My appetence has been spiked ever since I read about the calls [made by several prominent individuals and groups] for us to go back to the 1963 Constitution. To satisfy this appetence, I sought to know more [about this very constitution] hence the need to do some research, and some of my findings, I shall be sharing in this article.
But before I delve into the subject matter, it will not be out of context to briefly look at what a constitution really is. According to Aristotle, a constitution maybe defined as “an organization of offices in a state, by which the method of their distribution is fixed, the sovereign authority is determined, and the nature of the end to be pursued by the association and all its members is prescribed”. It then surmises that a constitution provides foundation and/or structure upon which the administration of a state ought to be set.
Now to the subject at hand; the running of the Nigerian state has been affected by many incidents, and among these, is the interference of the military at different points in time. This interference has caused a disruption in the democratic process, and as we have observed, it has also brought about some other alterations that has further driven us away from the founding constitution of the Nigerian republic. It is important to state here that the 1963 Constitution is the first constitution that really puts the Nigerian state- or nation states as one may find fitting- and its sovereignty into consideration as it, to an extent, reflects what the (Nigerian) republic was all about. Moreover, the constitution was put together by the Nigerian parliament thus ascertaining Nigeria broke away from the overarching influence of the British monarchical system.

What does it entail?
Time and space will not permit me to list out the entire provisions of the 1963 Constitution but I will like to look at a few highpoints.

Parliamentary system of government
The 1963 Constitution was prepared with a parliament system of government in view. Under this setting, the President was elected through voting by a joint session of the Senate and House of Representatives. In the Nigerian setting as at that time, the Senate consisted of 12 senators from each of the four regions along with those selected to represent the Federal territory (4) and the President (4)- making it a total of 56 senators- while the House of Representatives had 312 members.

Regional independence
Back then in 1963 [down to 1966], Nigeria was segregated into regions- Northern region, Eastern region, Western region and Mid-Western region. These regions enjoyed a commensurate degree of independence. Each of them had its own constitution, judiciary system and electoral commission as well as some other paraphernalia that set them apart.

Allocation by derivation
Under the provisions of the 1963 Constitution, revenue allocation was by derivation wherewith a region was entitled to a certain percentage of the funds generated from the exploration carried out within its border. On the flipside, each region was to contribute a quota [to the central government] in order to take care of the cost of administration of the Nigerian republic.

You can check out the full details of the 1963 Constitution here

The 1963 Constitution may have its flaws, and could even be viewed as being redundant when one considers the context of governance within the nation today. However, for the fact that every other constitution - 1979, 1993 and 1999 - that has been adopted in the nation only came about after the incursion of the military into the administrative setup, it becomes logical that we retrace our step back to the constitution that was in place in the year we became a republic- the pre-militarized era of leadership. The 1963 Constitution ought to be the baseline for any constitutional review that is to be accomplished. From another perspective; some persons are of the opinion that adopting the constitution could go a long way in helping us fight corruption, curb the emergence of authoritarian leadership [in democratic setting] and yet positively impact the nation’s economic standing.