Corruption is not Nigeria's biggest problem. Corruption exists because we refuse to address Nigeria's core problem: Inequality.

Inequality between men and women; between govt and governed; between major and minor ethnicities; between rich and poor; between gay and straight.

Almost every problem in Nigeria comes down to one kind of inequality or the other: the oppression of women #COZA, the oppression of the poor #OtodoGbame, the oppression of citizens #SenatorElishaAbbo #EndSARS, and all the several other hashtags our country generates daily.

And so, what we call Nigerian democracy is, in reality, just a hierarchy of power and oppression. Our rights and dignity are determined not by our inherent identity as human beings, but by our cumulative identities and status within this system of oppression we call democracy.

This is why every issue starts with an ego tussle and ends with a struggle for power: Do you know who I am?

And, because of the way we have all been educated, we are all complicit in this system. We all want to be above rather than seek equality for all.

And while many of us recognise our own oppressors, we refuse to recognise when we oppress others. In one breath we condemn a woman being slapped by a senator and in the next we justify the army shooting at protesters.

Equality is hard for many of us to understand because we have been brought up with the idea that dignity has to be earned. We dignify the PhD and disrespect the SSCE. We dignify the rich and disrespect the poor. We dignify Buhari and disrespect Musa. This is wrong.

Nigeria is not going anywhere until we address our love for inequality and tackle hierarchies of power and oppression.

And the most effective way to do this is through a transformative constitution: one where the ordinary citizen has equal protection under law as the president.

It is not enough to simply fight individual cases of rape, SARS extortion, or misuse of power.

We must change THE WHOLE SYSTEM through a constitution that emphasises equality, human rights, and human dignity as its political philosophy and decides every issue using these ideas.

A constitution that emphasises equality will not allow legislators earn the highest salaries in a land where the majority are poor. A constitution that values equality will not give immunity to public officials. It will not give governors indiscriminate ownership of all land.

A constitution that is based on equality will not put the police and criminal justice systems under unilateral control of the presidency; it will not permit government officials special privileges and discretions in the use of public resources.

A constitution that is focused on equality will not allow women to be subjugated in public and private life; it will not allow religious majorities to repress religious minorities; it will give ordinary citizens access to their elected reps; it will not discriminate by sexuality.

And every hashtag we trend, every violation we condemn, and every issue we crowdsource has to end in this conversation: when are we going to change the Nigerian political system and the way it enables systems of oppression across board?

When will we intersect?

Finally, here's a reminder of how inequality is embedded into our laws: https://twitter.com/ayosogunro/status/962265995535667200