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THE CONSTITUTION TRAP : Living in a House We Didn't Build: Mass Reader Edition - Book 7 GNVIS
Great Nigeria Collection
Reading in Hausa

THE CONSTITUTION TRAP

Rayuwa a Gida da Ba Mu Gina ba

By Samuel Chimezie Okechukwu

The Mass Reader Edition of The Constitution Trap opens with a pledge: I will not accept a constitution written by soldiers as my permanent law. I will demand that my state controls its own police. I will resist every politician who tells me "this is how the Constitution works" without explaining who made it work that way. It then delivers five chapters in the direct voice of a citizen discovering that the house they live in was built by military architects who designed it to be difficult to demolish. Chapter 1 is The 1999 Mystery: Dele's journey from keke driver past a courthouse to constitutional law student, and the discovery that the "democratic" document governing his life was signed by Abdulsalami Abubakar. Chapter 2 is The Abuja Bottleneck: how Governor Tunde of Oyo State drives to Abuja to beg for railway approval, police authority, and petroleum revenue that should constitutionally belong to the communities that produce it. Chapter 3 is The Local Government Handcuffs: why every LGA chairman in Nigeria serves the governor rather than the ward. Chapter 4 is The Exclusive List: 98 items of governance that the Constitution reserves for Abuja, including electricity, ports, railways, and police. Chapter 5 breaks down which constitutional amendments are achievable, which require constitutional conferences, and what citizen movements have already achieved.

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THE CONSTITUTION TRAP : Living in a House We Didn't Build: Mass Reader Edition - Book 7 GNVIS
Great Nigeria Collection
Reading in Hausa

THE CONSTITUTION TRAP

Rayuwa a Gida da Ba Mu Gina ba

By Samuel Chimezie Okechukwu

The Mass Reader Edition of The Constitution Trap opens with a pledge: I will not accept a constitution written by soldiers as my permanent law. I will demand that my state controls its own police. I will resist every politician who tells me "this is how the Constitution works" without explaining who made it work that way. It then delivers five chapters in the direct voice of a citizen discovering that the house they live in was built by military architects who designed it to be difficult to demolish. Chapter 1 is The 1999 Mystery: Dele's journey from keke driver past a courthouse to constitutional law student, and the discovery that the "democratic" document governing his life was signed by Abdulsalami Abubakar. Chapter 2 is The Abuja Bottleneck: how Governor Tunde of Oyo State drives to Abuja to beg for railway approval, police authority, and petroleum revenue that should constitutionally belong to the communities that produce it. Chapter 3 is The Local Government Handcuffs: why every LGA chairman in Nigeria serves the governor rather than the ward. Chapter 4 is The Exclusive List: 98 items of governance that the Constitution reserves for Abuja, including electricity, ports, railways, and police. Chapter 5 breaks down which constitutional amendments are achievable, which require constitutional conferences, and what citizen movements have already achieved.

START READING →
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