There appears a re-awakened zeal by leaders in Africa to grill some of the universal concepts that guide economic, social and political action. Observed weaknesses of these concepts, especially their inability to approximate their real essence are some of the issues that reinforce the desirability for such inquisition.
Of late, former president, Olusegun Obasanjo, had cause to interrogate western liberal democracy and returned a verdict that it does not suit African needs. Curiously also, the military president of Burkina Faso, Captain Ibrahim Traore joined the fray last week, with the claim that no country has developed under democracy.
“It is impossible to name a country that has developed in democracy. Democracy is only the result” he said. Traore may have been moved to this conclusion by the recurring political instability and deficiencies in the deliverability of that governance framework.
But even as the suitability of western liberal democracy to the African cause remains a moot issue, justice is another concept whose real meaning and application will continue to confound observers especially in the manner it finds practical expression in Nigeria.
It does seem ours is a vague notion of justice that means different things in different situations. The inability to discern universalism or some form of regularity in the application and enforcement of justice in the country has continued to raise questions regarding its real meaning and essence.
This is not entirely new as it preoccupied the attention of early philosophers, dividing them along the line. Socrates saw justice as the equitable and fair treatment of others. “Justice is a virtue that must be cultivated in order to lead a fulfilling life and injustice is a fault that leads to misery and failure”, he said.
But Thrasymachus argued in Plato’s Republic that justice is nothing more than the advantage of the stronger- justice is simply what the rulers or those in power deem to be in their own interest. The other strand of his argument was that justice is not an inherent good or a natural principle but rather a tool used by the strong to maintain their dominance and ensure their own interests are served.
Karl Marx provided yet a third perspective to the definitional and philosophical issues embodied in the concept of justice when he categorised it as tied to the mode of production and the historical stage of the society. The main thesis of his presentation is that the current capitalist system’s legal and political structures are designed to maintain the status quo and benefit the ruling class rather promoting genuine justice.
Socrates’ notion of justice as the equitable and fair treatment of persons aligns with our general understanding of the concept. But the perceived inability of justice to guarantee fairness and equity to all was the driving force for the positions shared by Thrasymachus and Karl Marx. And they seem to find ample support in the serial double standards in the application of justice in societies especially the developing ones.
These were the feelings evoked when former senator, Adamu Bulkachuwa confessed before his colleagues at the 9th Senate of influencing the decisions of his wife Zainab while she served as a judge and President of the Court of Appeal.
He had in a valedictory speech at the 9th Senate, spoken of his “wife whose freedom and independence I encroached upon while (she) was in office, and she has been very tolerant and accepted my encroachment and extended her help to my colleagues”. Despite attempts by the senate president to stop him from spilling the bean, he refused to bulge.
The same feelings thrown up by the revelations of Bulkachuwa are behind the euphemism “Go to court”. Go to court has become the popular response of politicians accused of brazen electoral malpractices. Yes, our laws provide ample avenue for those dissatisfied with the outcome of elections to seek legal remedy. That is not what those who readily ask complainants of obvious electoral fraud to go to court imply. It is deployed in a pejorative sense.
Where this leaves the judiciary and justice is anybody’s guess. But it highlights the curious electoral judgments that sometimes emanate from our courts, including the Supreme Court. A contestant that came fourth in a governorship election was declared overall winner by the apex court in circumstances that have remained confounding.
It is not for nothing that the prompt handling by the federal government of the brutal killing of 16 northerner travellers in Uromi, Edo State, resonated feelings of inequitable and unfair treatment of past victims of such lawless acts across the country. Yes, the federal authorities and the police did the right thing by promptly responding and arresting some suspects for interrogation.
The heavy deployment of security agencies to restore order and avert further relapse, are part of the responses demanded by the situation. But the attention given to the Uromi incident appears a marked departure from the responses of the authorities to similar bloodletting across the country in the past.
Just before the dust raised by the Uromi incident was about to settle, more than 50 innocent citizens were murdered by a band of terrorists in some communities of Plateau State. Plateau and many states in the north-central have been home to frequent attacks and despoliation of their communities by a band of terrorists suspected to be Fulani herdsman. Though the federal government is giving similar attention to the Plateau case, such responses were at best tepid, in past incidents.
Governor, Caleb Muftwang captured the double standard in handling such killings when he said last week that the attacks have been going on for 10 years without gathering national attention. Hear him: “If these attacks have been going on for close to 10 years, it tells you there is a deliberate, conscious attempt to clean up the population”.
Muftwang must have also shocked the nation when he revealed that more than 64 communities in the state have been taken over by the bandits and renamed after sacking the original owners.
Credit:The Nation