Law as a tool for regional development Text of the lecture delivered by Hon. Adeyinka Ajayi, chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Aids, Loans and Debt Management, at the first Legislative Summit on Collaborative Development Agenda (Southwest and ACN states), organised by Vintage Press Limited, publishers of The Nation newspaper, on February 15 and 16, for federal and state legislators and Executive Council members. The Chairman of this auspicious gathering, your Excellencies here present, leaders of our great political party, Distinguished Senators, my esteemed Honourable Colleagues, the moderator, members of the fourth estate of the realm, ladies and gentlemen. I join speakers before me to salute the creativity of the organisers of this gathering having spared a thought to bring about a forum like this at this time when our national democracy is faced with lot of challenges and raging underdevelopment that has speared no section, be it minority or majority of poverty, dilapidated infrastructure, insecurity, unemployment among other characteristics of a failing nation. I am delighted to be a part of this noble gathering that became possible as a result of a reclaimation of lost grounds and frontiers of our geographical space from the custodians of do or die politics. Probably, a lecture of this nature would have been relatively difficult or inappropriate, when the usurpers in power held sway in the South West of Nigeria. Today our party the Action Congress of Nigeria with its refreshingly popular acceptance and freely given mandate has commenced the pursuit of people oriented programmes in the South West. Hence, we cannot but think of ways to restore the lost glory and rebuild the dilapidated and arrested development legacies left behind by the wasteful tenant of yesteryears. I consider the opportunity to deliver a paper at this summit a great priviledge and honour and must therefore thank the organisers for deeming me worthy as a resource person and given this particular topic, in a gathering like this where political veterans and encyclopedias of our political structure, history and tradition are active participants. Looking at this gathering alone, one is put in the eye of the storm and is burning with a zeal to deliver a very provocative paper that will generate vibrant discuss and where possible attempt a measured level of consensus, knowing fully well, the intellectual capacity of the average Yoruba man and woman, be it western or native in orientation. Having considered the above, I resolved within me than I am chosen on a ground that as one saddled with a representative responsibility by the people of his immediate constituency and being lucky to have emerged from a platform of long standing tradition of our party the Action Congress of Nigeria, one should be up to the task. Drawing courage from the proverbial assertions, that ile baba omo ki ba omo leru and Iran Akin won ki se Ojo.
Considering this topic from its surface value, The Law as a tool for Regional Development, one may conclude, there is not much to talk about. But a deep and further look will throw up lots of matters worthy of analysis if the topic is to be treated holistically and qualitatively. Going by the aforementioned, and aware of the number of faculties making up this lecture, I will attempt to have a very short but deep presentation, defining the basic concepts, trace a short history of regionalism in Nigeria and delve into issues of development then and now and finally the role of Law in the evolving dynamics within a federating nation and conclude with tesers and food for thought on South western Nigeria regional Development initiative from a legislative angle. The Law As a learned person, in my own terms,( apologies to non-lawyers here), law or laws are set of principles, ideals, ethics, dos and don ts e.t.c established by human society to regulate the behavior of everyone in the society. Drawing from the elderly pot of wisdom, may I be permitted to use this age long assertion where there is no law there is no right or wrong without law and its regulatory mechanisms, the social fabric of our society would have been tattered and degenerate into what Thomas Hobbes called a state of nature where life is nasty, brutish and short. To avoid the right of might and anarchy, law is a vital instrument and of importance. According to Aristotle, man naturally is a political animal and always being driven by several interests which often run into conflict either with self or that of others. Law is a product of social contract among the people who seek a civilized and regulated way of life other than anarchy. There are certain ethically and morally acceptable standards expected of the people while exercising their freedom and attaining individual properity. For instance, it has long been a sin for any man to take the life of another without any conferred societal authority to do so. As human society advances, trade and diplomatic relations among nation states were also regulated by certain unwritten conventions and later written laws. As society advances, certain developmental challenges necessitated promulgation of some set of laws and abrogation of others. The laws that held sway during the era of primitive communism were not potent enough to weather the storm that came with slavery, later feudalism, monarchy and free trade and capitalism. As humanity developed, the complications that emanated with constant break down of law and order, made it mandatory to evolve a new set of regulation to cope with the changing tide. There was civil laws vis a vis land ownership, marriage, tax, to mention a few. Trade laws, diplomatic laws, even warfare among others were legally regulated. I have delved into this history to emphasise the fact that laws have never been alien to human society social and economic engineering and there is an inseparable synergy between law making and development. The Legislature
The competent authority in a democratic Law making environment is a popularly elected and constituted Assembly. In modern times this is the most important source of law making. Under the present constitutional arrangement of the Federal Republic of Nigeria like so many other democracies, national laws have to be passed by a bicameral legislature comprising of the House of Representatives and the Senate at the federal level and the unicameral State Houses of Assembly at the state level. The whole of Section 4 and Section 47-64 of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria is explicit on this. Within the frame work of governance, the legislature is key. It must be independent and composed of men of firm characters and deep understanding of the yearnings and aspirations of the people. The legislature is a genuine democratic structure of governance and is a platform where the people are evenly represented. Drawing from the constitutional provisions, there are clearly stated areas of jurisdiction, hierarchy and operations of the legislative chambers from the Senate to the States Houses of Assembly. This is the ideal spirit of federalism. However, there are certain deficiencies that must be corrected if we really intend to operate and develop as a federation of soveriegn federating units. The issues pertaining thereto as tempting and important as they are, are outside the scope opf this discuss and as such, only passing references will we made to them as we proceed. A law can be progressive or retrogressive depending on its intended application and the attendant result. There are times that legislations are targeted at impacting positively of the people but for lack of benefit of hind sight, such legislation fails or out live it essence. It is unfortunate, that in this part of the world we churn out legislations and remain rigid with it when it is no longer of value. To this end, looking at the focus of law and it essence, it must not be static, there must be a periodic review of such to maintain relevance to the people and cope with developmental challenges. History of Regional Politics in Nigeria There is no gainsaying that the geographical enclave called Nigeria today is an imposition of the Colonial masters who at that time were more concerned about ways of ensuring administrative convenience and further exploitation of the land. It is unfortunate that ethnic peculiarities vis a vis language, religion and culture among other things were relegated to the background when the notion of making the strange bed fellows a single entity was conceived. As if this was not enough, we were left in the cold at the time of the grudgingly given independence to cope with the diversity issues, consolidating the already laid foundation of suspicion, discord and ethnic chauvinism. Regionalism is not alien to our political structure, from the very foundation of our nation at independence. Nigeria was split into three geopolitical regions i.e Western Region, Eastern Region and Northern Region with our political parties taking on the identities, ideologies and protecting the interest of each region. The Northern People s Party (NPC) represented the
interests of the predominantly Hausa/Fulani Northern Region, the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC)] (later renamed to National Council of Nigerian Citizens ) represented the predominantly Igbo Eastern Region, and the Action Group (AG) dominated the Yoruba Western Region. Before the conquest of the colonialist in the late 19th century, the area in and around Nigeria was home to a number of sophisticated and influential societies. Among the most important were the northeastern kingdom of Borno, the Hausa city-state/kingdoms of Katsina, Kano, Zaria, and Gobir in northern-central Nigeria, the Yoruba city-states/kingdoms of Ife and Oyo, in southwestern Nigeria, the southern kingdom of Benin, and the Igbo communities of eastern Nigeria. There was a structure of governance and administration with established native laws under which the people prosper with peace of mind. There were extensive trading networks developed among the societies and tribes even extending beyond the borders of the present day Nigeria across the Sahara. The British dependencies of Northern and Southern Nigeria were merged into a single territory in 1914, marking the birth of a British contraption called Nigeria. The detail of the history I assume we all know, considering the nature of this gathering. By 1947, a federal system of government was established under a new Nigerian constitution introduced by the United Kingdom. This system was based on three regions: Eastern, Western and Northern. This was not done out of goodwill but rather a bow to agitation from the nationalist and for administrative convenience of the imperialist as well as accommodating the interest of diverse ethnic groups: mainly the Ibo (in the east), the Yoruba (in the west) and the Hausa and Fulani (in the north). Conflicting demands for autonomy and central government by the various political groups compelled the British in 1954 to establish a measure of compromise to accommodate conflicting demands for self-government. With this arrangement, there was a Federal Government and Regional Government with considerable regional autonomy. Specific powers were to be allocated to the federal government including defense, the police force, national trade, custom duties, finance and banking. Responsibility for other services in the area of health, agriculture, education and economic development was to be with the Regions. Nigeria attained independence in 1960 and until 1966, Nigeria was under civilian rule, with Alh Tafawa Balewa of NPC as the federal Prime Minister and Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe of NCNC succeeded the pre-independence Governor General representing the British monarch as head of state. This continued until October 1963 when the country adopted a revised constitution and Dr. Azikiwe took office as Nigeria s first President. The major problems that confronted the federal government within the period were threats to federal unity evidenced by ethnic rivalry, factionalism and the desire for autonomy within the
federal system with certain regions not sharing the speedy developmental vision of the western region leaders led by the Sage Chief Obafemi Awolowo. Within this arrangement, certain minority groups were never satisfied and their resentment with this arrangement constantly heat up the polity. Permit me to also spare you the rest of that history. The period 1966 to 1979 was characterised by military intervention, takeovers and civil war. National rivalries and ethnic sentiments reflected in the national armed forces led to a military intervention in January 1966. Notable national figures were killed with Eastern political leaders spared. Regional animosities flared, prompting massacres of Igbo-speakers living in the north. The Supreme Military Council was formed and the constitution suspended. Maj-Gen. Johnson Aguiyi Ironsi, commander-in-chief of the army took control of government but was also toppled in a counter-coup of July 1966 by chief-of-staff of the army, Lt-Col (later Gen.) Yakubu Gowon. Gen. Yakubu Gowon attempted to revive the system, appointing a military governor for each region. The Biafran civil war erupted in 1967 when the military governor of the Eastern Region, Lt. Col. Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu announced the seccession of the Eastern Region and proclaimed its independence as the Republic of Biafra on May 30 of the same year. As a panacea to the continuous ethnic rivalry, a disintegration of the existing regions into states was proposed. A 12-state structure came into effect in April 1968 and after the cease-fire in January 1970, East Central State was reintegrated into Nigeria. The military rule continued under Gowon till 1975 when he over thrown by Gen Muritala Muhammed. This trend continued until an unsuccessful coup got rid of Muritala, leaving Gen Olusegun Obasanjo his assistant to mount the saddle of leadership, and led the country to a civilian rule about 13 years after military rule in 1979. This era marked the end of regionalism in Nigeria and the commencement of State based political delimitation of Nigeria. A new constitution was drafted, recommending the creation of a federal system of government with an executive presidency; a moratorium on the creation of further states- the number of which had been increased by seven to 19 in March of that year; creation of genuinely national political parties; the holding of free and fair elections; and the transfer of federal capital from Lagos to Abuja. The new constitution was produced in 1978 and promulgated by the SMC in September. It envisaged an executive presidency and a separation of powers between executive, legislative and judicial branches of government. The new constitution ushered in the second republic spanning the period 1979-83. Prior to this republic, five approved parties contested the elections, namely the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) led by Chief Obafemi Awolowo, the National Party of Nigeria (NPN), led Alhaji Shehu Shagari as it standard bearer and eventual President of Nigeria. No thanks to the 12 2/3 magic. The others were the People s Redemption Party (PRP), the northern based opposition to the NPN under the leadership Alhaji Aminu Kano, the Nigerian People s Party (NPP) with Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe as its presidential candidate and the Greater Nigeria People s Party (GNPP) led by Alhaji Waziri Ibrahim.