Renowned constitutional lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Mike Ozekhome, has reignited the national conversation on Nigeria’s future by boldly stating that amending the current 1999 Constitution is a waste of time.

Speaking during an interview on Channels TV's Politics Today, Ozekhome described the constitution as a “curse” to Nigeria’s development rather than a solution. According to him, the country’s political, economic, and security woes cannot be fixed by patching up a deeply flawed document.

“You can’t amend a bad document. A document that is already afflicted with an ailment cannot be amended,” he said.

Using a simple analogy, Ozekhome likened Nigeria’s current structure to a house with a cracked foundation. "If your building is collapsing, you don’t just repaint the walls — you rebuild it properly," he argued.

The current constitution, imposed by the military in 1999, was never the product of a national consensus. Ozekhome said this top-down approach has left Nigerians with a governance structure that over-centralizes power in Abuja, leaving states and regions with little room to grow or solve their own problems.

He particularly criticized Nigeria’s expensive presidential system, modelled after the United States, calling it “unsustainable” for a developing country with multiple regions, languages, and ethnic groups.

As a solution, Ozekhome recommended a return to the parliamentary system Nigeria practiced before the 1966 military coup — a model where regions controlled their resources, ran their own police, and developed at their own pace.

“Only a brand-new, people-oriented constitution can rescue Nigeria,” he said.

This isn’t the first time calls have been made for a people-driven constitution, but Ozekhome’s legal authority and clarity of argument bring fresh urgency to the conversation. Many Nigerians agree: real change won’t come from minor edits to a broken system. It’s time for a total reset.