Former Minister of Education and public policy expert, Dr. Obiageli Ezekwesili, has declared that Nigeria’s current constitution is structurally defective and must be replaced entirely if the country is to move forward.
Speaking at a national dialogue on constitutional reforms, Ezekwesili rejected the long-standing belief that Nigeria’s problems are too unique or complex to be solved. According to her, that thinking has kept the country in a cycle of dysfunction.
“There’s no Nigerian problem that hasn’t happened elsewhere and been solved. We just don’t let data and science lead our decisions,” she said.
She stressed the need for proportional representation in Nigeria’s democracy, where political power reflects actual vote shares. “We are not failing because our people are bad. We are failing because our structure is broken,” she declared.
Ezekwesili argued that the current system leaves too many people out of governance—especially women, young people, and other minority or vulnerable groups—and called it both unfair and unproductive. Citing global studies, she said countries with higher female participation in governance experience better outcomes in economic growth, public accountability, and stability.
She warned that Nigeria ranks 181 out of 193 countries globally in women representation in parliament, with only 3.6% of National Assembly seats held by women.
“This isn’t about doing women a favour. It’s about saving ourselves. Excluding half the population from governance kills national productivity,” she said.
Ezekwesili also highlighted the massive exclusion of young people, despite Nigeria being one of the youngest populations in the world with an average age of 18.9 years. She stressed that the global race for dominance in areas like artificial intelligence is still open, and Nigeria’s young people, especially in tech, are already showing global promise without government support.
“If you were in a boardroom deciding where to invest for the future, you would choose Africa. But our youths feel left out. It’s time to change that,” she said.
She concluded by urging the National Assembly to stop wasting time on piecemeal amendments and instead commit to a single constitutional amendment—one that allows Nigerians to elect a constituent assembly to write a new constitution, which would then be approved through a national referendum.
