President Goodluck Jonathan’s speech announcing a committee to review “outstanding Constitutional issues” may have sounded rhetorical to some Nigerians, who probably are saying: “Here we go again!”
They may be justified in complaining about the trickery and manipulation that have tended to characterise previous patchwork constitutional reforms.
President Goodluck Jonathan’s speech announcing a committee to review “outstanding Constitutional issues” may have sounded rhetorical to some Nigerians, who probably are saying: “Here we go again!”
They may be justified in complaining about the trickery and manipulation that have tended to characterise previous patchwork constitutional reforms.
It is therefore not surprising that any attempt at constitutional reform is not always taken on trust.
Nonetheless, whenever we can, we should welcome offers of reform
from those in power.
The President’s speech presents an important opportunity for transforming and renewing the Nigerian constitution in a way that has not been done before. Such opportunity should not be missed.
At the heart of the president’s speech was a request to the committee to review the human rights provisions and the often-neglected chapter two provisions of the constitution.
Specifically, the president requested the Justice Mohammed Belgore-led committee to review the “human rights and social security, peoples’ charter and social obligations”, contained in the 1999 Nigerian constitution, with the primary objective of generating “recommendations that would be translated into draft bills for the National Assembly to turn into amendments in the Constitution.”
Put differently, President Jonathan wanted a fresh look at the chapter two provisions of the 1999 Constitution dealing with fundamental objectives and directive principles of state policy, what human rights lawyers would characterise as economic, social and cultural rights issues.
This is unusual as Nigerian leaders rarely talk about the chapter. President Jonathan’s pronouncement is especially revolutionary given that recent attempts at constitutional review have been limited only to political issues, and have excluded any mention or public debate on the nature of a Bill of Rights in a future Nigerian Constitution.
Yet, in the absence of a radical and progressive bill of rights, political structure and institutions, however robust, cannot fulfil their objectives.
Chapter two elaborates some social, environmental, educational, economic and political objectives of government, and imposes some obligations on the states to meet those objectives. But these are not justiciable in the sense that the citizens cannot challenge the government for non-compliance the way they can with legally enforceable civil and political rights, enshrined in chapter four of the Constitution.
It is precisely because chapter two provisions are not legally enforceable that they are largely violated by successive governments. As a result, Nigeria continues to be characterised by lack of development in all spheres of economic, social and cultural life.
Reversing years of extreme poverty, corruption and inequality in the country will require transforming these laudable but unenforceable provisions into justiciable and legally enforceable economic, social and cultural rights such as the right to quality education, to adequate housing, to health care, to clean water, to social security; and the right of every child to basic nutrition, shelter, basic health care services and social services.
Constitutional recognition of legally enforceable economic, social and cultural rights would improve the status of protection for these rights and be entirely consistent with the trend demonstrated through the passage of legislation like the Child Rights Act, the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) Act, the Pension Reform Act and the Fiscal Responsibility Act.
Public debates on the constitutionalisation of economic, social and cultural rights are taking place in countries like Zambia and Zimbabwe, while other countries such as South Africa have already included a varying range of justiciable economic, social and cultural rights in their constitutions.
It is not asking too much for the constitution, which is the supreme law of the land--setting out the fundamental values and normative commitments of the country-- to protect citizens’ shelters from being arbitrarilydemolished; and to protect Nigerian children from being chased out of school or hospital queues.
Including these human rights in the constitution can also act as a catalyst for deepening democracy and enhancing social and economic development, which is responsive to the needs and views of the populace.
However, there will be those who may see the country to be too poor to be able to provide for legally enforceable economic, social and cultural rights. But practices from other jurisdictions have shown that these rights are no more expensive obligations than the right to vote or the right to a fair trial.
There is no question that every human right comes with its pecuniary element. Nonetheless, the argument that economic, social and cultural rights entail greater fiscal commitments than other human rights included in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is to say the least - exaggerated.
President Jonathan was right to recognize in his speech that “Nigerians want inclusiveness, justice, equity….” He was also right to underscore the primary duty of his government to “realize that promise of good life for our people….”, and to guarantee to “devote more resources, time and energy to the pressing issues of development…”
The optimistic interpretation of the president’s speech is that he has really got it about the importance of genuine constitutional reform and revival in a way that previous governments did not. But the proof of that will be in the leadership President Jonathan actually brings forward. He has to persuade Nigerians that he really means what he says.
If the president is indeed committed to making the welfare of the people the supreme law, the project to review the constitution must prioritise and encourage other political leaders to transform chapter two provisions of the constitution into chapter four as legally enforceable economic, social and cultural rights.
The national assembly and all political leaders must also publicly support the prioritization of human rights, especially the marginalized economic, social and cultural rights throughout the constitutional reform process.
What is needed in Nigeria now is a radical and progressive constitutional Bill of Rights that can serve the needs of the most vulnerable and marginalised sectors of the population, and not an exercise to satisfy some limited political objectives.
But it is unlikely that this will happen without demanding citizens and vigilant civil society. It is absolutely important for the citizens to take charge of the ongoing constitutional reform agenda.
Otherwise, the prospects for constitutional engineering and revival will remain bleak.
googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('content1'); });
googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('comments'); });
googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('content2'); });