Good Governance, Constitutionalism and the Rule of Law : Imperatives for Sustainable Development in Nigeria

Constitutionalism, rule of law and good governance have remained topical and recurring issues in the discourse about African states. The ideals of those concepts however seem to have been continually and continuously been flouted by most African states. Some scholars have argued that the ideal of good governance has continued to elude most states of African descent because of the twin problems of endemic corruption and basic departure from the rule of law and constitutionalism. Thus African states have been accused of having "constitutions without the spirit of constitutionalism", of having laws without respect for the rule of law and of "creating poverty out of God given wealth" due to lack of good governance. In the last one decade and a half there has been a growing consciousness for the enthronement of these ideals as they have been recognized as the necessary pre-requisites for the attainment of an overall human and capital development and growth of a nation-ideals which are much more needed in developing nations. Through the instrumentality of the African Union (AU) certain laws and initiatives have been put in place such as the AU Charter on Democracy, Elections and Good Governance (giving set guidelines for the conduct of elections) and the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) initiative of New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD) designed to monitor governments of African states in all the realms of their governance activities (the executive, legislative and judiciary). In the West African sub region there is the Economic Communities of West African States (ECOWAS) Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance geared towards the same goal. These have been acclaimed as good steps in the right direction of achieving good governance in the African continent and the West African sub region respectively. Nigeria is an African nation and in particular, a member of ECOWAS. This paper examines the tripartite concepts of constitutionalism, rule of law and good governance in Africa taking Nigeria as the case study. It argues that there is a link between these three concepts as they will continue to be the indices by which the Nigerian nation will be measured in terms of their development not only in terms of economic or capital growth but also in the areas of human development and political well-being. The paper argues that although the current efforts of the Nigerian government towards the eradication of endemic corruption (stemming from lack of respect for the rule of law) and the establishment of machineries for good governance are efforts geared towards achieving sustainable development in the country; the activities of certain government agencies in Nigeria belie the goal. Taking a few case studies from the Nigerian experience, it posits that the continuing lack of respect for the rule of law and constitutionalism in Nigeria are the greatest impediments to the attainment of sustainable development in Nigeria. The paper therefore makes some suggestions for policy implications towards the achievement of the overarching goal of sustainable development in Nigeria