Traditional ruler of Daffo in Bokkos Local Council of Plateau State, Da Jonathan Sunday Akuns, has urged the 10th National Assembly to update the 1963 Republican Constitution and arrest the endless attempts to amend the 1999 lawbook.

He regretted that the defects in the military-imposed 1999 Constitution are both fundamental and pervasive, that amending it has proved interminable and capital-intensive, noting that the 1963 document was the only Nigerian Constitution with parliamentary imprints.

Akuns, who is also a co-convener of the Movement for the National Reformation (MNR), pointed out that the current structure of the country, which presupposes a central government supported by state and local equivalents, does not reflect the principles of true federalism obtainable anywhere in the world.

He said: “The current structure that was created by military fiat based on administrative boundary delineation has encouraged struggle for power by the ethnicities.

“Unfortunately, it became embedded in the rotation of power between North and South. The rotation of power between North and South itself has not helped issues.”

The public policy expert discovered that the political structures in the country had their boundaries delineated by some authorities, stressing that all of the structures, beyond the four regional structures that existed in the First Republic, were created by the military.

While expressing reservations about the prospects of state creation, the monarch said ongoing efforts to review the 1999 Constitution were losing focus.

He stated: “Take the case of Benue State. The majority of the Tiv ethnic groups are in Benue State. Some are in Nasarawa State. Some are in Taraba State. A small number are also in Plateau State. So, you have scattered one ethnic group into four states. Those in Benue are in the majority. They can carry on. Those in Nasarawa are small. They are a minority. So, they will struggle for their rights and will be suppressed.”

Akuns contended that in the struggle for ethnic ascendancy, minorities that want to have a say are most often held down, remarking: “So, the only way to vent out their displeasure or whatever, is through some criminal tendencies. It’s the same with nearly all the ethnic groups around the nation.”