Rule of Law and Security
Femi Falana
From 1984 to 1999, I was subjected to constant harassment by the security and intelligence community in Nigeria. Not for posing any threat to national security or for contributing to the economic adversity of the country. But for teaming up with other patriotic forces to challenge unbridled corruption, unabashed executive lawlessness, gross human rights abuse and other illegal activities which subverted national security and endangered the welfare of the people of Nigeria under successive military regimes.
The refusal of the civilian wing of the political class to demilitarize the polity there has unwittingly triggered debate over the primacy of national security over the rule of law. Majority of political office holders in the country are not committed to the observance of the rule of law. In place of the rule of the rule of law the political system has enthroned the rule of might or rule of rulers. The debate over the clash between the rule of law and national security has been reopened by President Mohammadu Buhari at this conference when he enjoined Nigerian lawyers and judges to realize that national security takes precedence over national security. A few days before then, the President had threatened to jail looters who had sabotaged the security of the nation by diverting huge funds earmarked for the development of the country. It is implied in the presidential declaration that the alleged looters cannot be jailed without a trial conducted in criminal courts under the rule of law.
In striking a balance between national security and rule of law in a democratic setting I intend to review physical security, social security, human rights, the management of national security by security agencies and the subversion of national security by the government. Since State security is often confused with government security it is germane to explain the two concepts. I shall conclude by making a case for the enforcement of the socioeconomic rights of the masses as our country cannot have national security without social security.
On July 17, July 2018, President Mohammadu Buhari had the rare privilege of participating in the activities marking the 20th anniversary of the International Criminal Court. On that auspicious occasion the Nigerian leader assured the international community that “our cooperation with the Court is borne out of our strong belief in the respect for the rule of law and human rights...” On the basis of such assurance from the President we are compelled to review the disturbing culture of disobeying court orders by officials of the federal and state governments under the current democratic dispensation. I want to believe that the President is not unaware of the respect for human rights is the fundamental basis of a democratic society that is genuinely committed to the consistent implementation of the rule of law. Human rights are indeed the basic building blocks that governments must cultivate in order to have an effective relationship with the general population. The extent that the protection of these rights is guaranteed signifies the democratic strength of a country. Indeed, human rights and the rule of law are crucial to the well being of any truly democratic society. These rights include not only civil and political rights but also economic, social and cultural rights. They are articulated and entrenched in national constitutions and the Charter of the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other human rights treaties to which Nigeria has subscribed.
Human rights, the rule of law and democracy are interlinked and mutually reinforcing: they are part of the universal values and principles espoused by the international community. Nevertheless, it must be noted that since the birth of the human rights movement in the mid-twentieth century, the promotion of human rights and the rule of law has been seen as competing with or even compromising core issues of national security. Promoting human rights is now frequently viewed as a luxury, to be pursued when the government has spare diplomatic capacity and national security is not being jeopardized. In Nigeria, there is a continuing tension between national security and respect for human rights. While human rights and the rule of law are concerned with limitations on state power, national security, by contrast, is intertwined with assertion of state power. The result of this has often been the marginalization of human rights in the name of national security by successive governments. The subordination of human rights to national security has been a permanent feature of Nigeria’s political history. More than anything else, high level official corruption (and associated human rights violations) poses a major threat to national security, human security and individual human rights in Nigeria.