SHA’ABAN 28, 1429 A.H.
FRIDAY AUGUST 29 2008
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Nigerian youth and the rule of law
By Hon. Justice Umaru Abdullahi
Being a paper presented by Hon. Justice Umaru Abdullahi, appeal court of appeal Nigeria on the graduation of studnets of Katsina vocational centre on Saturday 23rd August, 2008
It is a true saying that the future and the strength of any Nation depend on its youth. In other words, no nation that has neglected the wellbeing of its youths can achieve greatness. The youths are the vanguard that turns the wheel of any nation to achieve greatness.
On the other hand, for any nation to realized and enjoy the recognition and respect of the enlightened world, that nation must imbibe culture of the Rule of law means a lot to many people and it covers many areas and situations. In other words, it is versatile subject.
A Good attempt has been made by a famous constitutional writer; DICEY who described the Rule of law as:
“The absolute supremacy or predominance of regular law, as opposed to the influence of arbitrary power, and excludes the existence of arbitrariness, of prerogative, or even wide discretionary authority on the part of the government … it means again equality before the law or the equal subjection of all classes to the ordinary law of the land administered by the ordinary law courts and excludes idea of any exemption of officials or others from the duty of obedience to the law which governs other citizens or from the jurisdiction of ordinary tribunals”.
Again WADE, another prominent constitutional author listed out a number of meanings of the rule of law some of which are:
1. Its primary meaning is that everything must be done according to law. In relation to the powers of government. Every act of governmental power which affects legal right, duties or liberty of any person must be shown to have a strictly legal basis.
2. That governmental activity should be conducted within the framework of recognized rules and principles which restrict discretionary power.
3. That disputes as to the legality of acts of government are to be decided by judges who are wholly independent of the executive and likewise legislature.
4. That the law should be even handled between government and the citizens.
5. That no one should be punished except for some legally defined crimes.
In a nutshell, Rule of law means equality before the law. It implies that no man is above the law. It also advocates supremacy of the law, as well as free and independent judiciary. Therefore any government that claims adherence to the rule of law must be prepared to observe these fundamental principles.
All the concepts and principles have a solid base and support of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999.
For the purpose of clarity, let me refer to some relevant sections of 1999 Constitution.
According to the provision of section 17 (1) the State Social Order is founded on ideals of freedom, equality and justice.
(2) In furtherance of the Social Order,
(a) Every citizen shall have equality of rights, obligations and opportunities before the law.
(b) The sanctity of the human person shall be recognized and the human dignity shall be maintained and enhanced.
(c) Government action shall be humane.
(d) Exploitation of human and natural resources in any form whatsoever for reasons other than the good of the community shall be prevented; and
(e) The independence, impartiality and integrity of the courts of law and easy accessibility thereto shall be secured and maintained.
Apart from these specific provisions out under section 17 of the 1999 Constitution, there are other very important provisions provided in the same Constitution which equality laid down strong foundation for the substance of the Rule of law.
In view of constrain of time and space, I will not deal with all of them in details. Be it that as it may, it is important to mention the sections and the subject matter they deal with. I shall than pick out some few for high lightening so be it briefly.
These sections are sections 33, 34, 35, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44 and 45.
Now, section 33 deals with right to life. In sub section
(1) The section provides thus:
“Every person has a right to life and no one shall be deprived intentionally of his life, save in execution of the sentence of a court in respect of criminal offence of which he has been found guilty in Nigeria (underlying provided).
It is the duty of the government to protect and preserve the life if its citizens. The government would otherwise be liable to violating constitutional and legal rights of its citizens. The government should not act arbitrarily but, must act reasonably and in public interest. See the case of ALIU BELLO VS A.G. OF OYO STATE.
This is a case where the Oyo State Government sanctioned the execution of the accused convicted of armed robbery but whose appeal was pending in the Court of Appeal. The Supreme Court of Nigeria in disapproving the action of the Oyo State Government stated as follows:
“this is the first case in this country in which a legitimate government in this Country past or present, colonial or indigenous – hastily and illegally sniffed out the life of an appellant, whose appeal had rested and was in being, with no order of court upon the appeal, and in a reckless and disregard of the life and liberty of the subject and the principles of the Rules of law. The brutal incidence has bespattered the face of the Oyo State Government with the paint – brush of shame”
This is a very strong warning to other governments.
Section 35 deals with Right to personal liberty, while section 41 deals with Right to freedom of movement.
Briefly put, personal liberty is an essential aspect of the rule of law. The constitution under this section has made adequate provisions, both substantive and procedural for the protection of this right. The constitution also provided stringent conditions upon which the right can be tampered with. E.g. in execution of the sentence or order of a court in respect of a criminal offence of which he has been found guilty; in the case of a person who attained the age of eighteen years, for the purpose of his education or welfare; for the purpose of bringing him before a court in execution of the order of a court or upon reasonable suspicion of his having committed a criminal offence, or to such extent as may be reasonably necessary to prevent his committing a criminal offence.
The provision of section 41 the right to freedom of movement is a corollary of the right to personal liberty under section 35. Simply put, the right to freedom of movement entitled every Nigeria to move freely thought out Nigeria and to reside in any part of the country. In my opinion, the issue of indigeneship that has so much caused irritation in the process of breach of the Constitution of this country.
Another very important provision is under section 36 which deals with the Right of fair hearing. The observance of this right is very essential in judicial process. That in the determination of his civil right, and obligations, a person shall be entitled to a fair hearing within a reasonable time by a court or other tribunal established by law and constituted in such manner as to secure its independence and impartiality. This principle equally applies to a criminal charge or trial. The most important aspect here is that every person who is charged with an offence shall be presumed to be innocent until he is proved guilty, with minor exception, where the law imposes upon such person the burden of proving particular facts.
The basis criteria and attributes of the principles of fair hearing is that,
“the court shall hear both sides on the materials issues in the case before it before reaching a decision which may be prejudicial to any person in the case. Also that justice must not only be done, but manifestly and undoubtedly be seen to have done.
In the context of Nigeria of today, I think it is also important to discuss briefly the provision of section 42 of the Constitution that deals with right to freedom from discrimination.
This right is predicated on the ethos of the rule of law as to equality for all Nigerians within the Federation. Citizens should not be discriminated against merely because of this community, ethnic group, place of origin, sex, religion or political opinion. Also no citizens should be subjected to any disability or deprivation merely by reason of the circumstance of the birth.
Any reasonable person can read between the lines, whether we are behaving faithfully, with these constitutional provisions in our dealings with each other in this Country today. I will lastly mention some rights which we conveniently ignore them. The twin rights are right to peaceful assembly and association and right to freedom of expiration.
These twin rights are very essential to the development of a democratic culture in any society. For example, the right to freedom of expiration is one of the corner stones upon which a virile society is build. It includes the freedom to hold opinions, to receive and to impart ideas and information.
Do we accord respect to these constitutional provisions today in this Country? I leave you to reflect and ponder over this question.
Now coming to the youths, the dream of any Nation, where do you stand? What are your goals and aspirations? Are you prepared to be part of the growth and the progress of this Nation? Or are you going to be part of the problem? Are you going to sit on the fence, uncommitted or are you going to be a worthy engine that will turn the wheel of progress and development of this great Country? I throw a challenge to all of you to decide from today.
I have a few quotations that I shall share with you to assist you make up your mind.
1. Many of life’s failure are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.
Thomas Edison
2. Death is very man’s final critic. To die well you must live bravely.
Edward Abbey.
3. A man who is not a Liberal at sixteen has no heart; a man who is not Conservative at sixty has no head.
Disraeli.
These quotations are courtesy, Nigerian Tribune of Thursday 14th August, 2008.
The people who invited me to deliver this paper are the people I am talking to now. You are undoubtedly our leaders of tomorrow. You must make the best use of this opportunity. It is a matter of great regret that my generation despite the huge opportunity we have had to leave behind for you a worthy society we seemed to have squandered that opportunity. We now resorted to grumbling that nothing works, thus adopting a defeatist’s attitude.
In actual fact, thing can work and work very well if only we develop a positive thinking with a genuine desire to make them work.
My appeal to you is break away from that passive and defeatist’s attitude, cultivate a culture of radical and progressive change in your lives that will make a difference to your generation and the society in which you will live in. it is not too late, you can do it. For a good start, I recommend that you set up a machinery of educating and mobilizing your peers and members of the general public as to their rights under the constitution and insist and on getting them because ignorance is a canker warm in the mind of the people. It is well said that people on account of their ignorance are not capable of deciding matters of great importance.
A word of warning however, while you are pursuing with zeal, the attainment of your rights, do not forget your obligations and civil responsibilities to your fellow citizens and the Nation.
Nigerian youth and the rule of law
By Hon. Justice Umaru Abdullahi
Being a paper presented by Hon. Justice Umaru Abdullahi, appeal court of appeal Nigeria on the graduation of studnets of Katsina vocational centre on Saturday 23rd August, 2008
It is a true saying that the future and the strength of any Nation depend on its youth. In other words, no nation that has neglected the wellbeing of its youths can achieve greatness. The youths are the vanguard that turns the wheel of any nation to achieve greatness.
On the other hand, for any nation to realized and enjoy the recognition and respect of the enlightened world, that nation must imbibe culture of the Rule of law means a lot to many people and it covers many areas and situations. In other words, it is versatile subject.
A Good attempt has been made by a famous constitutional writer; DICEY who described the Rule of law as:
“The absolute supremacy or predominance of regular law, as opposed to the influence of arbitrary power, and excludes the existence of arbitrariness, of prerogative, or even wide discretionary authority on the part of the government … it means again equality before the law or the equal subjection of all classes to the ordinary law of the land administered by the ordinary law courts and excludes idea of any exemption of officials or others from the duty of obedience to the law which governs other citizens or from the jurisdiction of ordinary tribunals”.
Again WADE, another prominent constitutional author listed out a number of meanings of the rule of law some of which are:
1. Its primary meaning is that everything must be done according to law. In relation to the powers of government. Every act of governmental power which affects legal right, duties or liberty of any person must be shown to have a strictly legal basis.
2. That governmental activity should be conducted within the framework of recognized rules and principles which restrict discretionary power.
3. That disputes as to the legality of acts of government are to be decided by judges who are wholly independent of the executive and likewise legislature.
4. That the law should be even handled between government and the citizens.
5. That no one should be punished except for some legally defined crimes.
In a nutshell, Rule of law means equality before the law. It implies that no man is above the law. It also advocates supremacy of the law, as well as free and independent judiciary. Therefore any government that claims adherence to the rule of law must be prepared to observe these fundamental principles.
All the concepts and principles have a solid base and support of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999.
For the purpose of clarity, let me refer to some relevant sections of 1999 Constitution.
According to the provision of section 17 (1) the State Social Order is founded on ideals of freedom, equality and justice.
(2) In furtherance of the Social Order,
(a) Every citizen shall have equality of rights, obligations and opportunities before the law.
(b) The sanctity of the human person shall be recognized and the human dignity shall be maintained and enhanced.
(c) Government action shall be humane.
(d) Exploitation of human and natural resources in any form whatsoever for reasons other than the good of the community shall be prevented; and
(e) The independence, impartiality and integrity of the courts of law and easy accessibility thereto shall be secured and maintained.
Apart from these specific provisions out under section 17 of the 1999 Constitution, there are other very important provisions provided in the same Constitution which equality laid down strong foundation for the substance of the Rule of law.
In view of constrain of time and space, I will not deal with all of them in details. Be it that as it may, it is important to mention the sections and the subject matter they deal with. I shall than pick out some few for high lightening so be it briefly.
These sections are sections 33, 34, 35, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44 and 45.
Now, section 33 deals with right to life. In sub section
(1) The section provides thus:
“Every person has a right to life and no one shall be deprived intentionally of his life, save in execution of the sentence of a court in respect of criminal offence of which he has been found guilty in Nigeria (underlying provided).
It is the duty of the government to protect and preserve the life if its citizens. The government would otherwise be liable to violating constitutional and legal rights of its citizens. The government should not act arbitrarily but, must act reasonably and in public interest. See the case of ALIU BELLO VS A.G. OF OYO STATE.
This is a case where the Oyo State Government sanctioned the execution of the accused convicted of armed robbery but whose appeal was pending in the Court of Appeal. The Supreme Court of Nigeria in disapproving the action of the Oyo State Government stated as follows:
“this is the first case in this country in which a legitimate government in this Country past or present, colonial or indigenous – hastily and illegally sniffed out the life of an appellant, whose appeal had rested and was in being, with no order of court upon the appeal, and in a reckless and disregard of the life and liberty of the subject and the principles of the Rules of law. The brutal incidence has bespattered the face of the Oyo State Government with the paint – brush of shame”
This is a very strong warning to other governments.
Section 35 deals with Right to personal liberty, while section 41 deals with Right to freedom of movement.
Briefly put, personal liberty is an essential aspect of the rule of law. The constitution under this section has made adequate provisions, both substantive and procedural for the protection of this right. The constitution also provided stringent conditions upon which the right can be tampered with. E.g. in execution of the sentence or order of a court in respect of a criminal offence of which he has been found guilty; in the case of a person who attained the age of eighteen years, for the purpose of his education or welfare; for the purpose of bringing him before a court in execution of the order of a court or upon reasonable suspicion of his having committed a criminal offence, or to such extent as may be reasonably necessary to prevent his committing a criminal offence.
The provision of section 41 the right to freedom of movement is a corollary of the right to personal liberty under section 35. Simply put, the right to freedom of movement entitled every Nigeria to move freely thought out Nigeria and to reside in any part of the country. In my opinion, the issue of indigeneship that has so much caused irritation in the process of breach of the Constitution of this country.
Another very important provision is under section 36 which deals with the Right of fair hearing. The observance of this right is very essential in judicial process. That in the determination of his civil right, and obligations, a person shall be entitled to a fair hearing within a reasonable time by a court or other tribunal established by law and constituted in such manner as to secure its independence and impartiality. This principle equally applies to a criminal charge or trial. The most important aspect here is that every person who is charged with an offence shall be presumed to be innocent until he is proved guilty, with minor exception, where the law imposes upon such person the burden of proving particular facts.
The basis criteria and attributes of the principles of fair hearing is that,
“the court shall hear both sides on the materials issues in the case before it before reaching a decision which may be prejudicial to any person in the case. Also that justice must not only be done, but manifestly and undoubtedly be seen to have done.
In the context of Nigeria of today, I think it is also important to discuss briefly the provision of section 42 of the Constitution that deals with right to freedom from discrimination.
This right is predicated on the ethos of the rule of law as to equality for all Nigerians within the Federation. Citizens should not be discriminated against merely because of this community, ethnic group, place of origin, sex, religion or political opinion. Also no citizens should be subjected to any disability or deprivation merely by reason of the circumstance of the birth.
Any reasonable person can read between the lines, whether we are behaving faithfully, with these constitutional provisions in our dealings with each other in this Country today. I will lastly mention some rights which we conveniently ignore them. The twin rights are right to peaceful assembly and association and right to freedom of expiration.
These twin rights are very essential to the development of a democratic culture in any society. For example, the right to freedom of expiration is one of the corner stones upon which a virile society is build. It includes the freedom to hold opinions, to receive and to impart ideas and information.
Do we accord respect to these constitutional provisions today in this Country? I leave you to reflect and ponder over this question.
Now coming to the youths, the dream of any Nation, where do you stand? What are your goals and aspirations? Are you prepared to be part of the growth and the progress of this Nation? Or are you going to be part of the problem? Are you going to sit on the fence, uncommitted or are you going to be a worthy engine that will turn the wheel of progress and development of this great Country? I throw a challenge to all of you to decide from today.
I have a few quotations that I shall share with you to assist you make up your mind.
1. Many of life’s failure are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.
Thomas Edison
2. Death is very man’s final critic. To die well you must live bravely.
Edward Abbey.
3. A man who is not a Liberal at sixteen has no heart; a man who is not Conservative at sixty has no head.
Disraeli.
These quotations are courtesy, Nigerian Tribune of Thursday 14th August, 2008.
The people who invited me to deliver this paper are the people I am talking to now. You are undoubtedly our leaders of tomorrow. You must make the best use of this opportunity. It is a matter of great regret that my generation despite the huge opportunity we have had to leave behind for you a worthy society we seemed to have squandered that opportunity. We now resorted to grumbling that nothing works, thus adopting a defeatist’s attitude.
In actual fact, thing can work and work very well if only we develop a positive thinking with a genuine desire to make them work.
My appeal to you is break away from that passive and defeatist’s attitude, cultivate a culture of radical and progressive change in your lives that will make a difference to your generation and the society in which you will live in. it is not too late, you can do it. For a good start, I recommend that you set up a machinery of educating and mobilizing your peers and members of the general public as to their rights under the constitution and insist and on getting them because ignorance is a canker warm in the mind of the people. It is well said that people on account of their ignorance are not capable of deciding matters of great importance.
A word of warning however, while you are pursuing with zeal, the attainment of your rights, do not forget your obligations and civil responsibilities to your fellow citizens and the Nation.
