Abstract
It is trite that sovereignty belongs to the people. Thus, the realization that the donors of power: The people or the citizens have some rights against the state, and the need to respond to their desires and demands by satisfying them, ensured the enshrinement of citizens’ rights in the constitution as either fundamental rights or fundamental objectives and directive principles of state policy. This paper examined the incorporation of the second class of rights in the constitutions of developing democracies such as Nigeria, Ghana and Sierra Leone with a view of searching the rationale and jurisprudence of their incorporation in view of their non-enforceable status. It found that the continuous non-enforceability of fundamental objectives and directive principles of state policy in the constitutions of these countries render them more of a democratic demagoguery incapable of furthering the aims of good governance and sustainable development anchored on the social contract between the government and the governed. The paper however recommended that Nigerian court should adopt the posture of judicial activism in interpreting the rights contained in Chapter two of the constitution to bring them in consonance with the civil and political rights, which are enforceable.
Highlights
The modern idea of incorporating citizens’ rights in national constitutions dates back to the United State of America Independence Constitution of 1776
The realization that the donors of power: The people or the citizens have some rights against the state, and the need to respond to their desires and demands by satisfying them, ensured the enshrinement of citizens’ rights in the constitution as either fundamental rights or fundamental objectives and directive principles of state policy
This paper examined the incorporation of the second class of rights in the constitutions of developing democracies such as Nigeria, Ghana and Sierra Leone with a view of searching the rationale and jurisprudence of their incorporation in view of their non-enforceable status
Summary
The modern idea of incorporating citizens’ rights in national constitutions dates back to the United State of America Independence Constitution of 1776. Both the French Declaration of the Rights of Man, which was drawn up following the French Revolution of 1789 and the British Bill of Rights, commonly called the Magna-Charta, contain an array of a distil form of human rights The impact of these instruments was so profound and lasting that it invoked the attention of emerging states and become the anchorage for systematic efforts by national governments to take positive measure aimed at removing anti-social practices that undermine the fulfillment of civil, political and cultural conditions which threatened the legitimate aspirations and dignity of man What is the rationale of guaranteeing the right to life without the corresponding right to a clean and uncontaminated environment, and right to food? The paper examines this paradox and contemplates the need for a purposeful guarantee of rights of man, especially in developing countries and emerging democracies
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