ABSTRACT
This chapter identifies a key landmark in the process of transforming from a nation-state to a plurinational state framework, especially in the postcolonial Southern context with Nigeria as the example. Constitution making is fundamentally associated with political change and often with revolution in history. Constitution making, re-making/amendment and other historic moments have been associated with conflict whether political or military, often as an after-effect or as means of solving challenges of the time. The constitution-making process is ‘equally as important as the content of the final document for the legitimacy of the new constitution’. The constitution-making process is vital in envisaging a progression aimed at making a legitimate plurinational constitution. In the peacebuilding context within conflicted societies, Christine Bell describes ‘the process of constitution making as a negotiated agreement’, a form of peace agreement. The constituent power for making a plurinational constitution requires the participation of all identities/nations because they are to emerge as constituent geo-political units of plurinational order.
