A COMMITMENT to REFORM: the CONSTITUTION and POLITICS of NIGERIA's SECOND CIVILIAN REGIME by JAYSON S. MYERS B.A. (Hons.), Queen
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A COMMITMENT TO REFORM: THE CONSTITUTION AND POLITICS OF NIGERIA'S SECOND CIVILIAN REGIME by JAYSON S. MYERS B.A. (Hons.), Queen's University, 1979 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS iri THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES (Department of Political Science) We accept this thesis as conforming to the required standard THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA July 1982 (c) Jayson S. Myers, 1982 In presenting this thesis in partial fulfilment of the requirements for an advanced degree at the University of British Columbia, I agree that the Library shall make it freely available for reference and study. I further agree that permission for extensive copying of this thesis for scholarly purposes may be granted by the head of my department or by his or her representatives. It is understood that copying or publication of this thesis for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. Department of Political Science The University of British Columbia 1956 Main Mall Vancouver, Canada V6T 1Y3 6 October 1982 Abstract On 1 October 1979, thirteen years of military rule came to an end in Nigeria. A new constitution was promulgated, the result of an exercise in institutional reform intended to overcome the political problems that, in the 1960s, had led the country to military rule and civil war. Nigeria's constitution is to provide the structural framework for a system of government capable of responding effectively to the exigencies of economic and social development, a government which is also non-exclusive of the diverse communal and regional interests of a plural political society. The constitutional document is-the product of four years of debate among Nigeria's civilian and military leaders. Erected on a set of funda• mental principles set forth by the Federal Military Government, many of the political institutions the basic law establishes — a charter of rights, an executive presidency, a redefined federal system — are new to Nigeria. However, the disputes which shaped the constitutional deliberations are reminiscent of the partisan and communal rivalries that have.plagued'previous regimes. The political problems engendered by sectional conflicts and by the conditions of economic underdevelopment remain a potent feature of constitu• tional rule in Nigeria. The process of constitutional reform, and the provisions of the basic law, have been subject to popular criticism. Partisan rivalries continue to rage over access to political office. The checks and balances established by the constitution are part of a cumbersome system of government. A strengthened federal government still finds itself in conflict with regional administrations. Nigeria's new constitution establishes the institutional framework in which political activity is to take place. Since 1979, the nature of that activity has been determined by political forces similar to those that prevailed under the country's first, ill-fated civilian regime. - ii - Table of Contents Page Abstract ii List of Tables iii List of Figures V Acknowledgement V-.l Chapter I: A Legacy of Political Unrest 1 The Politics of Development 4 Politics in a Plural Society 8 The Objectives of Reform 12 Chapter II: Constitutional Reconstruction 18 Setting the Course for Constitutional ^ Reform The Birth of a New Constitution: 2g Fundamental Guidelines A Statement of National Objectives ^0 and Fundamental Rights A Federal System of Government 41 An Executive Presidency 52 A Representative Legislature 58 The Conduct of Public Officials 59 Traditional Institutions: ^ The Sharia Court of Appeal Military Amendments 65 Chapter III: The Return to Civilian Rule 72 Problems of Institutionalization 75 The Process of Constitutional Reform 80 A Delicate Balance 84 Threatening the Balance: 87 The Re-Emergence of Party Politics Sectionalism Revived 98 Government Under a New Constitution 105 Defining the Federation 116 A National Commitment 130 Notes 139 Bibliography 154 - iii List of Tables Page Table I: Constituent Assembly Allocation 25 of Seats Table II: Party Standings in Nigeria's 1979 Elections: The First 91 Four Rounds Table III: Party Standings in.Nigeria's 1979 Elections: A State-by-State 91 Analysis of the First Four Rounds Table IV": Party Standings in Nigeria's 1979 Presidential Election: A 94 State-by-State Analysis List of Figures Page Figure 1: The Federal Republic of Nigeria 43 - V - Acknowledgement For his criticism, his encouragement, his patience and concern, my warm thanks go to my supervisor, John Wood. I have gained considerably from his insights in comparative politics, as I have from the expertise and encouragement of Alan Cairns and Robert Jackson. Also at the University of British Columbia, Peter Busch provided much needed assurance and advice. I am also indebted to Anthony Kirk-Greene and Gavin Williams at Oxford, and to my former tutor at the London School of Economics, Keith Panter-Brick, for their comments and critique. My research at the University of British Columbia was conducted with the assistance of the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada. I would like to extend a special thanks to Nancy Wong for her friendship and support. Finally, my appreciation goes to my fellow students in the Department of Political Science, whose friendship made my year at the University of British Columbia a very enjoyable one indeed. -1- Chapter I A Legacy of Political Unrest When Alhaji Shehu Shagari was sworn in as Nigeria's first executive president on 1 October 1979, fourteen years of military rule came to an end. A capacity crowd gathered to watch the ceremony in Tafawa Balewa Square as General Olusegun Obasanjo, head of state since 1976 and the man deemed respon• sible for the country's recent constitutional reforms, handed power back to civilian authorities. Cannons boomed a 22-gun salute, while jet fighters flew overhead and tanks rolled through the square in a show of support for the in• coming president.''" A new constitution was promulgated: the product of more than four years ;of deliberation and debate among Nigerians. As President Shagari committed himself and his. fellow citizens to the "great challenge" and "new opportunity" represented by this, the inauguration of the Second Nigerian Republic, he reminded the nation of the problems and conflicts which had led 2 to the collapse of civilian government in 1966. "Those problems are still with us", he told his audience. "Now more than ever before, Nigerians must work 3 together ... to cultivate a feeling of nationhood". Coloured by so many reminders of the past, the ceremony prompted many observers to wonder what, 4 if anything, had changed since the days of the First Republic. The ceremonies' that took place in Lagos were intended to usher in a new era of social and economic development and political'reform. The new constitution was designed to establish the procedures and machinery of a "truly national" system of government. As such, it was to set forth the institutions that would allow for the rational and efficient implementation of national development plans, as well as for the peaceful management of conflicts arising between ethnic and sectional interests. Nigeria's constitu• tion was to overcome the political problems the country had experienced since it achieved independence in I960, problems which had led to the imposition of military rule, civil war, and widespread political unrest. - 2 - How realistic are these aspirations? To what extent is institu• tional engineering capable of resolving the crises that threaten political stability in Nigeria? The intentions of Nigeria's constitutional engineers and the political problems which they confront, both as a legacy from the past and in the form of more recent conflicts, play an important role in explaining the nature of the country's constitutional development. However, at the heart of- the matter lies a more speculative issue — the relationship between those structures and practices set forth by the constitution and the political forces that operate within Nigerian society. No constitution is able to specify the correct form of political activity in every circumstance. It may only be able to circumscribe that activity by establishing the rules and machinery through which individuals take part in the process of governing. In turn, such struc-: tures must be institutionalized. They must become accepted procedures, valued ini.their own right above the sometimes contrary demands of personal or sectional interest. The greatest challenge to the establishment and maintenance of civilian rule in Nigeria is exactly this need to establish the structures and procedures outlined by the new constitution as the appropriate institutions of government — to ensure through practice that the constraints embodied in the constitution are, in fact, applied to those individuals and groups taking an active part in political affairs. The process of constitutional revision and the ^political developments which have occurred within Nigeria since October 1979 indicate just how difficult that task may be. From the time of their formulation, Nigeria's new constitutional provisions have been at the centre of controversy. Pressures were mounting for their revision even before the constitution was promulgated, and several key articles are still subject to open attack. Nigeria's constitution operates within a political environment shaped by competition among factions that have survived the years of military - 3 - rule. Its capacity to contain the conflict which plagued the country's first civilian government remains very much a matter of conjecture. * *• # When the members of Nigeria's Constitution Drafting Committee and Constituent Assembly met to draw up the articles of a new constitutional document in the late 1970s, the experiences of the previous two decades were foremost in their minds. Their nation, which at independence in 1960 had been 5 acclaimed as Africa's brightest economic and political star, had over the previous 15 years experienced the collapse of civilian government, a bloody civil war, several military coups d'etat, general strikes, mass riots, and student domonstrations.