NAME:- ZAINAB MALAMI

MATRIC NO:- DPA/23/019

DEPARTMENT: PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

COURSE: DEMOCRACY GOVERNMENT

TITLE: ASSIGNMENT
INTRODUCTION

Nation States reserve the power and rights to stipulate some rules of interpersonal
and group relationships and to prescribe the basic principles that guide socio-
economic and political organization, and exchange relations. Such rules as agreed
upon and endorsed by the parliament become the cardinal elements that
characterize the Constitution of a given nation-state. However, such elements are
either written or unwritten, but form the super-structure or edifice upon which a
particular State is organized and upon which socio-economic competition takes
place.

Q1 Outline the influence of constitutional democracy in Nigeria

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English has defined Constitution as, “the

system of laws and principles, usually written down, according to which a country
or an organization is governed.” According to the BBC English Dictionary, “the
Constitution of a country or organization is the system of laws which formally states
people’s rights and duties”.

In a formal sense, constitution refers to:

 A fundamental legal document.

 The fundamental institutions of a state the laws, customs and great
conventions or
 The total system of laws and customs

Constitution

Bryce defined Constitution as “the aggregate of the laws and customs through and
under which the public life of a State goes on, or the complex totality of laws
embodying the principles and rules whereby the community is organized, governed,
and held together. Thus, Constitution can be aptly defined as laws and principles
according to which a State is governed. The objects of a Constitution are to limit the
arbitrary action of the government, to guarantee the rights of the governed, and to
define the operation of the sovereign power. Constitution can be written or
unwritten.

Nigerian Constitution in Focus:

Nigeria has a written Constitution, and this in no doubt, is superior to all other laws.
The 1999 Constitution has therefore, vividly emphasized the supremacy of the
Constitution. Section 1 – (1) has stressed that, this Constitution is supreme and its
provisions shall have binding force on all authorities and persons throughout the
Federal Republic of Nigeria. Section 1 Sub-Section 2 also states that the Federal
Republic of Nigeria shall not be governed, nor shall any person or group of persons
take control of the Government of Nigeria or any part thereof, except in accordance
with the provisions of this Constitution.

And Section1 Sub-Section 3 of the Constitution has even laid more emphasis on the
supremacy of the Constitution by asserting thus: If any other law is inconsistent
with the provisions of this constitution, this Constitution shall prevail, and that
other laws shall, to the extent of the inconsistency, be void. As a matter of fact, the
Constitution of any country seeks to provide acceptable framework for inflation and
societal reproduction. The 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, like
previous Constitutions, has a broad purpose of promoting the good government and
welfare of all persons in the country on the principles of freedom, equality and
justice, and for the purpose of consolidating the unity our people.

Rigid and Flexible Constitutions:

According to the ease or difficulty with which Constitutions can be amended they
are sometimes divided into rigid and flexible constitutions. Constitutions may be
rigid in form or principle, but flexible in substance or practice. For instance, the U.S.
Constitutions is difficult to amend but broad enough in text to be interpreted
flexibly.

Great Britain has an unwritten Constitution composed of customs, Conventions and

regular Acts of parliament. Every country has either written or unwritten
Constitution. It is only in truly democratic countries that Constitutions actually limit
the powers of government. In Nigeria, the government operates like a Leviathan and
political leaders appropriate the institutes of governance to subvert the Constitution
and undermine the rule of law.

Constitutional Democracy in Nigeria:

Nigeria returned to constitutional democracy in 1999 with a presidential, federal

Constitution. There have been demands by various civil society organizations, the
executive and the legislature for review of the Constitution. A national Political
Reform Conference (NPRC) set up in 2005 proposed many constitutional
amendments which became controversial, especially the provision to extend the
tenure of the executive by another term, and were not passed by the two houses of
the National Assembly in 2006. Thus, the process of constitutional review was
aborted. Nevertheless, the present government of President Yar’Adua has yet again
set up Constitutional Review Committee comprising of some eminent and galaxy
Nigerians to look into the areas of the constitution that need to be reviewed,
amended, tinkered and what have you.

The principle of checks and balances, which is central to the presidential system, has
been difficult to practice, large because the executive overshadows the legislature
and judiciary, a legacy of the long period of military rule. Nigeria achieved a major
landmark in its democratic evolution by the relatively successful conclusion of the
2003 elections, the first to be done by a civilian regime. However, many
international and local election observers have condemned the conduct of the 2007
elections, warranting the President, Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, to set up an
Electoral Reform Panel in August 2007 to propose changes that will guarantee free
and fair elections in the future.

Q2. Examine how environmental conditions Influence Democratic Governance

in Nigeria:

In recent times, there have been recommendations as well by various civil society
organizations and other institutions, to improve the status of democracy and
political governance in Nigeria, and some of these key recommendations are the
following: -

 Standards and codes not yet ratified should be ratified and domesticated in
the shortest possible time;
 The Economic Reform Programme should be faithfully implemented to
sustain macro- economic stability;
  Appropriate laws should be passed to institutionalize the economic reforms
of the government.
 Capacity-building to deepen new budget orientation and to institutionalize
monitoring and evaluation of budget implementation by civil society
organizations (CSOs);
 Capacity-building of public servants to operate the Public Procurement Law;
 Passage and operation of the Fiscal Responsibility Bill, strengthening of
support to anti- corruption agencies (EFCC & ICPC) to fight economic crimes
and speedy trial of corruption cases.

The idea of a ‘second social contract’ (here also referred to as ‘covenant’) between
society, government and the armed forces has been in development in Great Britain
for many years. The covenant dates back in spirit to 1593 when Elisabeth I issued a
statute that provided taxes on parishes for the treatment of wounded soldiers. In
April 2000, the British army, with the approval of the government, published the
Military Covenant in order to counter the growing gap between British society and
its armed forces. During the course of British involvement in Afghanistan and Iraq,
the Covenant has proven itself quite popular: media, opposition, former defense
leaders, charities and academia refer to the government and society’s obligation to
act with diligence and care – as set out in the Covenant – when criticizing the
negative aspects of military involvement – such as the considerable overextension of
the armed forces, equipment shortages and the lack of (medical) care.3 The new
government coalition of conservatives and liberals has promised to renew and
formalize the Covenant, aiming to better facilitate the fulfilment of society’s
obligations to its own military (MoD 2010: 29).

A military government is any government that is administered by a military,

whether or not this government is legal under the laws of the jurisdiction at issue or
by an occupying power. It is usually administered by military personnel.
military coups have occurred in Nigeria, and military involvement in politics has
been a response to political instability and economic stagnation.
Military coups in Nigeria
 In 1966, Nigerian army majors overthrew the government, ending the First
Republic.
 The military ruled Nigeria without interruption from 1966 to 1999, except for a
brief period of democracy from 1979 to 1983.
 The most recent coup occurred in 1993.
 Military involvement in politics
 Military coups have been a response to political instability and economic
stagnation in many African countries.
 Military coups are most common in developing countries, where a lack of
democracy often necessitates such events for changes in leadership.
Military and society
 The relationship between the military and society is complicated and ever-
evolving.
 In a democracy, civilian control of the military ensures that defense and national
security issues do not compromise democratic values.
 Transparency in the military sector is crucial to fight corruption.

References

1. ^ Brooks, Risa A. (2019). "Integrating the Civil–Military Relations

Subfield". Annual Review of Political Science. 22 (1): 379–
398. doi:10.1146/annurev-polisci-060518-025407. ISSN 1094-2939.
2. ^ Shields, Patricia, (2015) "Civil Military Relations" in Encyclopedia of Public
Administration and Public Policy, Third edition Taylor and Francis DOI:
10.1081/E-EPAP3-120052814
3. ^ Pion-Berlin D., Dudley D. (2020) Civil-Military Relations: What Is the State
of the Field. In: Sookermany A. (eds) Handbook of Military Sciences. p. 1.
Springer, Cham doi:10.1007/978-3-030-02866-4_37-1
4. ^ Peter D. Feaver. 2003. Armed Servants: Agency, Oversight, and Civil-Military
Relations. Cambridge: Harvard University Press
5. ^ Shields, Patricia (November–December 2006). "Civil-Military Relations:
Changing Frontiers (Review Essay)". Public Administration
Review. 66 (6): 924–928. doi:10.1111/j.1540-6210.2006.00660.x.