If our corpus juris could also be likened to a big toolbox, then the assorted features of our legal guidelines together with the Structure, Legislations, Case Regulation, Government Coverage Devices, and so on will translate to the assorted instruments of important significance. It due to this fact turns into essential to look at the situation of sure key features of our legal guidelines with a view to figuring out how their software successfully promotes financial progress and Nationwide Safety.
The ConstitutionWhoever needs to see the eyes of a beast should get to its head. In appraising legislation as a software for financial progress and Nationwide Safety, it’s a sine qua non that we start from the Structure of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (1999) as amended (“the Structure”) which is the fountainhead of all legal guidelines, the Grundnorm, the fons et origo, and the very best legislation of the land (not less than in principle going by part 1 (1)-(3) thereof).
Woven into the whole cloth of the Structure’s massive image are provisions which contact base with financial progress and nationwide safety. To start with, it’s the Structure that establishes and offers validity to the assorted arms of presidency in addition to offering the inspiration for the enactment of different legal guidelines that regulate the actions of establishments in addition to people within the nation.
Thus, the Structure supplies the capabilities of the three arms of presidency which regulate and checkmate the actions of the nation (see sections 4, 5 and 6 of the Structure). The legislature, govt and judicial arms of presidency work independently and harmoniously collectively to control nationwide safety.
That is completed by the legislature enacting the legal guidelines, together with these regulating nationwide safety, whereas it’s the perform of the chief to execute or implement the legal guidelines. The judiciary is to make sure that offenders of the legislation are tried in accordance with the legislation, interpret the legal guidelines and usually be sure that the rule of legislation is adhered to by each the lawmakers and the frequent residents.
However the Structure does greater than present a normal define for the three arms of presidency. It additionally supplies, the place essential, for what must be completed in a grave state of affairs which poses hazard to nationwide safety, whether or not from exterior sources or from inside circumstances. It’s not inside the purview of our discourse to look at in minute particulars all such provisions. Nonetheless, we will appraise the implication of some key features of the constitutional provisions as touching financial progress and Nationwide Safety:
Basic Targets: Chapter Two of the Structure incorporates elaborate provisions on the Basic Targets and Directive Rules of State Coverage. For our current function, we practice our probing proboscis on Sections 14 and 16 thereof. Whereas Part 16 outlines, in extension, the Financial Targets, we will solely glean “the Safety Targets” from the broad overarching context of the Chapter. Part 14 of the Structure on Safety: With respect to Safety Targets, Part 14 (1) (2) (b) supplies: (1) The Federal Republic of Nigeria shall be a State based mostly on the rules of democracy and social justice.
It’s hereby accordingly declared that: (b) The Safety and welfare of the individuals shall be the first function of the federal government. Clearly from the above constitutional provision, the federal government of Nigeria has the duty to cater for the safety and welfare of Nigerians, and likewise to make sure that Nigerians freely take part in governance. The above declaratory (relatively than justiciable) provision on safety stipulates rules that underlie and kind the substratum of safety in each democratic system of administration.
Aside from different constitutional provisions empowering the institution of sure our bodies to primarily execute nationwide safety, it’s unarguable that the provisions of Chapter II of the Structure, like an enormous bulldog possessing solely gum and no tooth, are in themselves non-justiciable, and thus unenforceable, not less than in accordance with part 6 (6) (c) thereof.
Provisions for civil disaster: It’s recognized that in most third world nations like Nigeria, extra of the threats to nationwide safety are inside or civil insurgencies. Sections 214 and 217 of the Structure make provisions for the institution of the Nigeria Police Pressure and the Armed Forces of the Federation.
Derri and Popoola have noticed that Nigeria has skilled lots of inside crises which threatened the safety of the nation. Most of those crises are spiritual and ethnic. The massive query is, how and thru what means has the Nigerian State been in a position to quell these conditions?
Moreover the constitutional provisions clearly establishing the Police and Armed Forces, there are provisions which point out that the Nationwide Meeting can legislate on all different features involving them. This place is buttressed by Part 4 of the Structure which empowers the Nationwide Meeting and the State Homes of Meeting to legislate for the peace, order and good governance of the nation or state or any half thereof respectively.
It’s in respect of the aforementioned provisions that the Nigeria Police Pressure has a legislation enacted for its creation, operations in addition to of the Armed Forces, sequel to the facility of the Nationwide Meeting to legislate for the peace, order and good governance of Nigeria. In the identical vein, different safety outfits belonging to the states have additionally been created by legislation, such because the Amotekun Corps, the Neighbourhood Safety, Hisbah, Jap Safety Community, and so on.
Financial Targets: As already noticed, the financial situation of any nation no doubt has a direct relationship with its nationwide safety. The financial state of affairs of Nigeria determines the residents’ spending energy, the revenue, in addition to dictates the crime fee. On this regard, Part 16 (2) of the Structure is essential. That provision was made to make sure: The promotion of a deliberate and balanced financial improvement; that the fabric assets of the nation are harnessed and distributed as greatest as doable to serve the frequent good; that the financial system isn’t operated in such a fashion as to allow the focus of wealth or the technique of manufacturing and trade within the hand of few people or group; and that appropriate and satisfactory shelter, appropriate and satisfactory meals, affordable nationwide minimal residing wage, outdated age care and pensions, unemployment, sick advantages and welfare of the disabled are supplied for all residents.
How nicely the Nigerian state has complied with these directives is but to be seen and this explains the extent of youth restiveness, growing corruption, excessive crime fee arising from large unemployment in addition to directionless financial insurance policies. Worse nonetheless, the petroleum business which is the foremost sector of the nation’s financial actions has been managed in such a means that the individuals who personal the land from which the petroleum assets are exploited are uncared for whereas their land and rivers are uncovered to fixed air pollution and their technique of livelihood threatened or extinguished. Little doubt, financial imbalance has led to insecurity in Nigeria and this illustrates how a failure to implement a simply and truthful financial coverage can translate to nationwide insecurity. As it’s stated, when the poor get unbearably hungry, he could think about consuming the wealthy.
LegislationsLegislations are legal guidelines made by that organ of presidency vested with the facility to make legal guidelines, specifically, the legislature. Part 4 (1) and (6) of the Structure supplies:
The legislative powers of the Federal Republic of Nigeria shall be vested in a Nationwide Meeting for the Federation, which shall encompass a Senate and a Home of Representatives.
The Nationwide Meeting shall have energy to make legal guidelines for the peace, order and good governance of the Federation or any half thereof with respect to any matter included within the Unique Legislative Record and shall, save as in any other case supplied on this Structure, be to the exclusion of the Homes of Meeting of States.
The Home of Meeting of a state shall have energy to make legal guidelines for the peace, order and good governance of the State or any half thereof… and the Home of Meeting of a State shall have energy to make legal guidelines for the peace, order and good authorities of the State or any half thereof with respect to…(a) any matter not included within the Unique Legislative Record set out in Half 2 of the Second Schedule to this Structure; (b) any matter included within the Concurrent Legislative Record set out within the first column of Half II of the Second Schedule to this Structure to the extent prescribed within the second column reverse thereto and (c) some other matter with respect to which it’s empowered to make legal guidelines in accordance with the provisions of this Structure.An examination of our physique of legal guidelines – within the context, legislations to be exact – leaves us with an innumerable quantity and volumes of enactments or statutes within the type of Acts of the Nationwide Meeting and Legal guidelines made by Homes of Meeting, together with bye legal guidelines.
These legislations outline and make provisions on particular rules that govern numerous areas of the life and operations of governments, non-governmental organisations, residents, and so on. With respect to financial progress and nationwide safety, that are our point of interest on this discourse, we will look at among the components that engender sensible software of legislation (on this case legislations) as a software for financial progress and nationwide safety.Adegboruwa is a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN).
