Traditional ruler's political partisanship in Nigeria: A threat to national peace and security
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Date
2020
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Abstract
The 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as amended, does not provide traditional rulers with any institutionalised political role in governance and administration. Hence, they are perceived as and construed by their subjects and the general public as leaders who should remain apolitical. This is in contrast to the Nigerian pre- colonial era when traditional rulers wielded much political powers, and the colonial periods when traditional rulers were accorded constitutional responsibility on political matters in their domains. Even the post-colonial 1960 and 1963 Constitutions assigned certain political powers to the traditional rulers over matters in their domains which enabled them to better manage conflict and convoked peace making meetings when matters seemed out of hand and whatever outcomes of such meetings were respected by the subjects because traditional rulers' political powers then we're well articulated in the enabling laws hence, were not seen as leaders who should be apolitical. This work, therefore, argues that lack of a clear-cut political responsibility for traditional rulers in the nation's current 1999 Constitution is responsible for traditional rulers' unbridled political partisanship that causes either real or imagined tension among the subjects/citizens, threatening peaceful co-existence, national peace and security. The work is essentially theoretical and qualitative hence, it utilised extant literature. It is recommended among others that government should develop constitutional frameworks that would either insulate traditional rulers completely from partisan politics or a clear-cut constitutional-political responsibility be given to them such that any infractions or ultravires by them could easily be spotted and violators dealt with accordingly. Keywords: Traditional Rulers, Political Partisanship, National Peace, Security
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Keywords
traditional rulers, political partisanship, national peace, security