BABCOCK UNIVERSITY,

ILISHAN-REMO, OGUN STATE

AN ASSIGNMENT IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE COURSE: PRINCIPLES OF

ADMINISTRATIVE LAW (PBAD 412)

TOPIC:

IS RULE OF LAW IN NIGERIA A MYTH

NAME:

ADEDIRAN TEMILADE NASIRAT

MATRIC NO:

12/0981

DEPARTMENT:

PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

SUBMITTED ON:

22nd FEBRUARY, 2016.

SUBMITTED TO:

BARR.O.O APAMPA
 In every society, it is of great importance that each citizen’s are expected to be on an

equal level before the law regardless of their economic, social or political status. This would

ensure safety and confidence to each citizen’s that those who are on the high rank in society

won’t cheat them and go scot free without been able to face the law because they are superior

in one way or the other. But in our world today, the content of equality before the law is not

really vivid again before those on the higher rank in the society are still riding over the lower

ranked ones of the society of which in most cases they go scot free. This work therefore is

looking at the fact that is rule of law in Nigeria a myth.

Rule of law as a concept is anchored in the word “law” which impli8es that man

should be ruled or society should be governed not by the rule of man or by rule of might but

rather by the rule of law (Sabine & Thorson, 1973:241). Rule of law vary from one place to

place. It sometimes simply means law rules or reigns, this presupposes a situation where

everything is done in accordance with law thereby excluding any form of arbitraries

(Nwabueze, 2007:3-8) but is this really what is happening in Nigeria?

The phrase Rule of law was coined in 1885 by Professor A.V. Dicey in his book

titled, “The Law of Constitution”. It was seen to have metamorphosed from its original

conception as a natural law to rule of law. Rule of law is based on the principle that every

citizen is equal before the law regardless of their social or economic status, and this doctrine

of rule of law is intimately bound with the practice of democracy and this why Sagay has

suggested that there can be no democracy without the rule of law and vice versa (Sagay,

1996:13). This rule of law can be traced to ancient philosophers including Aristotle, Thomas

Hobbes etc. rule of law as it is doesn’t have a definite definition because each scholars give

their own various definition of what they feel it is. According to A.V. Dicey, he defines 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, or prerogative or

even of wide discretionary authority on the part of government. Englishmen (citizens) are

ruled by the law and by the law alone. A man may with us be punished for a breach of law,

but can be punished for nothing else.”

From the definition above, it is denoted that rule of law is a principle that is after

curbing governmental powers by making sure that governance is in accordance with the law

of the land and not according to the arbitrary whims of any office holders, and also that no

one will be punished unjustly except proven to have breached the law. It shows the presence

of equality of all classes of people before the law as administered by the ordinary court. Rule

of law stipulates that government be instituted and be limited in its power according to law

and that it be devoted to the preservation of the liberties of individual citizens, all of whom

are deemed equal before the law. (Sagay,1996:14). According to Oxford Advance Learner’s

Dictionary, rule of law can be described as the “condition of which all members of the

society including the rulers accept the authority of the law.” Aristotle opined that rule of law

is connected with the question “whether it is better to be ruled by the best man or best laws”.

(Sabine & Thorson, 1973:241)

Rule of law in Nigeria I would say is a myth because rule of law means absolute

supremacy or predominance over the regular law. In essence this means the absence of

arbitrary policies and actions, and equally implies that the law should be represented by the

governing authority in accordance with the provisions of the constitution. In other words,

each individual is responsible for their own mistakes and actions and thus the sin of the father

should not be imposed on the son and vice-versa. This indicates that collective punishment is

a violation of the rule of law and human right, which brings us down to the military regime of

President Obasanjo’s regime, where collective punishment was meted by his administration

on various citizens of Nigeria then. This indicates lack of respect for the constitution neither

do they have for the rule of law of the country. Basically, the era of military regime in
Nigeria saw the observance of the rule of law at its lowest and saddest ebb and they made no

pretension about the observance of the rule of law because even as they are resuming power,

they are suspending all the constitution that would or might stand in their way. Other

exhibited case of non respect to rule of law in the military regime is the case of General Sani

Abacha vs. Chief Gani Fawehinmi etc (Owoade, pg 83).

Justice demands that all parties be treated equally, but to the surprise of the citizens,

the 1999 constitution, indeed the entire man-made law, does not maintain equal treatment of

men before it. The concept of law not being a respecter of persons especially as laid down by

common law has mostly been proved theoretical rather than practical. A typical example of

this is the section 308 of the 1999 constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria which

provides immunity for the president, vice president, the 36 states governors and their deputies

from criminal prosecution. This provision is a problem to the war against corruption as well

as a negation to the rule of law, making the concept of rule of law to be a myth in Nigeria

because the crime normal citizens would commit and be prosecuted for, those executive

officials are being given immunity over. This indicates lapses of rule of law that justice has

been denied on the common man simply because they have no friends in high places of the

society. This can be likened to the principle of animalism propounded by George Orwell in

Animal Farm where he stipulated that “all animals are equal, but some are more equal than

others.”(George, 1982:85)

Rule of law in Nigeria is also a myth because, the fundamental human right in Nigeria

is quite poor compared to other developed countries, where they have various human right

groups fighting to heal the sores and wounds of their wounded citizens. Although in Nigeria

we have some human right fighters but there work is not fully recognised because the

government who are suppose to be helping them are even the one involve in committing the

serious abuse on human rights. The most significant human rights problems in Nigeria
includes “extra-judicial and use of excessive force by security agents, impunity by security

forces, arbitrary arrests, prolonged pre-trial detention, judicial corruption and executive

influence on the judiciary.”

The principle of natural justice can be referred to as an arm of rule of law in Nigeria

because for the concept to stay and stand the test of time, the law must be seen demonstrating

justice practically as a blind arbiter who knows no one irrespective of societal status, office

and position. This two concept basically works with democracy, but right from the onset it is

so apparent that democracy in Nigeria is primed to be badly practiced because in most cases

the consent of the citizens which the government are making rule for are been ignored, which

makes other important rules of free and fair elections, tolerance, peaceful change of

government imprudently violated. In here, it then become obvious that rule of law in Nigeria

is more of myth than it is more of being realistic.

In conclusion, rule of law in Nigeria can only stop being a myth when the political

leadership in the country see itself as a creation of the law and must thus be guided by the law

and the judiciary must be accorded absolute autonomy from the other arms of government.

Also, when the modus operandi of the system becomes strong because it has been weak from

the background and the constitution should genuinely reflect the wishes of “we the people of

Nigeria”, it should not create “sacred cows” and “untouchables”. More so, in order for all this

to be successful, democracy must be allowed to take root and flourish.

REFRENCES

Itse E. Sagay (1996), “Nigeria: The Travails of Democracy and The Rule of Law” in M. Ayo
Ajomo, Akintunde O. Obilade and Adesina Sambo (eds), Nigeria: Democracy and
The Rule of Law, Ibadan: Spectrum Books Ltd.

Francis C. Enemuo (1999), “Democracy, Human Rights and The Rule of Law” in Remi
Anifowose and Francis Enemuo (eds), Elements of Politics, Lagos: Sam Iroanusi
Publications.

Owoade A.A, “The Doctrine of the Rule of Law: A Necessity to Democratic Governance” in
Talla Ngarka Sunday & Reuben B. Ziri (eds), “Law and National Security in the
Fourth Republic”, Makurdi: Aboki Publishers

Nwabueze B (1985), “Nigeria’s Presidential Constitution, 1979-1983”, Ibadan: Longman

Nigeria Ltd.

Nwabueze B (2007), “How President Obasanjo Subverted the Rule of Law and Democracy”,
Gold Press Ltd.

Journal of Law, Policy and Globalization, ISSN 2224-3240 (Paper) ISSN 2224-3259
(Online), Vol 3, 2012