Being a summary, by Akeem Nafiu, of contributions made at the Public Law Series, organised by the Faculty of Law, University of Lagos, recently.

Issues  bordering on Good governance and constitutional democracy, occupied the front burner at the public law series organised recently by the Faculty of  Law, University of Lagos.

The occasion, in the words of the Dean of the Faculty, Professor O. Oyewo, marked the re-opening of a seemingly closed chapter in the annals of the faculty’s public lecture series that were organised by the faculty each session.

The dean stated further that the main objective of the lecture series was to provide a platform for the elucidation of topical issues in the public domain by eminent, knowledgeable and key personalities, for publication to the whole world through special editions of the faculty’s flagship journal (Nigerian Journal of Contemporary Law) along with writings by other scholars.

This year’s topic, “Challenges of Constitutional Democracy and Good Governance” was seen by all the guests at the occasion as an issue that had remained relevant to the nation’s transition to democracy even with the incoming 2011 general elections.

In his opening remarks, an alumnus of the institution and a Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Effiong Bob, noted that at the end of the day, the lecture series would help in no small way in proferring solutions to the many pressing national issues as well as the dissemination of ideas that could generate positive changes in the nation.

He stated further that owing to a long period of military rule, governments at the federal, state and local levels are now faced with several challenges in the operation of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“Intrinsic to the modern concept of constitutional democracy is good governance that can bring dividends of democracy. Hence, every Nigerian will be interested in this lecture, particularly  how our electoral system can establish free and fair elections that will produce qualitative elected leaders who will not only have the understanding of the demands of constitutional democracy but will possess the qualities to deliver good governance and the dividends of democracy to our people”, he further said.

Presenting a paper on the topic, “Challenges of Constitutional Democracy and Good Governance in Nigeria: A State Perspective” the Lagos State governor, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola(SAN), categorised the challenges into two classes.

According to him, “on the one hand, the constitution itself may be defective in certain respect. Perhaps, it is not truly indicative of the will of the people and perhaps it contains certain provisions which have not worked well in practice”.

He stated that such defects would cast a shadow of doubts on the political system’s qualification as a constitutional democracy and also hinder the running of government.

The second class of challenge in the opinion of the governor was the attitude of leaders and the practice of governance which might not always conform to the spirit and letters of the constitution as it stands.

On the last issue, the governor, speaking through his special adviser on Taxation, Mr. Ade Ipaye, expressed his concern over what he described as the sundry demonstrations of disdain for constitutional guidelines which were daily exhibited by public officials in Nigeria.

He, then, went ahead to speak on corruption, describing it as a palpable challenge to the constitutional democracy and good governance in Nigeria, noting that the country is at a point when the challenges of constitutional democracy and good governance constituted the major occupations of leadership

The governor declared  that the view of government, as a time-bound opportunity for associates of the incumbent, to have access to government purse, placed unnecessary pressure on public officers and made it all the more difficult for them to play by the rules.

According to him, “these pressures not only constitute a distraction on the ability and capacity of public officers to effectively discharge their duties, they are also a drain on the public purse.

“We also expect our leaders to live larger than life on leaving public offices.  People who retain their former lifestyle are derided as being incompetent fools as the virtue of being honest, has now become a condemnable vice”, he stated further.

“In any society anywhere in  the world, advancement in the areas of social welfare, education, healthcare, employment, security, public infrastructure development and the protection of human rights are and must be considered indicative of good governance”, the governor stated.

He eulogised the press in Nigeria over what he described as their doggedness in nurturing the nation’s democracy, stating that in the past 10 years, they had served as the bridge between the elected officials and the electorate, who elected them.