It was the iconic Charles Darwin, who made the case that: “it is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.” Nigerians may wake up one day soon to the reality that “our own dear native land” has been reformed in very profound ways without the usual debates associated with such change. This assertion is underscored by the fact that President Bola Tinubu seems to be responding to the desire for change in the manner that our country has operated since the military coup in 1966 ended our six-year-old democracy that began in 1960 when the British granted our country independence.
After being governed largely by the military since the unfortunate 1966 interregnum, which degenerated into a civil war that raged from 1967-70, followed by governance through elected civilians who have been applying the statutes books (1978, 1989, and 1999 constitutions of the Federal Republic of Nigeria) developed by the military and foisted on politicians, President Tinubu, having obtained the privilege through the ballot box to govern the nation since May 29, 2023, appears committed to restructuring Nigeria. But he seems not to be doing so in the traditional way of a set-piece National Sovereign Conference such as the 2014 National Conference held during the watch of former President Goodluck Jonathan, which is the type Nigerians are familiar with. Nevertheless, slowly but surely, President Tinubu is engaging .