The Federal character policy,247 which aims to reflect Nigerian diversity in the administration of government, obliges the Federal government to appoint at least one minister from each of the 36 states that make up the federation. Diversity must also be reflected in the appointment of personnel from all states of the federation into federal civil service and other public bodies, in a manner that reflects the population’s ethnic diversity and that promotes pluralism. Federal policy on the appointment of personnel should be strengthened to achieve pluralism and must be implemented within the parameters of the appointment criteria of the federal civil service. It is not sufficient to appoint a person into a federal post without them meeting the basic qualification and relevant experience. The federal character of Nigeria would negate the goal of national cohesion if it is not properly implemented. This is because federal character can lead to a situation where particular ethnic groups are over-represented in the civil
246 William Frankena, et al, Introductory Reading in Ethics, Prentice Hall, 1974 cited in Nwabueze, op. cit
247 Section 13(3) of the 1999 Constitution provides that “the composition of the government of the Federation or any of its agencies and the conduct of its affairs shall be carried out in such a manner as to reflect the federal character of Nigeria and the need to promote national unity, and also to command national loyalty, thereby ensuring that there shall be no predominance of persons from a few states or of a few ethnic or other sectional groups in that Government or in any of its agencies”.
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service because of deliberate affirmative action being taken to project and promote that tribe into the particular specialism or cadre.
The federal character is also applicable to issue of the location of federal infrastructures and institutions. This is where the federal government can use its advantage to foster economic development by the provision of infrastructures in the Niger Delta. This will rehabilitate the youths that emerged following the amnesty granted in relation to past violent criminal conducts.248 As part of the federal character principle, we need to redress the injustice perpetrated against the Niger Delta and other minorities in Nigeria. The creation of a federal ministry for the Niger Delta and Niger Delta Development Commission is commendable, subject of course to the issue of minimising corruption and directing the resources of the establishments for the development of the region. Policies need to be informed by human rights, as they relate to education, health, housing, transport and investment.
The right to education is part of every citizen’s right in ensuring enlightenment and empowerment.249 The universal primary education programme needs to be revamped with adequate funding and measures to reduce graft in order to ensure that funding is well managed and expended on the programme. The mass of the Nigerian populace are located in rural areas; it is important to ensure that the rural communities are well
248 On 9 August 2009, President Yardua set up the Presidential Task Force on the Amnesty in the Niger Delta.
The programme has three themes: disarmament, reintegration and rehabilitation of the militant youths. Dr Timiebi Agary, media coordinator of the Amnesty Programme said the programme for the reintegration is done with non-governmental organisation and the Petroleum Trust Development Fund. The Joint Military Task force in the Niger Delta is still operational in the area, until the area is secured. Major –General Godwin Abbe, the head of the Amnesty Task Force, has said on African Independent Television (AIT) News interview on 20 September 2009, that after the ultimatum for the amnesty, militants who are yet to embrace the programme will bear the full wrath of the law. Air vice Marshal Lucky Ararile, the coordinator of the interagency platform for the Amnesty Programme, said some of the political elites are not genuinely committed to the amnesty programme.
249 See R. Ahiede ‘Universal Basic Education in Nigeria: Matters Arising’ (2006) 20(2) Journal of Human Ecology, 97-101.
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targeted in the provision of universal primary education as well as secondary school education. The government needs to involve the private sector in the provision of educational programmes and infrastructures. This is paramount because of the increasing role of the private sector and the government commitment towards the 3Ds of contemporary globalization: deregulation, denationalization and disinvestment. We must bear in mind that this trend in western democracies is also becoming open to question because of recent crises in financial institutions which led to national governments taking concerted measures to stabilize the banking system.
The provision of public health facilities and programmes is a paramount duty of the state in the quest for social justice. Over 50% of the Nigerian population are inhabitants of the rural areas and are employed in the informal sector of the economy such as farming, fishing, artesian, and trading.250 Public health facilities and programmes must target the rural areas. Private health care is beyond the reach of the rural inhabitants because of their lack of economic power and even where they seek to access private health through non-governmental organizations, the private health sector does not invest in the rural areas. It is necessary to embark on credible primary health care programmes, which will involve the local government authorities in the rural areas as strategic partners, to ensure that the benefits of primary health care programmes reach the rural populace rather than being overwhelmed by the bureaucracy at the federal government and state government levels. The need to embark on the eradication of malaria in Nigeria is paramount because of its status as one of the major killers of the people. In addition, the HIV/AIDS pandemic needs to
250 UNICEF Country Information: Nigeria at aGlance,http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/Nigeria-statistics.htm/, visited on 19 July 2010.
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be dealt with by concerted efforts and with continued collaboration with the Non- Governmental Organizations. In relation to the river-locked areas, there is a need to control water-borne diseases and environmental pollution prevalent in those areas of the country. In the northern part of Nigeria, there is a need to eradicate polio and vagina fistula among rural women.
Nigeria, with a teeming population of 140 million, needs a coherent and sustainable housing policy. There should be housing programmes that would provide affordable houses to the working class. The present policy of clearing slum areas and thereby rendering the people homeless cannot be said to be just and equitable. Most of these slum areas are then rehabilitated and distributed to the rich to build affluent houses.251 The issue of housing is closely related to land acquisition and ownership. The regime of the Land Use Act 1978 should be reformed to ensure that where the government acquires land from slum areas, such acquisition should be in public interest, and for public projects. There should be adequate compensation, and resettlement for the displaced inhabitants of such slum areas.
The transport sector also needs to be revamped as part of the government industrialisation objective in its 4-points agenda. The rail, road and air transport systems need overhauling. The private sector can be brought in to invest in this area because of its capital-intensive nature. It is paramount to ensure that the economies of rural and urban areas are integrated for the sake of optimum development of both
251 The Plight of the Maroko evictees in Lagos is still on-going. The military government of Navy Captain Gbolahan Mudashiru in 1991, compulsorily acquired the land, reallocated the land to new occupiers without due process of law. The land is now part of the most affluent area of Lagos called Lekki. Some of the Maroko evictees were relocated to the Ilasan housing estate. In December 2005, an NGO, SERAC obtained a high court decision in the case of Aiyeyemi and Others v The Government of Lagos State and Others (unreported, suit No M/474/2003) against the planned forced eviction of the former Maroko evictees from their present location at Ilasan estate without an order of a competent court: cited by Stanley Ibe in “Beyond Justiciability : Realising the Promise of Socio-Economic Rights in Nigeria) op cit.
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areas. An integrated transport policy and programme are paramount for the realisation of this objective. Private franchises could be created for private investors to run parts of the railway. An efficient and integrated transportation system will foster industrialization and prevent the rural-urban migration that often leads to over-burdening of inadequate infrastructures in the urban areas.
The government should ensure policies that encourage companies to invest in corporate social responsibility and assist in the attainment of social justice in areas where such companies’ operations are embarked upon. There should be collaboration between the Bureau of Privatization and Commercialization, the National Pension Commission and the National Agency for the Eradication of Poverty for initiating programmes that encourage corporate social responsibility. Kelechi Kalu has argued that politicised ethnicity should be well managed as a resource that can contribute to economic development.252 This is possible because of Nigerian citizens’
consciousness of their ethnic identity. This consciousness can be harnessed to foster economic development by ensuring that their ethnic identity and the patriotic zeal invested in such identities are re-energized towards contributing to the national agenda of promoting social justice and political stability. What is paramount is that the government should use funds from the Excess Crude Revenue Account to ensure that the rural areas are given priority in the provisions of infrastructures to make life less difficult for the inhabitants of those areas.
252 Kelechi Kalu, ‘Constitutionalism in Nigeria: A Conceptual Analysis of Ethnicity and Politics ‘West African Review, Issue 6, 2001, page 1
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6.2 SOCIAL JUSTICE AND THE ACTIVE MANAGEMENT OF ETHNIC