CHUKWU DAVID reports 
CHUKWU DAVID reports on the recent visit by the National Council of Traditional Rulers of Nigeria to the Senate to demand that constitutional role, which was rejected in the last constitution amendment exercise, be revisited and approved by the legislators
Traditional rulers in Nigeria have continued to demand for an amendment to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, to make provisions for them to have some statutory functions in the nation’s politics and governance.
Accordingly, they submitted a memorandum in this regard to both chambers of the National Assembly for consideration and approval in the last constitution review process, which bills were voted on by members of the Senate and the House of Representatives on March 1.
Operating under the aegis of National Council of Traditional Rulers of Nigeria, the royal fathers, in October 2021, made presentations to both chambers of the National Assembly on the need to grant traditional rulers advisory role in governance by entrenching such in the constitution. Unfortunately, they were disappointed, when the House of Representatives voted in favour of their request, only for the apex legislative chamber to jettison their demand to be given constitutional responsibilities in the country’s law books.
Although the rejection was not overwhelming in the Senate, the request failed to receive approval from twothirds members of the chamber as required by the 1999 Constitution (as amended). Out of 93 senators present in the chamber at the time of voting, 63 voted for while 30 voted against the request. Just like the rejection of gender related bills by the two chambers provoked protests among the women folk for weeks, with some of them barricading the main gate of the National Assembly for more than one month, the traditional rulers verbally protested what was widely regarded as ironic decision by the Senate.
It was ironic in the sense that Nigerians, including members of the National Assembly have always implored the traditional rulers to help curb worsening insecurity in Nigeria by using their offices to control what happens in their domains but the lawmakers did not consider it necessary to give them the legal backing for effective operations.
It is expected that for the traditional rulers to be effective and result oriented in this critical area of ensuring security in the society, they should be backed by law to be able to carry out such assignment effectively, knowing full well that legal empowerment will give them a morale boost to function well.
It is however, pertinent to note that, even though the royal fathers expressed serious disappointment with the action of the Upper Chamber, they as rulers and leaders of thoughts, did not obstruct public or government activities in any wise through outdoor protest.
Instead of staging a street protest against the Senate for throwing out their request like other groups would do, what the traditional rulers did was to arrange for a dialogue with the Senate by paying a courtesy visit on the leadership of the Red Chamber and asked that the iss be revisited.
Demanding for re-consideration of their request, the traditional rulers led by the Etsu Nupe, Alhaji Yahaya Abubakar, in his capacity as Chairman, Coordinating Committee of National Council of Traditional Rulers in Nigeria, paid a courtesy visit on the President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan. In his presentation, the monarch told Lawan and the Senate leadership that they were taken aback by the rejection of their request by the the Red Chamber when voting on critical issues raised for constitution review were done.
His words: “Our request for advisory constitutional role in governance listed as item 67 out of the total 68 items considered, was voted for in the House of Representatives but rejected in the Senate. Based on information gotten from the various media platforms, out of the 93 senators present as at the time of voting in the Senate, 63 voted for and 30 against which as widely reported didn’t make up to the required 2/3 (73) votes.
“We are not happy with the situation of making it in one chamber and failing in the other. As a way forward, we decided to visit the Senate leadership for re-consideration of the request in the general interest of Nigeria and Nigerians as far as intelligence gathering on security at local level is concerned.” In his response, Lawan appealed to Nigerians with pending issues for constitution review not to lose hope. He commended the traditional rulers for their mature, peaceful approach and belief in democratic institutions, particularly the parliament. He added that the doors of the National Assembly were still open for further engagement on issues that were not passed during the last constitution alteration exercise.
He said: “This occasion specifically is for our royal fathers to come back and appeal to the National Assembly to reconsider the issue of the reinstatement of the previous status of the traditional institution in the Nigerian constitution. “Individually, most of us in the National Assembly believe that our traditional institution must have some formal functional role to play in the governance system of Nigeria and the belief is that when the traditional institution had some roles officially recognised, they performed their functions very well.
“They helped, particularly, in the security apparatus and architecture. And some of us believe that the removal of the traditional institution from any formal role can also be a factor to what we are experiencing today in our country.
“It is not enough that when something happens, something that we do not desire, then we run to our traditional institution. Most of us believe that there must be well-defined non-executive advisory roles for our traditional institution. I think that’s not asking for too much. That is fair.”
Recalling the recent constitution review exercise in the Senate, Lawan said: “The D-Day came. And the voting took place and the rest is history as they would say. We all feel sad but then that is democracy. But what you have done today is to take democracy to Nigerians because what you have done is to show your belief in the parliament, the National Assembly, and you have given an example to the rest of Nigerians that they should never lose hope because a request failed. So many things failed.
Of course, many more passed because we have casualties in our bills. “And I am taking the opportunity of this event to appeal to other Nigerians, either individuals or Institutions, organisations and so on, if there was anything that you wanted done or passed during the constitution amendment exercise, the latest one and it failed, hope should not be lost.
“We are still around and this parliament is the people’s parliament. It is only parliament that can kick-start the process and therefore, people can still come back and remind us about their issues and maybe we change our strategies, the lobbyists and maybe we look at why it failed and how it can pass. “So I believe that you have made a very strong statement. That you believe in the democratic institutions of this country, particularly the parliament and I want to assure you here that the process of constitution review is a continuous process.
“We finished a phase and we can have another phase. The bottom line is that you have taken the right decision by coming back to say you still want your issue of reinstating the roles of the traditional institution in the governance system of our country taking in the next round of constitution amendment by the National Assembly.
“I want to assure you that this message, this reminder will be taken to the Senate and we will find out why we became 10 votes short because we needed 73 out of 109 and we got 63. That means we were short by 10 votes. So, we will try to find out what went wrong.
There is so much to gain from traditional Institution. At the risk of sounding supportive of the traditional institution, I think no Nigerian in any leadership position at any level will deny the fact that the traditional institution, even today, plays some significant roles in stabilising our environment. “Let me assure all Nigerians through this event that our doors are open. What our royal fathers have done is to show example of how we do things and get things done here.
It is not by blocking the gates of the National Assembly that makes the National Assembly to work. Engage the members of the National Assembly; you can do so through your constituents, distinguished senators or members of the House of Representatives. You can use various avenues to reach out to the National Assembly with your issues and we are here on behalf of all Nigerians.”
The assurances and words of encouragement to the traditional rulers by the President of the Senate, notwithstanding, it is not certain if the Senate is truly going to revisit the issue, however, if it does, only time will tell, how soon it would be.
