Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, the prominent Igbo socio-cultural group, is urging the government to quickly organize a Sovereign National Conference. Their goal is to draft a constitution that accurately mirrors the democratic values and diverse needs of the Nigerian population.
Chief Omenazu Jackson, the group’s factional President-General, noted that Nigeria has never possessed a constitution derived from the direct will of its citizens. He argued that historical documents, from colonial-era charters like the 1922 Clifford Constitution to the various military-imposed mandates, including the 1999 Constitution, lacked public legitimacy.
The group claims that this deficit in constitutional origins is the root cause of ongoing national disputes over federalism, state police, and resource control. They contend that a citizen-led constitutional framework is essential for meaningful governance.
To achieve this, Ohanaeze Ndigbo proposes a conference where ethnic groups independently select their own representatives. They insist that government involvement must be absent to maintain the integrity of the process. Delegates would set their own agenda and procedures, and the resulting constitutional document would be considered supreme, immune to government alteration. The organization is now calling on the National Assembly, the Federal Government, and civil society leaders to back this movement toward national renewal.
