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Toyin Adebayo
A member of Afenifere and the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Olusegun R. Babalola, has declared that the “Achieving Chapter II of the Nigerian Constitution” agenda championed by SDP presidential candidate, Prince Adewole Adebayo, could provide the foundation for Nigeria’s economic revival, political stability and cultural rebirth.
Babalola stated this in a detailed policy essay titled “Section 21; Key Stone to Achieving Chapter II of the Nigerian Constitution,” where he argued that Nigeria had failed to maximise its cultural and constitutional heritage for national development.
Quoting Prince Adebayo’s acceptance speech at the SDP National Convention in Bauchi on May 9, 2026, Babalola said the party’s focus on achieving Chapter II of the Constitution had brought fresh attention to people-oriented governance and national self-reliance.
According to him, Section 21 of the 1999 Constitution, which mandates the promotion and preservation of Nigerian cultures, has been wrongly interpreted over the years as mere celebration of dances, festivals and artifacts instead of being used as a framework for governance and economic growth.
He argued that many successful nations, including China, India, Singapore, Japan and South Korea, built strong economies by combining their ancient cultural systems with modern state institutions.
“The rise of these nations is the rise of what scholars now term civilizational states, where regimes present the nation not merely as a political community but as the inheritor and protector of an ancient civilization,” he stated.
Babalola lamented that Nigeria’s traditional institutions and indigenous governance structures had been sidelined from modern governance, leaving the country with weak institutions and poor accountability.
According to him, Nigeria’s rich traditional systems could become a major economic and political advantage if properly integrated into governance.
“The tragic result is a state constitutionally incapable of generating the Janus Effects,” he said, referring to the fusion of ancient constitutional values with modern economic systems.
He also criticised what he described as the “museumisation” of Nigerian culture, saying governments had reduced culture to festivals and exhibitions instead of using it as a living constitutional framework for development.
The Afenifere chieftain traced the roots of the problem to …-colonial era and the legacy of FESTAC 77, arguing that despite its Pan-African vision, Nigeria failed to transform cultural identity into a functional governance structure.
He noted that Prince Adebayo’s emphasis on Chapter II of the Constitution offers an opportunity to reposition Nigeria through social democratic policies rooted in accountability, self-reliance and people-centred development.
“The good news is that Prince Adewole Adebayo has made ‘Achieving Chapter II’ the cornerstone of his manifesto. This would give Nigeria a fresh start towards joining the ‘Rise of the Rest,’” he said.
Babalola urged Nigeria to move beyond symbolic cultural celebrations and adopt policies that integrate indigenous governance principles, local accountability and economic self-reliance into modern governance structures.
According to him, until Nigeria transforms Section 21 from what he described as a “cultural platitude into a geopolitical weapon,” the country would remain rich in heritage but poor in power.
“The Rise of the Rest is ultimately the rise of those who understood their culture not as a memory to be displayed, but as a living constitution to be lived,” he added.
