic
champions demanded nothing less than a new people-driven
Constitution. Their roadmap includes:
- Drafting via non-partisan constituent assembly
- Return to true federalism and judicial
decentralization
- Cutting the cost of governance
- Mandatory electronic transmission of election results
This is
not about tweaking clauses. It’s about rewriting Nigeria’s social contract, from
imposed legality to genuine legitimacy.
Buhari’s Exit: The Unraveling of a
Northern Political Pillar
On July
13, former President Muhammadu Buhari passed away, quietly closing a chapter
defined by Spartan leadership and Northern political cohesion. His death was
more than personal—it dismantled a lynchpin in Nigeria’s delicate power matrix.
Without
Buhari:
- The APC’s Northern bloc
risks fragmentation, with defections to smaller parties like the ADC.
- The once-dominant CPC faction is
adrift, eroding APC’s leverage in key northern states.
- President Tinubu faces a perilous balancing act:
holding northern loyalty without the Buhari mystique.
Compounding
this is a generational divide. While older voters mourn Buhari’s legacy,
younger Nigerians carry unresolved trauma from the #EndSARS era and growing
disillusionment with traditional power structures.
The result?
An
estimated 12 million northern votes, once
reliably APC, are now up for grabs. 2027 could witness not just a change of
leadership, but a redefining of political legitimacy.
A Nation on the Brink, or on the
Verge?
This is
not business-as-usual reform. This is a pivotal test of political courage and
civic resolve.
Will
Nigeria’s leaders embrace the constitutional demands echoing from town halls
and civil society? Will they honor Buhari’s memory not by preserving the old
order, but by building something better?
As
history so often reminds us, nations don’t transform by accident, they
transform by choice.
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