There is an African legend which promotes the belief that souls of the departed return to earth fifty years after, and having been purged and purified of their iniquities are now in a vantage position to right the wrongs of the past. Imagine therefore, a scenario with the country's foremost nationalists like Herbert Macaulay, Nnamidi Azikiwe, Tafawa Balewa, Ahmadu Bello and Obafemi Awolowo(all of blessed memory) coming back to life, in their full elements to see the nation whose political independence their toil, sweat and sacrifice won for us all some five decades ago. Just how would they feel about Nigeria's current socio-political and economic situation?

The first shock, I believe would be the strange discovery that 50 years after independence Nigerians are still grappling with the fundamentals of democracy and unable to get free, fair and credible elections right. Similarly, they would be appalled by the huge infrastructural deficit of the gross lack of the basic things that make life worth its while,including power supply, good access roads and the ever worsening quality of educational services and the deplorable healthcare delivery.

They would be outraged by a situation that has the country's president and the chairman of the leading political party going to foreign lands in search of medical care in spite of the nation's enormous economic resources. And of course, they would be at their wits end to fathom the cloudy climate elicited by a political class, expending so much precious time, money and valuable energy on retaining the presidency for a man who is obviously incapacitated to hold on to the levers of office.

"Whatever happened to the 1999 constitution?" The great Zik fires the first salvo.

Silence prevails. Pin drop silence. The S P, Davidson Markus shifts his gaze to the SH R, Dimboy Banky who in turn nudges Chief O, the national Chairman of their famed people's party, to speak up, on their behalf. Not finding his voice in good time, Dr Buka Sar, the Chairman of the G F comes to the rescue.

"Our eminent statesmen and forebear of the torch of national unity, I greet you all. We were all constrained by the circumstances of political expediency to adopt the doctrine of necessity as a way out of the political logjam. We had to empower Dr Goody Goody Jones to carry on the affairs of the country as the A P in the absence of Presido Yeah' who is still recuperating from acute pericarditis" he responds, not too sure if he has provided the needed answer satisfactorily.

"We have searched the constitution you operate and nowhere is this your 'doctrine of necessity' reflected, or your so called GF now dictating to the AP on how to move our dear nation forward. Do you perhaps, have two constitutions-one for the political elite and the other for the good people of Nigeria?" Chief Awolowo, the acclaimed sage who was a legal luminary in his heydays demands.

Another spell of malodorous silence prevails. So tangible it feels that no one is ready this time around to stick out his neck to carry the constitutional cross.

"You have all, in essence admitted the fact that your recent actions, no matter how praise- worthy they may seem, were taken outside the ambits of the law of the land. Let me ask therefore, if you all swore to abide by the letters and the spirit of this same constitution you have now so gravely violated?" Sir Ahmadu Bello requests.

"Ye-es... Ye-ess... We, we, we did. We did it out of political exigencies." They stutter.

"In other, words you are indirectly saying the law is made for man and not man for the law?"

"Ye-es" Banky and Markus respond simultaneously.

" That is interesting. We are also aware, that discussing the president's health, or is it ill health has become a taboo in the hallowed chambers of the National Assembly. How democratic is it, when representatives of the people can no longer air their feelings or that of the people?" Tafawa Balewa enquires.

Banky responds glibly: "We did not want the labour of you, our worthy heroes to be in vain. The polity was getting unnecessarily heated up. Every criticism was like stoking the embers of disunity"

"We are impressed when your policies and programmes are driven by the passion for unity and in the interest of the people, as you claim. But just how united is the country now when your decisions are polarized between the north and the south, the Muslims and Christians and between the poor and the rich?" Macaulay, who has all along kept quiet observes.

"Sir, please can you throw more light on that?" Chief O asks.

"You for instance, says your party's zoning formula of eight years for the north and eight years for the south must be obeyed to the letters. Did you consider that illness could cut some months out of your proposed eight years for one region? Have you ever imagined the possibility of another party, with a different zoning formula winning the presidential election with a southern candidate come 2011?"

"Ah! Never, sir!" Chief O thunders, finding it unimaginable for the continent's largest political party to lose the nation's most coveted seat. He is sweating suddenly in spite of the cool, breezy venue.