THE 1999 CONSTITUTION: A DOCUMENT OF FORCE, NOT CONSENT

THE 1999 CONSTITUTION: A DOCUMENT OF FORCE, NOT CONSENT

THE 1999 CONSTITUTION: A DOCUMENT OF FORCE, NOT CONSENT

Friday, 23rd January, 2026

Nigeria claims to be a democracy, but the truth is uncomfortable. We are being governed by a document that did not come from the people.

The 1999 Constitution was not written by an elected Constituent Assembly. It was not debated, voted on, or approved by Nigerians. It was promulgated by force, through Decree No. 24 of 1999 on 5 May 1999, by General Abdulsalami Abubakar, a military ruler. That is the foundation of the so-called Fourth Republic.

Section 2(1) of this constitution boldly declares that “Nigeria is one indivisible and indissoluble sovereign state to be known by the name of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
But unity imposed by decree is not unity. It is coercion. And when such forced unity continues to produce blood, injustice, and selective law enforcement, then the moral legitimacy of that document must be questioned.

One tragic case exposes this injustice clearly: Mrs Bridget Chioma Agbahime.
Mama Bridget Agbahime was a 72-year-old trader in Kano market. She was a Christian, the wife of a Deeper Life pastor, living in Nomansland, Kano.

In June 2016, she was accused of blasphemy. No court tried her. No judge heard her case. She was lynched and beheaded by a mob. Her head was carried round the market in jubilation, while other Christians watched in fear.

This was not a rumour. This was not hearsay. It happened in broad daylight.
Mama Bridget had been constantly bullied by a Muslim trader, Malam Ahmed, who owned a shop next to hers. Many market traders testified to this harassment. Yet when she was brutally killed, justice did not follow.

Five suspects were arrested: Dauda Ahmed, Zubairu Abdullahi, Abdulmumeen Mustapha, Abdullahi Abubakar, and Musa Abdullahi. They were charged under the Penal Code with inciting disturbance, joint act, mischief, and culpable homicide under Sections 114, 80, 327, and 221.

But on 3 November 2016, the Kano State Chief Magistrate, Mohammed Jubril, acting on directives from the Kano State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Haruna Falali, discharged and acquitted all the suspects.
No conviction. No accountability. No justice.

Till today, Mama Bridget’s family has not received justice. Her crime was being a Christian in the wrong place. This same pattern later repeated itself in the killing of Deborah Samuel. The message is clear: some lives are cheaper than others.

This is why I like many other Nigerians see the 1999 Constitution as a centre of evil, a document that protects one religion and one section of the country while leaving others exposed. A constitution that cannot guarantee equal protection of life has failed in its most basic duty.

General Abdulsalami Abubakar, the man who single-handedly promulgated this constitution, is alive today. Yet he has remained silent while Nigerians continue to die under a system he imposed. We are told we practice democracy, yet we are still ruled by a military decree disguised as a constitution.

How can a document forced on over 200 million people claim moral authority? How can unity be sustained when justice is selective? How can peace survive when killers walk free because of religion or region?

Enough is enough.
We are tired of dying.
We are tired of injustice.
We are tired of pretending.

If Nigeria insists on remaining indivisible and indissoluble only on paper while innocent people are slaughtered in reality, then that unity is a lie.

Let AREWA be.
Leave the MIDDLE BELT alone.
Let BIAFRA go.
Let ODUDUWA rule themselves.

An indivisible sovereign state can only be achieved by justice, consent, and equality, not by decree and bloodshed.
Nigeria has failed, let every region choose its own path in peace.

Forced unity has failed. History is watching.

Celphas Iyorhen
A Concerned Citizen from the Middle belt