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Human rights, Democracy and Development: The Nigerian Experience

Abstract: The concepts of human rights, democracy and development remain and will ever remain most paramount in the affairs of all nations which cherish liberty and good governance. At present, there is virtually any facet of diplomatic interactions between one sovereign nation and the other which is not founded on the internationally accepted principles of human rights, democracy and development. Having passed through many years of agonizing, undemocratic and dehumanizing military regimes; Nigerians have come to realize that genuine concern for human rights and democracy is a available option for attaining effective development well recognized by international communities. Unfortunately, this realization is now being manifested in the affairs of Nigeria very much in theory rather than in practice. The meaning and relevance of human rights, democracy and development as legal and socio-political concepts, the nexus between them and practical problems besetting their effective application in Nigeria, constitute the nightly gritty of this article. Introduction Apart from being a subject of global concern, the topic “Human Rights, Democracy and Development is particularly sensitive to the present6 sociology-economic and political circumstances of our time. The topic is essentially appropriate at present when the search for democracy and political transition from one civilian government to another has become more paramount in the affairs of many freedom loving Nigerians. Divergent theories, hypothesis and legal opinions have been put forward on the concept of human rights democracy and development. The overall purpose of this article is to relate these intellectual postulations to the present day sociology-economic and political needs of Nigerian with a view to ascertaining the authenticity of such postulations. Edmund Burke was right when he said that “I do not vilify theory and speculation because that would be to vilify reason itself Whenever I speak against theory, I mean always a weak, erroneous, fallacious, Unfounded or imperfect theory and one of the ways of discovering  that it is a false theory is by comparing it with practice.” This article examines the philosophical concepts of Human Rights, Democracy and Development. It attempts to –practice [lace the meaning and scope of these constitutional and political terminologies in the perspective of modern internationally accepted standard with the Nigeria experience in focus. is there any relationship between human rights, democracy and development?. Can the three concepts exist independently of one another? Should there be a nexus between them? Which out of the concepts of human right, democracy and development is primarily fundamental? Of what importance is the promotion of human rights to democracy and development? What is the status of human rights in the scheme of democracy and development? What are the major problems besetting effective realization of human rights, democracy and development in Nigeria? The above problematic questions among others are meant to be raised in this article while efforts will be made to give some suggestions and recommendations with a view to charting a new outlook for Nigeria in her tortuous journey towards an enduring democracy and reliable governance.

CONCEPT OF DEVELOPMENT The process of development as viewed from the international perspective in this article refer to the evolution of democratic institution of government that is based on a common political ideology which can bring about peace and overall development in most nations. It is conceived that the existence of solid socio-economic, political, cultural, educational and technological development in every nation is a prerequisite to the attainment of international growth and global development. Since democracy is now a popular concept well favored by most advanced and civilized nation, a genuine subscription to its basic  principle by other nations may enhance mutual understanding between both developed and developing nations thereby ; paving way for mutual benefits that are mostly required for comparative development at all levels. Therefore, the idea of development in international perspective is taken to mean the acceptance of the principles of a common political philosophy by most nations subject to their socio- economy and cultural identities. Such political philosophy being capable of fostering their relationships in terms of foreign policies, trade, politics, education, culture and technology. In this place, we consider an effective democracy as that political philosophy which is capable of achieving that purpose. This contention is based on the reasoning that democracy is presupposes the existence of a good government which is funded on freedom, equality and justice. Adherence to such fundamental principles is likely to guarantee peace, respect for human rights and national development. The word summit for social development (Copenhagen, 1995) adopted the Copenhagen declaration and program of action which underline the urgent need to address profound social problems, especially poverty, unemployment and social exclusion which affects every nation. The (C) Research Journal of International Studies - issue 8 (November 2008) Declaration stresses further that “people are at the centre of our concern for sustainable development and ….. They are entitling to a healthy and productive life in harmony with the environment” 33. A landmark in the enunciation of new human rights occurred when on December 4, 1986; the united nation general assembly adopted the declaration on the right to development via its resolution 41/128. the right to development had being put on hold since 1981, when the united Nations commission on human rights established a working group of 15  governmental experts which had also  received very substantial  contributions from other non-governmental organizations 34. However, despite the adoption of the Declaration on the Rights to Development, the major task of finding concrete ways and means to develop this right is still on the agenda of States and peoples of development and to make him or her an active participant and beneficiary of the right to development, persistently discussions concerning this right must continue at all levels of policy making and actions. Problems Besetting Effective Realization of Human Rights, Democracy and Development in Nigeria At a period when Nigeria was under a colonial rule, it was not to hold that her citizens were under a democratic regime. Shortly after independence and particularly between 1960 and 1966, the parliamentary system of government in practice by then could not be said to have actually consolidated the gains of democracy for the people. For a short period of Presidential System of Government between 1979 and 1983, the nature of democracy then, was more in theory than in practice. Painfully too, out of a period of thirty-nine years (till 1999) as an independent nation; Nigeria had experienced agonizing period of twenty-nine years (till 1999) under various military regimes. The entire political period of years spent so far by Nigeria as a sovereign independent nation have been characterized by many problems besetting effective realization of human rights, democracy and development. a)	Bad Leadership Within the context of this article, the term ‘Leadership’ means the power vested in political office holders by law to lead the electorate that constitute people who voted them into power. Leadership also entails the qualities possessed by those individuals who are supposed to lead a set of race in a political entity. Democracy depends on the presence of rulers and persons in authority who can give legitimate commands to others. Such persons in authority must be seen by their followers to be reliable, dependable and of impeccable characters that are ready to serve and not to be served. In line with democratic principles, political leaders must be tolerant and always ready to give opportunities to others to make their contributions towards the overall development of the nation. Democratic leaders must encourage oppositions they must not consider opposing views of others as undue confrontations  aimed at humiliating them out of power. An enduring democracy requires just leaders who respect the rule of law and fundamental rights of citizens. Leaders of a democratic system must not be greedy and corrupt. it is unfortunate that few of the very problem confronting the effective realization of human rights, democracy and development arise from the negative attitude of bad leaders  in Nigeria who have corruptly enriched themselves, violated fundamental human rights of opposing groups, disobeyed court orders, mismanaged national resources and disregard international human rights norms and democratic principles. As a result of bad leadership, most of the factors of production have been ignored, underutilized, or misused. Fertile agricultural lands lie dormant while unemployment and crime rates soar. The windfall during the oil boom was badly misspent, much of it stolen, thus leaving most of our national oil refineries grounded. The resultant effect has been fuel scarcity in the country with its attendant escalation in transport costs and unbearable increase in price of commodities in the markets. The exchange rate of Naira has greatly fallen, thereby reducing the purchasing rate of industrial materials which could have been gainfully used to improve the nation’s technological development. b. Military Intervention in Politics Nigeria did not start with military in the process of her political history. When the mi9litary boys first struck on January 15th, 1966, part of the reasons given for such an abrupt  intervention  was to wipe out political  profiteers  in high and low places that sought bribes  and kept the country divided  permanently so that  they could remain damage, it should and must be taken. This is precisely what we had done…………….”38 A greater percentage of military leaders who have tasted political power in Nigeria. Having discovered how sweet it is; are no longer ready to relinquish same. To achieve this goal, political leader and human rights activities have been held in detention without trial, many have been killed while other have fled to foreign nations for the safety of their lives. Through this process, the country had lost a lot of human resources that would have been employed for her socioeconomically, cultural, political, educational and technological development. In every attempt to prevent opposition, military leaders in Nigeria have also formed the habit of promulgating decrees consisting of ouster clauses which prevent court of law from exercising jurisdiction to entertain matters often regarded by the military as confrontational. By so doing, many citizens have not been able to defend their rights over certain matters that are crucial to the overall development of the nation. In every attempt to make their power supreme, military tribunals have been employed to disregard human right and principles Benson Saro-Wiwa which led to the suspension of Nigeria from the Commonwealth of Nations in 1995. By this suspension, a lot of priviledges and advantages of membership of the commonwealth hitherto enjoyed by Nigerians to promote the nation’s development ceased. Military governments in Nigeria have also not allowed the judiciary to be truly independent. Military leaders were often the sole hirer of judges and so, they could decide at any time to dismiss any judge who was not on their side. By gross disobedience to orders of courts, 40 military leaders have rendered the judiciary seriously incompetent in its onerous function of dispensation of justice. This military posture has not paved way for effective growth and development of the nation’s legal system in a desperate bid to perpetuate their rule, some Nigerian military leader have scuttled processes of political transition from military to civil rule. For example, General Ibrahim Gbadamosi Babangida annulled the presidential election of June 12, 1993 while General Sanni Abacha also employed a lot of political maneuvers which were detrimental to the nation’s development with a view to staying longer in power until death on Monday, June 8, 1998. It may be relevant to point out that refusal of some military leaders in Nigeria to yield to the advice of the advice of the international community for a quick return to a democratic system of government led to the imposition of economic sanctions which had seriously retarded the development of the nation in all its ramifications. ©Research journal of studies – Issue 8 (November, 2008) G8. (c)Illiteracy and Poverty Many problems which are not legal in nature such as illiteracy and poverty also hinder the effective realization of human rights, democracy and development in Nigeria. Education has been on the decline in Nigeria, both in terms of enrollment as well as physical infrastructure, material and equipment. There has been little advancement in technology. By statistics, it has been confirmed that Nigeria has a male literacy rate of mere 54 percent while the female literacy rate are 31 percentages. 41 democracies grow from the confidence and faith of a people in their abilities to tap their human and natural resources effectively for national growth and development. It is therefore totally dependent upon educated electorates who have access to ideas. Illiteracy affects the sustenance of democracy because uneducated people cannot make informed political decisions. Likewise uneducated people cannot possess the required skills and man-power for industrial growth and technology development of the nation. The impact of poverty on poverty on democracy is profound. Lack of education impedes participation in government; a person must understand the principles of government and the nature of political operations. Education is also vital for human resources development and that in turn, build a foundation for increase productivity, improvement in health and nutrition as well as improved ability to handle innovative scientific tool for technological advancement of the nation. Poverty also contributes to a litigant’s incapacity to meet the cost of litigation in Nigeria sand other incident expenses that normally go with the filing of action in courts. A person who is unable to secure three square meals a day is not likely to go to court for the enforcement of his fundamental human right because of the cost of litigation. Instead, poor persons often take laws into their hand thereby increasing the rate of violence in Nigeria. This is a treat to democracy. Illiteracy, ignorance and wrong perception of the government have also been identified as some of the problems militating against human right litigation in Nigeria. A person who can neither read nor write may not even be aware of the existence of his fundamental right let alone bringing an action to enforce them. Even where some people are aware of their rights, their erroneous impression and perception of the government as an institution too powerful to be sued may prevent them from filing action to enforce any breach of their fundamental rights against the government. Again, while some believe that Police Officers are noted for their unpredictability since they can turn around to arrest and deal with any person who takes them to court over an alleged infringement on his right; others see the act of going to court as a time wasting exercise which not only disturb their business endeavours, but also portrays them as irresponsible member of the society.