THE RULE OF LAW AND ITS APPLICABILITY IN NIGERIA: EXAMINATION OF ABUSES AND NON-OBEDIENCE
CHAPTER ONE
GENERAL INTRODUCTION
1.0 INTRODUCTION
Rule of law and democracy are both legal and political issues which have gained attention not only in Nigeria but world over. In general, both form the basis of advocacy of most international bodies or institutions, with the intention of sustaining and maintaining world peace.
The rule of law is a principle which provides that no person is above the law, that no one can be punished by the state except for a breach of the law, and that no one can be convicted of breaching the law except in the manner set forth by the law itself . The rule of law stands in contrast to the idea that the leader is above the law – a feature of old Roman, Nazi , and certain other past law or legal systems .
Without the rule of law, societies will be in a perpetuate state of conflict. Just as one observes the rule of grammar in order to make sense in conversation, so a society must abide by rule of laws to maintain peace. The rule of law is therefore imperative for the maintenance of public order.
Political parties do canvass for votes during elections. An elected party by majority votes gains the legitimacy to govern according to the rule of law; anything contrary to this is not rule of law but rule of man tainted with whims and caprices that can never be in conformity with the true interest of the people. So any form of arbitrariness and impunity, such as we have witnessed in Nigeria before 1999 , creates the despondency leading to revolt as we have seen in part of North Africa and the Middle East .
Majority rule creates the legitimate legal basis for legislative governance of a state. Legislations, which seek to regulate the political, economic and social life of a state, are indispensible for the enthronement of the rule of law. The functions of law are therefore to create an ordered atmosphere in a polity, which enhance peaceful development of the state.
One of the important functions of laws is that, they define the citizens’ rights and duties. No man should be dealt with wickedly either by the government or his compatriots. This is because, by the rule of law, both the rulers and ruled are equal before the law. So where such infringements on citizens’ rights occur, firstly, it is a clear departure from the rule of law; and secondly, it entitles the citizens free access to the judicial processes in order to ventilate their grievances .
The rule of law is both a deterrent and a shield . The legal system must work properly, ensuring that justice is not unduly delayed. This is because, Rule of law has no delight in unduly prolonged cases, a situation whereby courts adjourn cases on the cause list for over adecade which is tantamount to ‘Justice delayed is justice denied’ is no rule of law; and in a situation where for instance a report showing lawyers applying for prolonged adjournments, preliminary objections, unnecessary appeals in order to stultify the judicial process does not enhance the rule of law .
The terms rule of law and democracy are two sides of a coin, and are thus inseparable. The implication of this is that you cannot be talking on one without mentioning the other. In the words of a legal icon and political luminary;‘Democracy is the complete application of rule of law and human rights in any given society’
From the foregoing, it is apparent that rule of law and human rights are inherent in democracy. It then suffices to say that any democracy that lacks both is not democracy. The reason behind this is not farfetched, it is because democratic government recognizes rights of the people as to life, personal liberty, movement, to own property and dispose same, to determine who and who to represent them in position of authority and when and how to remove them, and so on, on the one hand; and the supremacy of the law of the land which governs both the rulers and the ruled; which also commands obedience and punish disobedience when due, equality of all in respect of the enjoyment of rights guaranteed to them on the other hand .
It is therefore submitted that, democracy is a test for good governance. And, it suffices to add that any state that lacks this has not seen the light of the day and as well far from development. Hence, the basis for this study is to look into the applicability and effectiveness of one of the important determinants or yardsticks of democracy- the rule of law, with a view to determining whether or not true democracy exist in Nigeria under the 1999 Constitution
