Of constitution, judicial independence and democracy

THE independence of the judiciary is being clamoured for in some quarters, but no one is talking about enacting a new constitution. We all shiver in the damning cold occasioned by some legislative antiquities in our supreme law and of course, nonchallantly, we are not making any effort in addressing this democratic heist. The extant Nigerian constitution, the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is outdated  and  does not thoroughly reflect those modern realities expected of any global society. The world is fast evolving with such acceleration that globalisation has become a point of convergence in every aspect of human endeavour – democratic, sociopolitical and economic. This paradigm shift is systemically brought with a view to creating a sustainable intervention to all challenges confronting our existence.

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Is the Nigerian judiciary actually independent in the actual contextual usage of the word ‘independence’? My answer is a reluctant yes and capital NO. I would say it is a reluctant yes simply because it was acknowledged by the constitution – the Supreme Law’ as the third arm of the Government. This same constitution also confers power on it to adjudicate upon matters with a view to determine the existence of a legal right and liability among individuals,  corporation and government agencies.  On the other end, it is a capital NO for it is the same constitution which confers power on it that also mounts a clog to prevent its full motion. It energises the judiciary by proclaiming it as a separate fold with a dominant sovereignty of her own. Meanwhile, it   stirs this conspiracy theory that propounds that sovereignty indeed belongs to the ‘powers that be’ of the Nigeria’s bourgeois class.

Ordinarily, in any sane and democracy-conscious society, presidents and governors should have zero interference and prerogatives in anything that concerns the judiciary – whether of appointment and removal or whatever case may be,  of judicial officers. This should – without any reservation – represent the order of affairs in order to avoid any ludicrous situation where superiority complex would set in motion. A recall of the protracted debacle between Governor Rotimi Amaechi (as he then was) and the National Judicial Council few years ago clearly symbolises the perpetual ridicule and inferiority complex the ‘photoshopped’ independence of the judiciary has brought to bear. The seeming arrogant governor pushed the whole judiciary of the state to the wall while riding on the impunity that people of his calibre enjoy. He truncated the whole judicial system with such destructive ease and illusion of grandeur that saw all court shut down.

Such an ugly kind of history is only possible in a failing African nation like Nigeria where the constitution does not thoroughly reflect the democratic realities and socioeconomic wants of the people. While I may argue that democracy is a function of numerical strength, it is a tested hypothesis that democracy can never work in Nigeria. It has failed us in many regards considering the height of oppression, abuse and marginalisation meted out to the lower classes. Some also claim the unripeness of Nigeria for democracy is what degenerated into  perpetual anarchy the Nation suffers.  Above all arguments and speculative contemplations, the only practicable way out of the crossroad is the making of a new constitution. We seriously need a new constitution that would reflect the recent adaptations of modernity in our state of affairs. The new constitution must  be all-inclusive while charting a new course for  sustainable national growth and development. It must also crave for a decentralised system of government which would prevent over concentration of power in the hand of a particular arm of the government .

• Smart writes in via alismartist@gmail.com