THE PROVISIONS OF THE FUNDAMENTAL OBJECTIVES AND DIRECTIVE PRINCIPLES OF STATE POLICY

THE PROVISIONS OF THE FUNDAMENTAL OBJECTIVES AND DIRECTIVE PRINCIPLES OF STATE POLICY

Introduction

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948 has in no small way affected the various constitutions of Nigeria, the 1999 Constitution being no exception. What the Nigerian Constitution provides as Fundamental Objectives and Directives Principles of State Policy, the former prescribes as constituting human rights. The Nigerian executive arm of government is provided for in the Constitution1. It is saddled with functions which basically revolve around executing the laws made by the legislature. The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 made provision for Fundamental Objectives and Directive Principles of State Policy, under its Chapter Two. These objectives merely provide a guide to any government in power in Nigeria and contain essential needs of the people in Nigeria on political, economic, social, educational, foreign policy, environmental, cultural, media, national ethics matters and duties of citizens. These objectives and principle , if turned into human rights, would lead to a new Nigeria devoid of the majority of the setbacks currently witnessed in the present Nigeria which manifest in the form of socio-economic problems like unemployment, lack of basic amenities at a significant level, low level of social welfare and disunity as evidenced in the current religious, political or tribal disturbances or clashes

. Another gain of immense magnitude is that there would be a better rapport between the government and the governed in the social contract underlying the relations in a modern state. The Social Contract theory of the school of jurisprudence opines that the masses in a given society surrender their freedom to the state for the latter to protect their interests. Difficulties in that relationship should be recognized and confronted rather than ignored3. Again, development plans shall be made based on the recognized needs or difficulties and it has been stated that clarity of development plans is a panacea for underdevelopment4. Good development plans on the economic and educational objectives of the Fundamental Objectives and Directive Principles of State Policy in Nigeria, for instance, would be a basis for building a better Nigeria. Efforts geared at the privatization of public enterprises which is a current policy of government could yield positive results if the whole exercise is done according to law and transparently too. The Bureau for Public Enterprise could blaze the transparency culture into full acceptance of the policy by Nigerians as the names and addresses of the shareholders of governmental parastatals sold to private individuals are published. Any privatization process contrary to law and public concerns as expressed by local authorities5 is bound to be unsuccessful.

 It is the requirement of the 1999 constitution that the economic system is not operated in such a manner as to permit the concentration of wealth or the means of production and exchange in the hands of few individuals or of a group. Shrouding the privatization activities or any part of it in secrecy would not solve the problem identified already and meant to be addressed by this section of the Constitution.

THE PROVISIONS OF THE FUNDAMENTAL OBJECTIVES AND DIRECTIVE PRINCIPLES OF STATE POLICY

The provisions of the Fundamental Objectives and Directive Principles of State policy in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria of 1999 are a welcome development. These provisions include objectives on political, economic, social, educational, foreign policy, environmental, cultural, media, national ethics matters and duties of citizens. However, the drawback to the appropriation of these ‘dreams’ or objectives by citizens as of right is the provision in section 6, sub-section (6), paragraph (c) of the 1999 Constitution which makes the objectives non-justiceable. There is an urgent need to delete the above provision from the Constitution and subject the objectives to binding governmental obligations known as Constitutional Projects which would encourage the use of the public fund for common good. This bold step would attenuate inclinations to financial corruption in Nigeria.

 Constitutional projects should be paired with Constitutional fund or proceed from the Federation Account and constituency projects by Federal Law Makers abolished. Moreover, it is submitted that a new revenue utilization policy should be introduced whereby budgeting should not be made yearly, henceforth, but rather made to cover the life span of an administration at the end of which the administration is subjected to an official probe and that by independent prosecutors.

·         Origins of Democracy

o    The early Greek political system of direct democracy provided democracy’s foundation of political participation.

• Civil Rights and Civil Liberties
• Civil rights refer to the promotion of equality; civil liberties refer to the promotion of freedom. Together, these often include the right to practice religion, to speak freely, and to equal treatment under the law, among other rights.
• Democracies around the world vary in the number and types of rights emphasized in their constitutions. Some of the rights rest in the individuals, such as the freedom of speech, while other countries place the state as the defender and creator of these rights, such as the right to education.  Liberty is therefore not simply the absence of controls over our scope of action but also something that must be created, institutionalized, and defended.