Introduction
These constitutional proposals have been derived in part from ‘The Law as Practised by the Ancient Yoruba: A book to remind us of the world that we lost’ by Olusola Oni.
The book provides the supporting evidence for the Yoruba system of law as practised in ancient times. Although the Yoruba of yore did not write, they did the next best thing which was to embed their law in their language.
The embedded word is as accurate as the written word. This book is unique in that it uses the meaning of Yoruba words to identify elements of the ancient Yoruba law – administrative, civil and criminal, and it does so with some precision. Where applicable, the evidence has been cross-referenced for authenticity with the modern
case law and with other research publications.
The Articles of Constitution that we set out below are not meant to be prescriptive but are meant to provide the spine upon which to base the Constitution for our new nation. The Yoruba Descendants expect to have one or more of its members to partake as full participants at any Constitution Drafting conference.
Preamble
In the name of Almighty God, with faith in our custom and tradition, and mindful of our responsibility towards future generations, we the Yoruba people resolve to strengthen liberty, equality, democracy and independence,
to promote cooperation and peace in a spirit of solidarity and openness towards all others in Africa and the wider world, and knowing that only those who use their freedom remain free, knowing that our strength is measured by the well-being of our weakest, hereby adopt the following constitution.
Article 1 – People and Territory
The territory shall be an area south and west of the River Niger, that the Yoruba have occupied uninterrupted since time immemorial. The Yoruba speak variations of one language, have a common custom and tradition, and believe in one ancestral origin, Oduduwa. Before colonisation, the Yoruba lived in ‘city states’ within one of the largest indigenous empires in West Africa.
Over 30 million Yoruba currently live in their ancestral home in Nigeria and a similar number are in the diaspora. On the continent of Africa, the Yoruba are one of the largest ethnic groups and are likely the
largest homogenous people.
Article 2 – Name
Our nation shall be called one of the following: Yorubaland, Yoruba Nation, Yoruba
Republic or Oduduwa Republic.
Article 3 – Language
The official language shall be Yoruba.
Article 4 – The Yoruba sovereignty
Governance of our nation shall reflect the Yoruba sovereignty, which makes the Ọba the supreme legal authority, but with the system of governance built on certain fundamental principles.
The first principle is fairness. A system of turn-by-turn or rotation is used to select the Ọba from a fixed pool of households (‘ruling’ houses) that are of equal status.
The second principle is grassroots. Individuals (Oloye) selected by clans, households, guilds, professions etc, to represent them, are constituted into a Council (Ọyọmesi).
The Council is the policy making body that links the people to the Ọba and enables an uninterrupted flow of information in both directions. The third principle is autonomy.
The Yoruba Empire was a confederacy with a very weak centre (at Oyo) and autonomous ‘city states’ (ILU) that have absolute control of their borders, laws and money. The ‘city states’, which were of different sizes, numbered in their hundreds.
There is thus in place today in 2021, governance structures to enable the new nation immediately to be administered. Despite over 100 years of being governed by others – colonialists, ‘elected’ dictators and military dictators – and despite their constitution being in unwritten form, the Yoruba have stuck stubbornly to their sovereignty.
Allegiance to it remains unshakable even in the 21st century. Indeed, it is telling that the Yoruba have never sought to jettison, or alter in any shape of form, their system of governance, which has existed from time immemorial.
Article 5 – Tiers of government
The ancient 2-tier Yoruba system of government – local and central – shall be the basic structure for the new independent nation. The Yoruba system of government was designed primarily to oversee contracts between individuals in the community, and not as means to oppose the Ọba.
The ‘city state’ governance that the Yoruba Empire perfected was shared governance between ‘governments of the local’ and ‘government of the all’. Local governance was strong whilst central government was weak. The Yoruba system of local governance was truly ‘government of the people, for the people, by the people’.
Article 6 – ILU as the Unit of governance
The Unit of Governance shall be based on the ‘city state’ constitution of the ancient Yoruba Empire. This means that every ILU that had an Ọba as of 1 October 1960 would be a Unit in the new nation. No Unit must have more seats than another in the central parliament.
In the ancient Yoruba Empire, all ILU were equal. That is why the word ILU applied universally and is unrelated to size or importance of Oba or ‘city state’. It was the colonialists that elevated one ILU above the other. The ILU are sovereign except where it is limited by the constitution.
Article 7 – Ọyọmesi (Local Council)
The Ọyọmesi shall be multi-purpose bodies responsible for delivering a range of services to the ILU in relation to primary and secondary education; social welfare; amenities and recreation; local roads and traffic; planning, housing and environment; economic and community development; fire services; register of local citizens. The Ọyọmesi shall be responsible for all aspects of live except immigration; external and internal security; transport; monetary system; and civil and criminal law.
Responsibilities of the Ọyọmesi shall be divided into two areas: namely, Reserve Function (for the Ọyọmesi Councillors) and Executive Function (for the Chief Executive). Policy decisions shall be made by majority resolutions during council meetings; the Reserve Function shall include passing an annual budget and raising taxes. The Ọyọmesi shall be the only bodies responsible for ‘personal’ taxation, which shall be based on property valuations rather than on the individual’s wealth.
The Chief Executive – together with full-time Committee Chairmen – shall advise and assist the councillors; manage council affairs on a day-to-day basis and deliver the strategic objectives as set out by the councillors.
The Ọyọmesi shall be Ọba-based; each comprising of 34 members (from designated wards) to provide adequate enough numbers to form working committees; Committee Chairmen shall form the Ọyọmesi Council Board responsible for running the council and making ‘bye-laws’; all members of the Ọyọmesi shall be directly elected, no party affiliations, for a 5-year term, with no person entitled to more than one term in his lifetime; local council elections shall be the only nationwide election; each Ọyọmesi shall have an Ọba as its non-voting, non-executive Chairman.
The ‘1960 listed’ Ọba shall be one associated with a major settlement such as Ibadan, for
example, or with a ‘district’, to achieve a ‘critical mass’.
Article 8 – Igbimọ (Central Legislature)
There shall be a Central Legislature comprising of members nominated to it by the Ọyọmesi; each Ọyọmesi shall select one member amongst its ranks, by secret ballot, to represent the ILU at the Central Legislature, each for a 5-year term, with no person entitled to more than one term in his lifetime; the legislature shall appoint amongst its ranks, by secret ballot, Secretaries of State (Akọwe), to head various departments of state as well as the Head of State (Asiwaju), each for a 3-year term with no person entitled to more than one term in his lifetime.
Responsibilities of the Igbimọ shall be divided into two areas: namely, Reserve Function (for the Igbimọ Assemblymen) and Executive Function (for the Asiwaju and his cabinet).
Legislation shall be enacted by majority resolutions during Igbimọ sessions; the Reserve Function shall include passing an annual budget and raising taxes from businesses, corporations, companies and organisations; determining citizenship and fostering a close relationship with the Diaspora; promoting scientific research and innovation; compiling data and audit on the status of the people and the nation.
The Asiwaju – together with his cabinet – shall advise and assist the assemblymen; manage the nation’s affairs on a day-to-day basis and deliver the strategic objectives as set out by the assemblymen.
The Executive function shall include infrastructure in all its different facets including roads, rail and utilities; conduct of foreign affairs but with input and participation of the ILU; establishing a militia (to defend the country) and a civil defence force (to protect people and property in emergencies); delivering services in relation to vocational and tertiary education.
Primary, tertiary and public health, and hospitals and clinics shall be managed and supervised independent of the political process under a National Medical Officer.
Judges and courts shall be managed and supervised independent of the political process under a National Law Officer. These national officers shall be appointed for a non-renewable term of 5-years. The Igbimọ shall set their terms of reference and funding.
Article 9 – Supremacy of the citizenry
The citizens shall be supreme above all else and they shall have the right to directly decide on all and every policy matters; each citizen shall have the right to propose an amendment or addition to the constitution to be decided by a referendum, provided 200,000 citizens support it within 6 months of the initiative; each citizen shall have the right to demand that for it to take effect, a bill passed by the Legislature shall be ratified by all the people, provided 200,000 citizens support it within 6 months of the initiative; and, each ILU Council shall have the right to launch
a referendum on any matter provided one fifth of the ILU Councils support it within 1 year of the initiative.
Article 10 – Rights under the constitution
The Constitution shall prohibit any law to be made that infringes in any way or form the freedom of the citizen including the freedoms of assembly, associations and expression; the Constitution shall prohibit unreasonable and unwarranted search and seizure of persons or property; the Constitution shall prohibit the conviction or punishment of anyone without the due process of law; the Constitution shall protect the right to privacy and the freedom to pursue life, liberty and happiness; the Constitution shall protect the right of all citizens to protect his person, his family and his property; the Constitution shall guarantee social and economic freedom and freedom to form professional associations; the Constitution shall guarantee the right to equal and fair treatment in judicial and administrative proceedings; and the constitution shall guarantee that no citizen is expelled or extradited.
Appendix A – European systems of government have not served Africa well.
The parliamentary and presidential systems of government were developed to oppose the power of tyrannical European kings and queens. Consequently, the system of government was as remote from the people as was the monarchy itself.
The ‘representatives’ of the people who made up these governments were equally remote, and they were selected by a system of periodic beauty pageants termed elections.
What the writers of European constitutions did in its effect was to replace ‘monarchical dictatorship’ with ‘elective dictatorship’ and thereby ensure the perpetual domination of governance by a political class through the instrument of political parties.
This style of government elevates the party above the state. It encourages corruption and election rigging.
The Nigerian military and political class have embraced the European constitutional model because it gives them unfettered power.
The Yoruba did not, and do not, have the same governance problems as the European peoples did. There were no tyrannical regimes to overthrow or jettison.
Indeed, unlike the European, the Yoruba perceive constitution as something to be emblematic of their custom and tradition.
Appendix B – The 1963 constitution did not serve the Yoruba well Agitators for a return to 1963 constitution need to be reminded that that constitution enabled the Federal government to kill off one of the original regions, the Western Region.
At independence, the British bequeathed to Nigeria a gerrymandered structure with Northern Nigeria (Fulani) allotted 50% of the population and a land mass three times East (Igbo) and West (Yoruba) Regions combined. The Eastern Region struck an alliance with the Northern Region, which cast aside the Western Region.
The North-East alliance seceded out of the Western Region, the Midwest Region comprising of non-Yoruba peoples.
The North-East alliance threw Awolowo, the Yoruba leader, into jail and set up a puppet regime. The Federal government declared a state of emergency and took over the administration of the Western Region.
The power of the Federal government was also used to manipulate the 1963 census. Corruptly obtained funds were used to openly rig the 1964 Federal elections and the 1965 Western elections. The ensuing instability ensured that Akintola, who had succeeded Awolowo as the Western premier was never able to improve on Awolowo’s impressive legacy.
Appendix C – The 1914 Amalgamation
Amalgamation was uniquely Nigerian. It was only in Nigeria that Britain adopted ‘amalgamation’, nowhere else in Africa. Amalgamation is a legal transaction whereby two or more entities (the amalgamating entities) combine to form one amalgamated entity.
The incorporating jurisdiction of the amalgamating entities governs the amalgamation. The Nigeria Amalgamation was a legally binding arrangement between three entities – Lagos Colony, North and South protectorates.
The understanding, and indeed intention, of Amalgamation was made absolutely clear, that although under one umbrella, that is, Nigeria, each of the named constituent territories would be separately administered. The 1914 Amalgamation was, and still is, Nigeria’s founding constitution or incorporating jurisdiction.
There is no other legal instrument creating the geographical entity that we now know as Nigeria. Without the 1914 Amalgamation, there is no Nigeria.
The Amalgamation is self-evidently therefore an ‘entrenched constitution’ similar to England’s Magna Carta. Because of its uniqueness, there is no means by which the 1914 Amalgamation could be lawfully superseded.
Indeed, if the 1914 Amalgamation was undone, or tinkered with in any way, there would be no legal entity called Nigeria. The 1914 Amalgamation did not provide Nigeria, in its future capacity as a nation, with the constitutional or legislative power to abolish the Amalgamation structure.
The Amalgamation owns the copyright to ‘Nigeria’. Therefore, any constitutional arrangements that dismembered the 1914 amalgamating entities, and had the name ‘Nigeria’ as its basis, have been illegal.
Chief (Dr) Olusola Oni
MBBS, MSc, MD, LLM, GDL, FRCSEd, FWACS, FMCS, FRCSEng
(Baasegun Alabe of Ijebu-Jesa, Osun State, Nigeria)
