Former President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Wole Olanipekun, SAN, shared a remarkable anecdote on Wednesday, recounting an incident where ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo nearly confronted him physically.

According to Olanipekun, the ex-president became visibly irate when he suggested to him the need to amend Nigeria’s constitution during his tenure. 

He highlighted the deficiencies of the 1999 constitution, labeling it as “fake” and inadequate in addressing the multifaceted challenges facing the country.

Speaking during the 32nd and 33rd convocation lecture of the Olabisi Onabanjo University in Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State, Olanipekun emphasized the necessity for a constitution with a more humane disposition. 

He acknowledged the prevailing practice among lawyers and judges to apply the law as it stands, not as it ideally should be.

“We need a constitution with a humane face. I’m a lawyer, but we are deceiving ourselves, our constitution is fake and I have said this over and over, but then you will ask us lawyers that, ‘if we say the constitution is fake, why are we practicing it’?

“Lawyers and judges apply the law as it is, not the law as it ought to be, so we apply the law as we have it now and we have been pleading that we should amend the constitution, let us overhaul it, he said.

Recalling his encounter with President Obasanjo in 2002, Olanipekun revealed, “I, as president of the NBA, I led a delegation of the association to president Obasanjo in 2002, he almost boxed me… he said, ‘no, you can’t change it’. I said, ‘Mr. President, let us seize this opportunity to do it.'”

In his address, Olanipekun urged the current leadership, including President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to prioritize the restructuring of the country. He emphasized the urgency of the matter, warning that failure to act promptly might dissuade Nigerian youths abroad from returning home.