From whatever angle one looks at the concept of nation building, it must be borne in mind that there is an unassailable truism that nation building can only be properly and truly carried out by the people and institutions of the country concerned. Any hope that outsiders or foreigners would be the drivers of the vehicle of nation building is no more than a political illusion.
Constitutional Framework
The courts in Nigeria are creations of statutes. The 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on its part provides in its Section 6(1) and (2) specifically as follows:
It is submitted that the judicial implication of the foregoing provisions is that the Constitution in the exercise of its judicial powers and as such, it is the Constitution that the Courts must look up to and not any of the other two arms of government in playing its role in nation building.
Constitutional Role
The role of the Courts in nation building is traceable to the Constitution. Thus Section 6(6)(b) of the Constitution.
It is clear from the foregoing provision that the role of the courts in nation building can only be "interventionist" and not "origination" in nature. it is interventionist because according to the language of the Constitution, there has to be a matter between persons or between government or authority and persons before the courts can begin to play any role by exercising their judicial powers. "Persons" here include natural and non-natural persons.
Although the role of the Courts has been encapsulated in forty-two words in the provision quoted above, it is nonetheless, as wide as Nigeria itself. In this regard, it has been held by the Courts themselves that it is their duty to expound but not to expand their role in interpreting this provision.
It is submitted that, in exercising their judicial powers under the Constitution, the courts in Nigeria must constantly bear in mind the expectation of the peoples in Nigeria that they wish to enjoy a feeling of happiness for being an intrinsic part of the country a failure of justice. Can it be open to debate that the dong of justice is the primary role of the Courts in nation building? What our Courts need to do therefore is to adopt a pragmatic approach, in the dispensation of justice, in a manner that would assure the citizenry of its efforts at nation building. Our courts would seem to have, over the years, strive to accomplish this objective.
Judicial Precedent
The concept of nation building involves the use of state power such as the judicial power of the courts to promote and propagate autonomous things. These, of course, include decisions of local courts. It would seem that the Supreme Court of Nigeria is in agreement with this view although there has not been a consistent demonstration of this tendency on its part. In ATTORNEY-GENERAL BENDEL STATE v ATTORNEY-GENERAL OF THE FEDERATION, ESO, J.S.C. aptly explained the attitude of nation building and expressed his judicial disgust for the continued promotion and propagation of foreign judicial decisions in our courts.
In pursuance of their role in nation building, our courts particularly the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court ought to be citing, more frequently, decisions of the High Courts of Nigeria as Authorities on issues on which the Supreme Court has not made pronouncements rather than decisions of the High Court of England, which are mainly reported in the King's Bench Division and Queen's Bench Division Law Reports and other Law Reports.
Promotion of Investments
The courts in Nigeria ought to use their judicial powers to promote and encourage investments in the nation's economy. Citizens and institutions that have invested in various sectors of the economy ought not to be made to regret their investments by reason of oppressive judicial process. There are many areas of our judicial process that could make investors wish that they had invested in other developed economies where the judicial process would be investment friendly.
For example, a simple case of pensioner who had invested in real estate in this country in the hope that the rents accruing from his investment would be used to sustain himself in his retirement. There have been cases of recovery of premises that have lasted more than ten years in court in some of which the tenants had stopped paying rents whilst the case remain pending in court.
Criminal Justice
As part of its contribution to the process of nation building, our courts ought to ensure a Criminal justice system in which persons accused of crimes are promptly tried and commensurate penalty imposed on those found guilty of criminal offences. It leaves much to be desired in a nation where a poor man who is accused of stealing a goat is speedily tried and when convicted, is sentenced to a term of six months or one year imprisonment whilst a former Governor of a state who is accused of stealing over N1Billion of State funds enjoys the privilege of a criminal process that allows his trial to be prolonged for a period of over three years during which period he is able to gallivant across the globe and even when he is eventually convicted, he is sentenced to a term of imprisonment of say three or six months.
The use of the criminal justice process as a tool in nation building cannot be over-emphasized. If the citizenry are assured of a swift criminal justice procedure that ensures a three way traffic justice system in which there is justice to the state, justice to the accused who is alleged to have committed the crime and justice to the victim of the crime, thent he courts would have succeeded in promoting a feeling of happiness on the part of the people for being an intrinsic part of the country whenever they come in contact with the criminal justice process. OPUTA J.S.C, that former "Socrates of the Supreme Court" aptly encapsulated this in the case of JOSIAH v THE STATE.
Political Process
Nigeria as a nation has chosen democracy for herself. From time to time the courts would be called upon by politicians and institutions involved in the democratic process to intervene in disputes arising from the electoral process. The courts must at all times stand on the side of free and fair elections bearing in mind that a free and fair election which gives birth to a democratic government does not begin and end with the act of voting. An election is a process of beginning with the registration of voters. The courts must therefore ensure, when called upon to intervene, that the stream of the electoral process is not polluted by acts that are contraceptive to the birth of a truly democratic government.
In this regard the courts ought to bear in mind the observations of ANIAGOLU, J.S.C that the essence of democratic elections is that they be free and fair and that in that atmosphere of freedom, fairness and impartiality, citizens will exercise their freedom of choice of who their representatives shall be by casting their votes in favor of those candidates who in their deliberate judgement, they consider possess the qualities which mark them out as preferable candidates to those others who are contesting with them.
Free and fair election which will give birth to a truly democratic government cannot theefore, tolerate inflation of the number of registered voters in a particular constituency, thuggery or violence of any kind corrupt practice, impersonation, undue influence, intimidation, disorderly conduct and any acts which may have the effect of impeding the free exercise by the voter of his franchise.
Although such governments may enjoy what one would call a synthetic political follower, they ultimately weaken the citizenry's faith in the nation on which they are foisted. Our courts have an onerous duty of preventing their emergence.
The Courts also have a duty to ensure that there is popular participation in the political process. This role was manifested in the decision of the Supreme Court in INEC v MUSA21a where the court upheld the right of every Nigerian to form and belong to any political party of his choice.
It was the judgement of the Supreme Court in this case that liberalized the legal regime for the registration of Political Parties and opened up the political space for popular participation.
Corruption
It is generally said that corruption is a canker worm that has eaten deep into Nigeria. One should say it is not only a canker worm but also caterpillar and locust which have ravaged our economic base and negatively affected the quality of life which the ordinary citizen would otherwise have been enjoying at the instance of the State. It is the duty of our courts to strive to abolish corruption in their effort at nation building.
Indeed Section 15(5) of the 1999 Constitution provides that "the State shall abolish all corrupt practices and abuse of power." Thus the concept of nation building and corruption are antithetical to each other. The objective of corruption is to steal, kill and destroy, so it is evil. But nation building is aimed at fostering a harmonious relationship between the State and the citizenry with a view to promoting a feeling of happiness and belonging to the end that loyalty to the nation shall over ride other primordial loyalties. Our Courts must therefore at all times stand against corruption in all its ramifications. But a judiciary can only fight corruption if it is peopled by incorruptible personnel.
This means that the role of the courts in fighting corruption in its efforts at nation building mus begin with the appointment of incorruptible people to the Bench. A corrupt judge is more dangerous than an armed robber. His activity strikes at the very root of the fountain of justice. Thus justice is rooted in confidence and confidence is shattered and destroyed when the dispenser of justice is revealed to have been motivated by considerations other than law.
Mr. Oyetibo, SAN
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