ANYONE following the NBA in recent times would be aware of the perspective of the legal profession as far as deepening democratic values in Nigeria is concerned. The NBA has continually made the views of the profession known on the state of democracy in Nigeria and will continue to do so.

Democracy is an English word with its root in the Greek word "Demokratra" meaning "popular rule" itself coined from the words "Demo" - meaning "people" and "Kratos" meaning "rule" or "strength".

Democracy has many definitions but I think we are fairly well-agreed when we borrow the well-worn definition first popularised by the 16th president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln, in his famous speech at Gettysburg as government of the people, for the people and by the people.

Democratic values

What are these?

A credible electoral system;

a fearless, consistent and independent judiciary; freedom of information;

internal democracy in the political parties; and an educated and determined populace and I must add universal suffrage.

A credible electoral system

A fundamental underpinning of democracy is an electoral system, which respects the choices made by the people. President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua struck the right chord when he recognised early in his administration the need for electoral reform and set up this committee headed by Honourable Justice Lawal Uwais.

However, to everyone's surprise, the laudable report of the committee has been tinkered with in a fundamental respect by government leading to serious doubts about the sincerity of government about electoral reform.

The Ekiti example

The court-ordered rerun into 63 wards in Ekiti State;


the massive violence which greeted the rerun in spite of the presence of about 10,000 security officials;

the resignation of the resident electoral commissioner due to pressures upon her to do the wrong thing;

the police declaration of the said electoral commissioner as "wanted". A crime to resign an appointment?
Her consequential withdrawal of resignation; (e) the collation of election results at the police station contrary to law because of fear of breakdown of law and order in spite of 10,000 security personnel as aforesaid; (f) the surprising 18,000 votes cast in Ido-Osi Local Council which suggested that since the voters' registration exercise in 2006, no registered voter in Ido-Osi had relocated or died. It was 15,000 of these 18,000 Ido-Osi votes in Ido-Osi that gave 'victory' to Mr. Segun Oni of the PDP and it was the addition of these votes that initially offended the resident electoral commissioner's "Christian faith and conscience"

There is no question that total overhaul of an electoral system whose executive chairman is appointed by a President of the Federal Republic who is also the head of one of the political parties jostling for power is sine qua non for deepening democratic values in this beleaguered nation.

The NBA has called for and continues to reiterate its call for the findings of the Justice Muhammed Lawal Uwais-led team as it relates to appointment of the chairman of INEC to be adopted at the very least if government is indeed sincere about electoral reform.

It is most embarrassing that Ghana and South Africa have been able to get elections right but Nigeria continues to stumble like a drunken man, fulfilling the 'big-for-nothing' tag Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana placed on her 50 odd years ago.

It is thus no surprise to anyone that President and Mrs. Obama's maiden visit to Africa is not to Nigeria, the so-called giant of Africa but to Ghana which the United States (U.S.) government described as one of "our most trusted partners in sub-Saharan Africa".1

Inasmuch as a visit by a U.S. President does not necessarily confer greatness upon a nation, we will be deceiving ourselves if we do not see that the world is observant of the failure of democratic values in this country, exemplified by the rape on democracy in the 2007 elections of which the recent Ekiti State rerun is but a sundry example.

Fearless, consistent and independent judiciary

The judiciary must be credited with playing a yeoman's role in preserving democratic values in Nigeria and there is no doubt that a fearless, consistent and independent judiciary is also sine qua non for deepening democratic values. Fearlessness is a fundamental essential. Timorousness in the face of executive lawlessness will not do. Consistence is an unshakeable necessity. Lack of consistency in court judgments will shake the faith of the common man in the courts and give rise to allegations of corruption.

In this regard, the outright contradictions in judgments of the Court of Appeal over electoral cases in the past two years should give cause for concern, not-to-mention being suggestive at the very least of administrative failure in that very important court. A system must be put in place to ensure that justices of the Court of Appeal are acquainted with judgments of their brother judges in other jurisdictions. The lower courts must also respect the principle of stare decisis.

Independence

The judiciary requires financial independence. It wouldn't do for the courts to depend on the executive arm of government for provision of stationary, rehabilitation of court halls and what have you. He who pays the piper dictates the tune as the trite aphorism goes. The legislative arms of government in the 36 states enjoy a first line charge from the federation account. But the judiciary at state level does not. NBA uses this to call for financial independence of the judiciary. And by financial independence, we mean financial autonomy. All must be done to safeguard the judiciary's role as an independent arbiter. Freeing the judiciary from the purse strings of the executive arm of government will go a long way towards deepening democratic values in this country.

Freedom of information

NBA hereby calls for the Freedom of Information Bill to be passed by the National Assembly in its undiluted form. Journalists and indeed, all citizens must be given access to information, which are critical for accurate reporting and the unraveling of the web of corruption in Nigeria.

Classifying documents as 'secret' must be stopped unless manifestly critical to the nation's security.

Access to information about the goings on in governance is an absolute necessity, which must not be toyed with. The democratic process will not only be deepened by the authentic Freedom of Information Act, when passed. Transparency and accountability in governance in Nigeria will be ensured.

Time would fail me in talking about other necessities as far as deepening democratic values are concerned but in a nutshell, these are: internal democracy in the political parties; and an educated populace.

Conclusion

The battle to achieve true democratic values in Nigeria will be long and tedious, but the force of history is in our favour. As Martin Luther King Jr. said: "History is a long and tragic story of the fact that privileged groups seldom give up their privileges voluntarily" and it will be no exception with Nigeria. Let me assure you: The NBA shall continue to stand up to be counted in this fight for the deepening of democratic values in Nigeria within the perimeters of the Law.


Akaraiwe, first vice-president, delivered this paper on behalf of the President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) at the Law Week of the Aguata Branch of the association on Monday, May 18, 2009.