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| HUMAN RIGHT AND ITS IMPACT MON THE RULE OF LAW IN EMERGING DEMOCRACIES: NIGERIA'S EXAMPLE |
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Before attempting an exposition of the topic, it is imperative to define the key concepts: “HUMAN RIGHTS”;” RULE OF LAW” AND “EMERGING DEMOCRACIES”.
Human Rights are those rights which the international community recognizes as belonging to all individuals by the very fact of his humanity1. Judicially, Human Right was defined by Kayode ES0 (JSC) in Beko Ransome Kuti V AG Nigeria2 as a right which stands above the ordinary laws of the Land and which in fact, is antecedent to the political society itself.
The rule of law in a nutshell means that everything in government must be done according to the law. The concept of the rule of law was made popular and given clarity by professor A.V. Dicey when he espoused the three major levels upon which a rule of law principle and practice should be based. These he reeled out to be: Equality before the law (of all subjects); Supremacy of the constitution (of all land); Fundamental human Rights (a guarantee of all subjects).
The concept of democracy would be better imagined than defined for according to Kaunda3, “democracy is a concept that defies a precise definition. Although a precise definition of democracy may be a source of confusion to scholars of all persuasions, its connotation and implication are not in doubt. In Democracy, power belongs to the people, the common man. In other words power belongs to the electorate in the main which power when given to elected representatives should be used for the good of all. Amongst the many hallmarks of democracy include such attributes as independent judiciary; enjoyment of fundamental human right; free and fair elections etc.
Emerging democracies is therefore a term used to refer to countries which recently began embracing the tenets of democracy. Nigeria is a perfect example of an emerging democracy. In its 45 years after independence, she has experienced 16 years of democratic rule albeit intermittently.
From the above definition it is clear that there is a nexus between the three concepts defined supra.
The current wave of human rights campaign is not a recent phenomenon in the Nigerian legal history. Constitutional guarantee of human nights was adopted in 19594. It has been agreed by commentators that this was largely due to the recommendation of the Willinks Commission on the minorities. The first thing to note therefore is that the introduction of the doctrine of human rights into Nigeria constitution can be traced to her colonial history.
Since the emergence of Nigeria as a nation in 1914, she has had several constitution introduced into the legal system. Some of the constitutions were foisted on her by the colonial overlord, while others were fashioned by the Nigerian people. The easiest attempt at constitutional government for Nigeria was the Clifford constitution of 1922. It must be remembered that the constitution which operated in Nigeria prior to independence were designed by the colonial administrator to achieve specific political objectives of the colonialists without any formal attempt by the colonial overlord to safeguard human right in its totality. For instance, the Nigerian (Constitution) Order in Council of 1951 was aimed at introducing representative democracy into the country5. No doubt, all these efforts of the colonial government could be said to be acceptance of a major aspect of human right, which is the democratic ideal of a right to self determination.
The inclusion of the doctrine of human rights into our constitution can thus be reflected in the heterogeneous nature of the country and also upon fear of the minorities for their development in a country that was gradually moving towards self determination. Consequently, they began to demand for the creation of more states based on ethnic groups. By 1957, this problem had reached some dimensions that it could not be ignored by the constitutional conference of 1957-1958. Instead of creating more state as demanded by the minorities, the British government entrenched some fundamental human right in the constitution in accordance with the recommendation of Sir Henry Willinks commission. These Rights were immediately incorporated and entrenched in the Independence Constitution6.
The Nigerian state reflects the distinction between human rights and fundamental human right. The later can only be prefixed to a right when such right is enshrined in the constitution. Nigeria, because of her colonial heritage adopted human rights provisions which are “civil” and “political” in nature rather than “socio-economic”
The 1979 constitution is said to be the strongest affirmation of Nigeria’s commitment to a comprehensive body of human rights. In comparison with its predecessor, the 1963 constitution, the 1979 constitution provisions were trenchant. There were many innovations in the 1979 constitution relating to human rights7.
The issue of socio economic rights has remained a reoccurring decimal in Nigeria constitutionalism. The 1979 constitution had in chapter two incorporated these rights under the heading “fundamental objectives and Directive Principle of State Policy”. The extant constitution8 also has similar provisions in its chapter two. However, what has generated much controversy about the fundamental objectives is that they cannot be enforced in the law courts. See S. 6(6) (c) of the 1999 constitution. This provision is rather unfortunate. Indeed, all the sections of human rights are interdependent, indivisible and equally important. For instance, the right to life in S 33(1) of the constitution can be better enjoyed when and where the economic, social, educational and environmental objectives in chapter 2 are realized. Here, the provision of good roads, clean and safe drinking water, adequate shelter, suitable and adequate food etc (some contents of the directive principle) will play a significant role. Moreover, the need for social and economic right is felt more in the developing nations nay emerging democracies, where a large percentage of the population live under subsistence condition. The position of the council of Europe on this mater is reflected in its Declaration on Human Rights, Democracy and Development:
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Writer Profile
umeche, chinedum ikenna
CHINEDUM UMECHE is a Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Nigeria. He is a memeber of Amnesty International, London and The Young International Arbitration Group of the London Court of International Arbitration. He currently works with G. E. Ezomo and Co, a law firm in Benin City, Edo state, Nigeria.
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Comments
Human Right - Non-existent in Nigeria Jerry | Nov 9th, 2006
As far as i am concerned, the rights of individuals in Nigeria are not guaranteed. The rule of law also is not being observed. And our emerging democracy is dying at such a tender begining. There are so many examples that we can site. Two days ago, i was watching a News posting on AIT and behold, i saw 4 police men brutally hitting a 'poor civilian' for attempting to disrupt an election. We also have several cases, we have the case of ASARI DOKUBO, who has been held for no right justification over alleged militarisation of youths in the Niger Delta and other related activities carried out by the group; we have the recent rulings of the National Assembly, Courts and law makers over rulership and governorship in Anambra State, Plateau State and Ekiti State. These few examples, definitely highlights that in Nigeria, the law is not followed and the rights of people as contained in the Constitution is not respected, talk less of our nascent democracy growing. What a Folly?
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