IN order to arrive at a desired and acceptable footing on how the Nigerian system can be re-engineered for sustainable development, one must try to identify issues which are critical and peculiar to the Nigerian system, the level of developmental turnout over the years and how it has shaped the level of progress recorded in recent times. One must bear in mind also how it has helped to navigate the course for a sustained development that can place Nigeria alongside her contemporaries in the areas of human capacity development, infrastructures, technology, politics, religion and economy. It is also paramount to ask and also try to answer the question: Who/What Are the engineers? Re-engineering in this context would mean working artfully to bring about a desired positive effect in Nigeria and beyond. According to the World Bank Poverty Report, 90 million poor people are living in Nigeria – the highest in the world. It is further projected that the number may hit over 95 million by the end of 2022 due to rising inflation (17.71 per cent) and fiscal policy deficiency. Without a doubt, in recent times, the Nigerian system has been widely acknowledged as inefficient and, for the most part, broken.
There are facts to show from the dependence on oil for export trade, lack of international market presence, recent attacks by terrorist groups, bandits, corrupt practices among government officials, looting, embezzlement and much more. Hence, the ultimate need to re-engineer and re-design the system in such a way that would foster not just development, but sustainable development. It is worth reiterating that presently, the system has been low on diversification of products for export; has suffered a constrained economic potential due to inadequate infrastructure, tariff and non-tariff barriers to trade, lack of confidence in currency valuation, obstacles to investment and limited foreign exchange capacity; unitary, in the sense that it is a single product based in the exportation of oil; exploitative of the people in terms of religious differences and the application of the tenets in these religions, despite the wide level of diversity in culture, language, beliefs, resources, size and number.
With regard to the developmental turnout over the years, it is important to pay attention to what has varied in the development efforts and outcomes from before independence in 1960 till after independence, and how the development paradigms and influences peculiar to these times have shifted both internally and externally. Some of the challenges salient to the political and economic policy landmarks and anti-development syndromes of the 1960 independent Nigeria to date have been poor leadership, widespread corruption, political cultism and god-fathers’ influence, security challenges – both internally and externally influenced, widespread corruption and dominant external influence on policy formulation and execution. With the aforementioned in mind, it is easy to detect that although the country has been independent for the past 62 years, it has failed to galvanise the resources in the interest of the citizens due to the selfish interests of its leaders and is far from reaching the desired level of development that can be categorically seen as sustainable.
There is an easily detectable difference between the available resources in the country and the level of development it has attained over the years. It is therefore easy to surmise that the Nigerian development system has been too dependent on oil, is unsustainable, and needs thorough re-engineering. The need to re-engineer structures within borderlines has formed part of the concerns of the major international, national and local bodies like the United Nations (UN), the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), and some of the ministries in Nigeria, including private firms, non-governmental corporations and social groups. In a bid to re-engineer the Nigerian system for sustainable development, the first element that must be addressed is the law. A crooked legal system is a problem without a name. The legal system is informed by the laws and therefore, to solve this problem, the laws and the legal system must be properly and adequately addressed.
Some of the elements of the laws which must be addressed border on the following: complete independence of the judicial system; a must embrace of accountability between the executive and the legislature; the absolute and true independence of the electoral body; and the reformation of the police and the entire security system. The independence of the judicial system of Nigeria has been questionable over the years due to the interference in the operational relationships between the executive and the judiciary, especially in the areas of giving justice to the people, interpreting, guiding and applying the law. There have, however, been several gains and innovations recorded, particularly in the areas of the establishment of the National Judicial Council by the 1999 constitution, charging of judicial funds to the consolidated revenue fund, the hierarchical organisation of the courts, the judicial code and the criteria for the appointment of judicial officers. But in reality, there is still a wide gap in terms of the functional perspective of autonomy or independence of the judiciary.
This wide gap is created by the constitution where extra powers are given to the executive and political elites, thereby causing interference in the activities of the judiciary. There is therefore the need for true independence of the judiciary through which there is the guarantee of a justice delivery system that will match up with the standard of justice delivered in the 21st century across the globe. The regularity, openness and acceptability of elections signal whether basic constitutional, behavioural and attitudinal foundations are sustainable, especially for a country like Nigeria. A working relationship between the executive and the judiciary will pave the way for accountability between the two arms of government, as they are both integral to how national funds are being shared and used. Strong accountability, when it works, benefits everyone. When the government is accountable, people know how the government is doing, and how to gain redress when things go wrong.
- Johnson writes in via omojack97@gmail.com
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