SELF-DETERMINATION ALLIANCE, NINAS, MOVES TO STOP 2023 ELECTIONS, SEEKS REFERENDUM
By Nnamdi Okosieme
Amid the jostling for positions by politicians and strategizing by political parties ahead of the 2023 elections, the Nigerian Indigenous Nationalities Alliance for Self-Determination (NINAS), the umbrella body of nationalities and groups in Nigeria seeking self-determination, is moving to prevent the elections from taking place.
NINAS made its intention known on Tuesday in Lagos at a press conference in Lagos. The group in a statement signed by its chairman, Prof Banjo Akintoye and read by Dr. Don Pedro Obaseki, the convener of the Midwest Movement, the self-determination alliance said it would use all lawful means to ensure that the 2023 general election does not hold unless the Buhari administration agrees to hold a referendum for the aggrieved Indigenous Nationalities to decide whether they want to be part of Nigeria.
Explaining its decision to stop the 2023 elections from holding, NINAS said it was no longer a matter for debate that elections are the mechanism by which the life of the 1999 Constitution, which it had long declared fraudulent, is renewed once every four years. It noted that it was clear therefore that those “tormented by that Constitution” but who nevertheless accept to go to another round of national elections under it, are the ones renewing and reinforcing their own damnation, bondage and enslavement.
“It is now therefore a matter of choice whether we want to renew the source of our miseries once again in 2023 or we want to free ourselves by rejecting now (inside 2021), the invitation to join in the preparation for another round of national elections in 2023. These Cycles of renewal must be broken if we must be free”, the group said in the statement.
It averred that the key to breaking the cycle of renewal of the life of the 1999 Constitution lay in knowing that only political parties contest elections and all political parties in Nigeria subscribe to the evil 1999 Constitution (sic) and so, whichever party wins any election would swear to uphold and defend the constitution.
“It follows that political parties are solely responsible for leading the rest of us to the self-damnation of renewing the life of that 1999 Constitution every four years. The political parties have in this regard become the Judas Goat that routinely leads us all to slaughter. The key to taking down the 1999 Constitution is in immediately halting the political parties from dragging us to another round of national elections in 2023. This is not a call to boycott the 2023 elections but to halt the preparations for 2023 inside 2021. Political parties must now be persuaded to close shop forthwith.
Aside its appeal to political parties to withdraw from participating in the 2023 elections, NINAS admonished the Buhari administration to realize that it was the spectre of 2023 elections that distorts and inhibits most of what would have been appropriate and commonsense solutions to the multitudes of seemingly intractable problems facing Nigeria.
“So let it be sounded loud and clear that the immediate suspension of preparations towards General Elections in 2023 is the most urgently required first aid to the Nigeria that is currently bleeding profusely from all sides. And for every single day this emergency first aid is delayed, the risk of catastrophic implosion of Nigeria is exponentially increased”, NINAS said in the statement.
It noted that a compelling reason for stopping the 2023 elections is the fact it would sound the death knell of the 1999 Constitution and pave the way for the holding of regional referendums for self-determination, which it described as the “safe route to freedom for all constituent blocs that are fed up with the Toxic Nigerian Union”.
The group said it was ramping up its call for political parties to withdraw from the 2023 elections by taking the campaign to the people in all NINAS alliance territory wherever they are on the face of the earth.
It directed its regional blocs to advance the processing and ratification of their regional constitutions and charters in readiness for UN-Backed Regional Self-Determination STAY or LEAVE Referendums from the Distressed Federation of Nigeria.
It requested its regional blocs to help intensify the signing of the ongoing NINAS Referendum Petition by which the NINAS December 16, 2020 CFM Proclamation is addressed to the United Nations Security Council and also support and where possible, partake in the March at the 76th UN General Assembly, September 2021.
It urged all the people of the South and Middle Belt of Nigeria living in the United States of America and Canada to troop out in solidarity within their oppressed people at home in Nigeria to participate in the One Million March it has organised to hold in front of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) commencing from September 14th to 24th, 2021 in New York, United States. It stated that the March was put together to let the world know what its people are going through in the Nigeria’s quasi and expired Federation.
SEE FULL TEXT OF THE STATEMENT
NIGERIAN UNION DISPUTE EMANATING FROM GRAVE CONSTITUTIONAL GRIEVANCES : A MILESTONE REPORT ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE DECEMBER 16, 2020 CONSTITUTIONAL FORCE MAJEURE AND DIRECTION FOR THE FUTURE (Being the
Text of the Statement at a World Press Conference, August 17, 2021 by the Nigerian Indigenous Nationalities Alliance for Self-Determination NINAS at the Expiration of the 120-Day Period of Consultations commenced April 17, 2021).
The Theme of this Milestone Report is:
TAKING BACK OUR SOVEREIGNTY: A DECLARATION OF VICTORY OVER THE FRAUD OF 1999.
PROTOCOLS.
Gentlemen of the Press.
(1) As we come to the close of the 120-Day Period of Consultations which commenced on the 17th Day of April, 2021 in the Measured Implementation of the Constitutional Force Majeure, we invited you here today to update our People and the Global Community on the tremendous progress that has been made in giving effect to the Will of the Peoples of Nigeria which had for so long been suppressed by the Forces of Oppression and Retrogression.
(2) Recall that following the December 16, 2020 Constitutional Force Majeure Proclamation, a Sovereignty Dispute was Declared by the Nigerian Indigenous Nationalities Alliance for Self-Determination (NINAS) on Grounds of Grave Constitutional Grievances and a Five-Point Demand was made on the Federal Government of Nigeria, with a 90-Day Period of Notice for the Commencement of Irreversible Steps towards the Remediation of the said Grievances. (Full Text of the Proclamation was Published as an Advertorial in the January 20, 2021 Edition of the Guardian Newspaper at pages 38,39,40 & 41).
(3) For ease of Reference, let us recall that the Five Points of Demand in the December 16, 2020 Proclamation are:
(i). A Formal Announcement by the Federal Government of Nigeria acknowledging the Constitutional Grievances and Sovereignty Dispute now Declared by the Peoples of South and Middle-Belt of Nigeria.
(ii).A Formal Commitment by Federal Government of Nigeria to the wholesale Decommissioning and Jettisoning of the 1999 Constitution as the Basis of the Federation of Nigeria as was done by the Government of Apartheid-Era South Africa in 1990, to commence the process by which the Apartheid Constitution of the then South Africa was eased out.
(iii).A Formal Announcement by the Federal Government of Nigeria suspending further General Elections under the Disputed 1999 Constitution since winners of such Elections will Swear to, and Govern by that Constitution.
(iv).A Formal Invitation to the Peoples of the South and Middle-Belt of Nigeria which Shall work out and emplace a Transitional Authority, and which shall specify the Modalities for the Transitioning Process including the Composition and Mandate of the Transitional Authority as well as the Time-frame for the Transitioning and other Ancillary Matters.
(v). A Formal Initiation of a Time-Bound Transitioning Process to midwife the emergence of Fresh Constitutional Protocols by a Two-Stage Process in which the Constituent Regional Blocs will at the first stage, Distill and Ratify their various Constitutions by Referendums and Plebiscites and in the second stage, Negotiate the Terms of Federating afresh as may be dictated by the outcomes of Referendum and Plebiscites.
(4) Recall also that at the Expiration of the 90-Day Period, NINAS Addressed a World Press Conference in Ibadan March 17, 2021 at which it Announced a 30-Day Period of Consultations with Governors and other Elected Officials of the NINAS Alliance Territory, which expired April 16, 2021.
(5) Recall that on the 17th day of April 2021, NINAS Announced the commencement of another Period of 120-Days of Consultations with the Peoples of Nigeria as well as the Critical Stakeholder-segment of the International Community which period came to a close August 16, 2021.
(6) We are glad to report to you, our People and the International Community today, August 17, 2021, the Spectacular Success of the Joint Multi-Regional Constitutional Force Majeure in its Main Objective of Defeating and Peacefully Easing Out the Imposed, Toxic and Fraudulent 1999 Constitution upon which the Distressed Federation of Nigeria is presently Constructed. This Victory over the Fraud of 1999 is the first major step towards the Recovery and Reinstatement of the Sovereignty of the Constituent Components of the Defunct Federation of Nigeria trapped in the Unitary Union of Death Nigeria has become for all under that Defeated 1999 Unitary Constitution.
(7) In order to understand the Victory we Have Just Declared over the Toxic 1999 Constitution, and for the benefit of those who may not have followed developments in the Nigerian Polity since the December 16, 2020 Activation of the Constitutional Force Majeure,
It is significant to note that :
(i) In the 90-Day Period of Notice to Federal Government Nigeria, the attempt to resort to the back-door route of Constitution-Amendments as response to the Sovereignty Dispute Raised by NINAS, was rejected Countrywide as NINAS and Other Major Stakeholders including some Governors, insisted that the 1999 Constitution was a Total Fraud that could not be cured by Amendments and more importantly, that the Legislative Mandate of the National Assembly is Law-Making and does not extend to Constitution-Making. That botched Attempt is by itself an acknowledgement of the Incurable Foundational Flaw of the 1999 Constitution.
(ii) In the 30-Day Period of Consultations for Governors and other Elected Officials in the Alliance Territory, the Governors of the Southern States of Nigeria, in an unprecedented move, met in Asaba to declare that Open Grazing would be banned in all the States of Southern Nigeria. This Decision effectively brought the Governors to the side of the Propositions of NINAS Constitutional Force Majeure as that decision in the Asaba Declaration cannot be effectively carried out without the Decommissioning of the 1999 Constitution and its Federal Exclusive Legislative List which currently prohibit the States from issuing Firearms to enforce such a ban.
(iii) In the 120-Day Period of Consultations with the Peoples of Nigeria and the International Community, the Indigenous Nationalities of Nigeria from all parts of the South and Middle-Belt, in embrace of the NINAS Grand Propositions, marched out to the Streets in their Homelands and in Capital Cities of the World including Washington DC, New York and London, to loudly Assert their Right to Self-Determination and their Rejection of the UNITARY Union of Death Nigeria has become for their People under the Fraudulent 1999 Constitution. In particular, the Yoruba took their Self-Determination Campaign to the UN, leading the rest of the NINAS Alliance, to the point that the CNN reported this growing push for exit from the Failed Lugardian Experiment of 1914 by the Yoruba, joining the long-standing exit campaign from the Eastern flank, framed by its Proponents as “Biafra Agitation”.
(iv) On the International Circuit, between April 28, 2021 and April 30, 2021, key Global Powers including the United States, the European Union and the United Kingdom, acted in concert to point Nigeria to the Key Prescriptions of the December 16, 2020 Constitutional Force Majeure and asking the Rulers or Nigeria to put guns aside and initiate a Dialogue of the Peoples of Nigeria to Distill a Fresh Legal Instrument (Constitution).
We recall that the United Nations, through its Special Rapporteur on Nigeria, had in September of 2019, declared the current Constitutional Arrangements of Nigeria as a PRESSURE- COOKER FOR INJUSTICE and that Nigeria under the current 1999 Constitution, is now a danger to Global Peace Security as Nigeria could snap and cause an unprecedented global refugee crisis in which Nigeria’s 200million Citizens would be seeking escape from death, at a time the Global Terror Networks including ISIS and Al-Quaeda are already converging in Nigeria.
(v) Inside this 120-Day Period, a Global Caveat by NINAS on Reckless Foreign Loans by the current Federal Government of Nigerian, saw China cancelling a loan of $1 Billion on Nigeria for Construction of a Gas Pipeline, while the US cancelled an order for Attack Helicopters on Nigeria and the US Congress followed up with the ban of Sale of Weapons to Nigeria following request for such a ban by NINAS amidst US concerns about gross human rights abuse by the regime in Nigeria.
(vi) It is significant to note that in what seems like a sudden realization and a dawning reality on the Caliphate’ North, the Coalition of Northern Groups, CNG, which had since the 2017 Igbo-Quit-Notice-from-the-North, gained notoriety for its belligerence, suddenly realigned its position to the NINAS Propositions and Prescriptions regarding the Nigerian Question as encapsulated by the NINAS Proclamation of December 16, 2020, accepting:
(a) That the Nigerian Union has Collapsed;
(b) That we do not have a Constitution at the moment since the imposed 1999 Constitution has been repudiated and is being rejected Countrywide.
(c) That the National Assembly cannot by Amendments, cure the Fraud called the 1999 Constitution and so must stop it’s present pretense that all is well with the Nigerian Union ; that the National Assembly must halt the current Constitution Amendment Exercise and genuinely join the search for solutions to the dying Nigerian Union.
(d) That a Grand Meeting of the Constituent Component Nationalities has become inevitable and that the Constituent Components of Nigeria must at such a Meeting, first agree to form a Union (ie Federate), before undertaking the task of setting the Terms of the Union. These sober and profound postulations were made in a recent BBC Interview by the Spokesman of the CNG, Abdul-Azeez Suleiman. (here is the link to video of that interview
https://youtu.be/hnq6-sudrZU )
Barring the Obduracy of the Ultra-Conservative lot, it could be said that the postulations of CNG clearly indicate that a Countrywide Consensus regarding the VIABLE OPTIONS for the Dismantling and Grand Reconfiguration of current unworkable Unitary Union of Nigeria, has emerged.
Happily, the Comprehensive Framework for Undertaking the well-articulated Prescriptions of the CNG in the aforementioned BBC Interview are contained in the December 16, 2020 Constitutional Force Majeure Proclamation.
THE DEFEAT AND IMPENDING DEMISE OF THE 1999 CONSTITUTION SETS THE BASIS FOR THE LIBERATION OF ALL WHO WERE TRAPPED IN THE BONDAGE CALLED NIGERIA
(A) It is no longer a matter for Debate that the 1999 Constitution is a Fraud and a Forgery that is directly responsible for practically all the Miseries tormenting Nigerians including the Killings, Mass Poverty, Gross Insecurity and General Hopelessness, now leading to the Demise of the Nigerian Union itself. It does not matter therefore which Political Party or which individual wins Power, that Constitution Guarantees the Evils we Lament Day in, Day out.
(B) It is no longer a matter for Debate that the Peoples of Nigeria have Repudiated and Rejected the 1999 Constitution, and that the Main People clinging tenaciously to that Constitution are the Caliphate elements and their surrogates who imposed it and for whom the Rogue Document is a Title Deed by which they hold almost exclusively, the vast Piece of Estate called “Nigeria” while the only other People clinging to that 1999 instrument of Death are the Political Merchants whose humongous benefits flow from that Evil Constitution even as Mass Poverty grind the rest of the Populace they pretend to lead.
(C) It is no longer a matter for Debate that Elections are the mechanism by which the life of the 1999 Constitution is renewed once every four years. It follows therefore that those who are tormented by that Constitution but who nevertheless accept to go to another round of National Elections under that Constitution are the ones renewing and reinforcing their own Damnation, Bondage and Enslavement. It is now therefore a matter of choice whether we want to Renew the Source of our Miseries once again in 2023 or we want to Free Ourselves by Rejecting NOW (inside 2021), the Invitation to join in the Preparation for another round of National Elections in 2023. These Cycles of Renewal Must be Broken if we Must Be Free.
(D) The Key to Breaking the Cycle of Renewal of the Life of the 1999 Constitution lies in Knowing that ONLY Political Parties Contest Elections and ALL Political Parties in Nigeria subscribe to the Evil 1999 Constitution and so, whichever Party wins any Election, that winner will Swear to Uphold and Defend the 1999 Constitution. It follows that Political Parties are SOLELY Responsible for leading the rest of us to the Self-Damnation of Renewing the Life of that 1999 Constitution every four Years. The Political Parties have in this regard become the Judas Goat that routinely leads us all to Slaughter. The Key to Taking Down the 1999 Constitution is in IMMEDIATELY Halting the Political Parties from Dragging us to another Round of National Elections in 2023. This is not a call to boycott the 2023 Elections but to halt the preparations for 2023 inside 2021. Political Parties must now be persuaded to Close Shop forthwith.
(E) With the Defeat of the 1999 Constitution by the Joint Multi-Regional Action of the NINAS Alliance, the Sharia Caliphate that imposed and holds tightly to that Constitution as it’s Title Deed, to Own and To Control Nigeria, is now confronted by the Sudden Demise of their Title Deed, (ie the 1999 Constitution) and is now on a desperate MISSION TO RECONQUER the rest of Nigeria in order to Re-establish Ownership and Control by Conquest outside that Defeated Title Deed. However, to be able to drive through this all-important Conquest Mission, the Caliphate needs more time In the saddle of Nigeria’s Political Leadership, wielding the Authoritarian Powers conferred upon them by the All-Powerful 1999 Constitution. The only way the Caliphate can get that CRITICALLY Required Time-In-Power-Saddle is IF the Caliphate can drag us to the Voyage of another Round of National Elections in 2023.
On the other hand, If we halt the Voyage to 2023 inside 2021, the 1999 Constitution will lose its life inside 2021, and we will IMMEDIATELY get into a Transitioning and therefore on the way to Regional REFERENDUMS for Self-Determination. This is the safe route to FREEDOM for all Constituent Blocs that are fed up with the Toxic Nigerian Union.
(F) Amidst the Massive Enlightenment Campaign going on amongst Peoples of the Alliance Territory Globally concerning the correlation between the 1999 Constitution, our Miseries, Elections and Political Parties, more of our People now know that going to General Elections in 2023 under the 1999 Constitution will spell Unmitigated Disaster, while halting the Preparations by Political Parties for 2023 is guarantee for their escape to freedom.
Accordingly, the choice is entirely in our hands.
(G). On the side of Government, let it be known that it is the spectre of 2023 Elections that distorts and inhibits most of what would have been appropriate and commonsense solutions to the multitudes of seemingly intractable problems of Nigeria. So let it be sounded loud and clear that the immediate suspension of preparations towards General Elections in 2023 is the most urgently required First Aid to the Nigeria that is currently bleeding profusely from all sides. And for every single day this Emergency First Aid is delayed, the risk of catastrophic implosion of Nigeria is exponentially increased.
NINAS CALL TO ACTION:
(1) Knowledge is Power. The first task before us all, in the Period commencing today August 17, 2021 is to Help Spread this Information as well as other related information on the Constitutional Force Majeure amongst the Peoples of the NINAS alliance Territory wherever they are on the face of the earth.
(2) NINAS directs the Regional Blocs to Advance the Processing and Ratification of their Regional Constitutions and CHARTERS in readiness for UN-Backed Regional Self-Determination STAY or LEAVE Referendums from the Distressed Federation of Nigeria.
(3) NINAS Requests you to help intensify the Signing of the Ongoing NINAS Referendum Petition by which the NINAS December 16, 2020 CFM Proclamation is Addressed to the United Nations Security Council and also support and where possible, partake in the March at the 76th UN General Assembly, September 2021.
4) In this same Period commencing August 17, 2021, Let the Campaign to Persuade the Political Parties to Close-Shop forthwith for the reasons outlined hereinbefore, be intensified. This will bring us to Domino-2 and the Transitioning Threshold, precipitating the Referendums we seek.
(5) With the Defeat of the 1999 Constitution and in the Spirit of the Transitioning prescribed in the December 16, 2020 NINAS CFM Proclamation, All Governments in the Alliance Territories are invited to brace up, take charge, and assume responsibility for the Safety and Economic Welfare of their People, Making Appropriate Legislations and Regulations to step into roles previously denied them or prohibited by the Fraudulent and now Disputes 1999 Constitution, especially via the 68-Item Federal Exclusive Legislative List in that Constitution pending when formal Transitional Mechanisms are worked out.
6. We urge all the people of the South and Middle Belt of Nigeria living in the United States of America and Canada to troop out in Solidarity within their oppressed people in the Homeland to participate in the One Million March we have organised to hold in front of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) commencing from September 14th to 24th, 2021 in New York, United States. The March was put together to let the world know what we are going through in the Nigeria’s quasi and expired Federation. It is going to be an epoch-making event which we hope to be used to draw the attention of the world amd global leaders to all that we have highlighted above.
POWER BELONGS TO THE PEOPLE!
Thank you for your Attention.
PROF. BANJI AKINTOYE
Chairman, NINAS
August 17, 2021.
