YOU AND YOUR CIVIC RESPONSIBILITIES

From time immemorial, God has placed man in an environment where he hopes to survive by all means. Man tries all that he can to make a reasonable life and advance a better environment via governance, thus the various forms of government evolved.
First we had the theocratic regime where we there was the leadership of men by God and law was perceived in its natural and pristine nature. Law here was divine and it was something sacred because it was believed to be something passed directly by God. A good example is the Mosaic Law.
Sometimes later, the positivists began to fault the pure and natural theory of law and as stated by Alberigo Gentili and later by Hugo Grotius that “if there was no God, law would still have existed”, the concept of law began to have a more pragmatic approach and not just the figment of imagination of some religious leaders or bigot who have used the divine theory to protect their own self interest.
Therefore we witnessed the Monarchical reigns of Kings and Queens, the Feudal system based on ownership of land, and as structured by Karl Max, we had the socialist system or communist states where there was absolute control of resources by the government. Then we had the industrial revolution which ushered in the mixed economic system, and then the Capitalist system which amongst other things emphasised that you do have a say in the matter both of governance and control of economic resources.
One beautiful feature of the capitalist economy is the privatization of businesses and individual ownership and control of resources and alongside this development is the doctrine of Democracy which is fast becoming the form of governance in this age.
In the ancient Greece, democracy required all the people to come together and individually choose those that will represent them in government. This presupposes that the representatives will not be aliens to the people or some persons who just come out of the blues. This is known as direct democracy while what we have now is basically the indirect form where we don’t even know the name of our representatives due to the population explosion of this present time.

YOU AND THE CONSTITUTION
We have emphasised democracy and simply put, it has been defined by Aristotle as “Government of the people, by the people and for the people”. A lot of people know this definition but absolutely have no understanding of its import to our system of governance.
The definition recognises and magnifies the power of an individual as an agent of the state and vice versa. This presupposes that the state gets its power and in fact footing from the individual. This also means that whatever the state is is a function of the individuals in such state.
The code of conduct and the guideline of a people is the constitution, but the question is often asked, which is supreme in a democratic setting, is it the people, the constitution or the government? This question has not been given a settled answer.
This conflict seems to be created by the constitution itself where in its S. 1 emphasises that the “constitution is supreme and its provisions shall have binding force on the authorities and persons throughout the Federal Republic of Nigeria.” While in the preamble of the same constitution, it states that

“We the people of the Federal Republic of Nigeria

Having firmly and solemnly resolve, to live in unity and harmony as one indivisible and indissoluble sovereign nation under God, dedicated to the promotion of inter-African solidarity, world peace, international co-operation and understanding

And to provide for a Constitution for the purpose of promoting the good government and welfare of all persons in our country, on the principles of freedom, equality and justice, and for the purpose of consolidating the unity of our people

Do hereby make, enact and give to ourselves the following Constitution:-”
If the constitution is supreme and it cannot evolve itself without the people, doesn’t it mean the people who made it are more supreme? We choose what we want to be guided or ruled by, despite the fact that the constitution is supreme, we can change it if we want to, but the question is who are the “WE” at the introductory? Can you beat your chest to say you are, either directly (representing people) or indirectly (by your vote)? Do you really have a say in this matter.


WHAT CAN THE STATE DO FOR YOU?
Most times, people walk around town like orphans whose parents have left them a great deal of wealth in a will without their knowledge, but because they do not know that the will exists or even when they know, they do not know the content of the will, they are being treated like slaves by the trustees.
The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 is a beautiful piece despite its various shortcomings and in fact the constitution can do a whole lot of stuffs for the citizens who make use of its provisions.

The Chapter 1 part II of the constitution provides for the Legislature-whose main function is to make laws that will govern the people, the Executive-who executes and administers the laws made to govern the people and the Judicature-who interpret the laws made to protect the interest of the people for whom the law is made.

Also, the whole of Chapter IV provides for the fundamental human rights of every citizen which includes but is not limited to right to life, freedom of speech, movement, freedom to hold property, freedom to reside anywhere in Nigeria, right to vote and be voted for etc.
Once any of such rights is trampled upon, the individual can seek recourse in the courts of law, they are the inalienable rights of the citizen. A lot of court cases have upheld the rights of citizens; a very good example is the case of Odumegwu Ojukwu v. Governor of Lagos State where the court held that Ojukwu had a right as a Nigerian to hold property anywhere in the country.
One other beautiful provision for the enjoyment of the citizen is the Chapter II of the constitution which provides for the Fundamental Objectives and Directive Principles. This is one of the best provisions entrenched in the constitution which provides among other things that Government shall strive to eradicate illiteracy; and to this end Government shall as and when practicable provide
(a) Free, compulsory and universal primary education;
(b) Free secondary education;
(c) Free university education; and
(d) Free adult literacy programme
The State also shall direct its policy towards ensuring that-
(a) All citizens, without discrimination on any group whatsoever, have the opportunity for securing adequate means of livelihood as well as adequate opportunity to secure suitable employment;
(b) Conditions of work are just and humane, and that there are adequate facilities for leisure and for social, religious and cultural life;
(c) The health, safety and welfare of all persons in employment are safeguarded and not endangered or abused;
(d) There are adequate medical and health facilities for all persons:
(e) There is equal pay for equal work without discrimination on account of sex, or on any other ground whatsoever;
(f) Children, young persons and the age are protected against any exploitation whatsoever, and against moral and material neglect;
(g) Provision is made for public assistance in deserving cases or other conditions of need; and
(h) The evolution and promotion of family life is encouraged.
Someone would say why then don’t we have our students in school? Why don’t we get better pays, why is the illiteracy level so high? We have earlier claimed that every right can be instituted in the courts, then why not these ones?
S.6 (6) (c) of the same constitution has rendered the beautiful provision non-justiciable. The implication of this is that the government cannot be mandated to enforce these provisions; it is a matter of discretion. Therefore individuals cannot advance a legal claim whenever the provisions of this part of the constitution are not provided for.
To me, this implies that the government is saying one thing which is that, “the ball is in your court, these things are important but we might not be able to provide them for you, so get them yourself through your sweat and hard work” to buttress this point, didn’t the scripture tell us to take charge of not only our lives but also our community? (Genesis 1:28)

WHAT CAN YOU DO FOR THE STATE?
We have reached the heart of this paper, “YOU AND YOUR CIVIC RESPONSIBILITY”, but not without an understanding of a brief evolution of government and especially the Nigerian legal structure.
The word “civic” is synonymous to public, municipal, community, city etc and the word responsibility is easily understood as duties. Thus, we are talking about public duties.
From our foundational development, it is only rational to expect that if there is a government that comprises some individuals who are called the Legislature, the Executive and the Judiciary, and there are some basic things which the government should do and ensure for us, then we must expect to pay to maintain such programme, and we have a part in deciding who represents us or makes or implements the laws that will guide us.
Thus by the same constitution in its s.24, it states that
It shall be the duty of every citizen to -
(a) Abide by this Constitution, respect its ideals and its institutions, the National Flag, the National Anthem, the National Pledge, and legitimate authorities;
(b) Help to enhance the power, prestige and good name of Nigeria, defend Nigeria and render such national service as may be required;
(c) Respect the dignity of other citizens and the rights and legitimate interests of others and live in unity and harmony and in the spirit of common brotherhood;
(d) Make positive and useful contribution to the advancement, progress and well-being of the community where he resides;
(e) Render assistance to appropriate and lawful agencies in the maintenance of law and order; and
(f) Declare his income honestly to appropriate and lawful agencies and pay his tax promptly.
On the first note, abiding by the constitution, the question to ask is that how many of us in fact know what is in the constitution or even have the constitution. Owing to the illiteracy level, most Nigerians care less about what is in the constitution, not knowing that that is what defines their identity as a people. If you do not know the content of a thing, how can you respect or even claim it? (Don’t forget that ignorance is not an excuse in law)
And the funny part of it is that whether we get involved in the making of these laws or not, they remain binding on us. Would it not be wise then to determine who and what is binding on you?
Most of us have “used our left hands to describe the way to our father’s house”. Ask an average Nigerian, he is sorry to be a Nigerian. Most people hate the feeling of being Nigerians basically because they feel the country has offered them nothing, but the question is what have you offered Nigeria? It is not enough to go for the national youth service, but by doing the right things to better your own life; you would have indirectly contributed something to the development of the economy. Take a look at Dangote.
How many of us yearn to truly rescue our nation from its embarrassing state? On a global scale, Nigerian is being ranked as one of the most corrupt countries, mention all forms of social vices, kidnapping, terrorism, religious crises, corrupt leaders, fraud, hacking etc, they all have a stake in Nigeria, yet we have the best brains around us untapped.
We should learn from Nehemiah who had the safety of Jerusalem as his priority that he was ready to go and protect her integrity while at the same time rebuilding its walls. Unlike most of us, he not only prayed for the good of Jerusalem in a foreign land, he took positive steps by stepping forward to rebuild. While rebuilding, he faced great opposition yet he was not the one to chicken out, you can ask Tobiah and Sanballat. The greatest allegiance you can offer a state is military service, how many of our military men offer true service in love for this nation? And those who do, what do they get in return?
We are not being asked to go and join the military, but the little we can do to create a new Nigeria, are we faithful in it? The rebranding process has been on for a while but has yielded no real meaningful results why? You cannot get a New Nigeria by mere rebranding, if you rebrand a product without changing or updating its content, you have probably done little or nothing at all than a waste of resources and time. The best way to evolve a new Nigeria is through re-orientation such as this, which is expected to have a ripple effect.
It is a farce talking about brotherhood in such a country like Nigeria with a multi ethnic structure. Nigeria is although termed a secular state, but the various religions especially with the Sharia in the North, the multi-religion in the south and all, religious crisis has occurred more than political crisis in this country, and even most political crisis have religious roots.
Until we remove the borders of ethnicity and we have a pragmatic approach to accepting that we are one Nigeria, forgetting the age-long idea of “state of origin” which some people may never have visited in their lives, we may not have a peaceful economy. Take a look at the zoning problem which is always a crucial matter whenever an election is up-coming. We cannot easily forget the Kano riot, and the Nigerian civil war which till today leaves an indelible mark on Nigerians especially the Ibos who move about with every sense of suspicion and insecurity.
There seems to be no security of lives and property, and then we shout government. Who is the government? We are, because we choose or refuse to choose those who should lead us.
Take a cursory look at the present situation in Cote D’ Ivoire, Nigerians are not safe at all, tons of Nigerians get killed in smaller countries and the government, – we do nothing about it. We should not be quick to forget the situation in Liberia under Charles Taylor, who killed our brothers, yet we were the first to offer him asylum, even Laurent Gbagbo too has been offered asylum. Uhm!
The fourth point is a duty we owe to the community and also to ourselves. The slavery mentality which our forefathers once had has been transferred from generation to generation, and we see ourselves as things in exchange for money or wealth. We witness prostitution, rituals etc. The white men had taught us that a black man is very strong, therefore, he can only do hard jobs, he will be very good as a farmer, a labourer or a bricklayer, they taught us that we do not have the intelligence to run things, and be good administrators, they told us a lie.
Prior to independence we saw that the white men refused to bring a university into our land so that we can never advance in intelligence, people had to travel abroad or to nearby Ghana to further their education. Once our people got educated, their eyes were opened (but in the good and the bad way – like Peter and Adam) and they had the courage and the zeal to fight more for the independence we now have.

Thereafter, we started having schools around but we had lost the value of education. Our students only go to school to learn to read, write and pass exams, and no knowledge is passed. Even the present age lecturers are people who are in dire need of meeting ends meet. We do not have educated fellows anymore, what we have bred is a bunch of hungry literate fellows.

When we go to school and come back with no value in us, we are not as good as the way we went into school the first time. There must be a transformation. If we can not learn to do away with the slavery mentality and see ourselves more as problem solvers rather than mere graduates, our society will not be better for it, and we can never be rich. Don’t forget money answers to value.

Apart from using our money or the value that we are endowed with, one power available to both the wretched and the rich in the country is the power to vote. It is the duty of every individual to vote i.e to choose the person he wants to represent him in governance. The painful thing is that like Esau most of us have sold our birthrights for a morsel of food (Gen 25:27-34) and the end result of this is calamity, because even God hates those who sell their birthrights, He sees them as immoral and godless (Heb 12:16). It is usually said in a democratic setting that “a people deserve the kind of leaders they have”-you chose what you have.

Also, it is our duty as citizens to help the law enforcement agents in arresting offenders. Although, most people run away from this point basically because when they turn in offenders, they might not get the adequate security they deserve from the law enforcement agents. But most of us have not even tried at all but we depend only on what somebody earlier said. Whatever you need to do, wisdom is principal, ask God for direction. It is not untrue that a lot of people have lost their lives on the verge of doing the community good.

We also owe the public a percentage of what we earned from it. It is required that whatever income one receives either as an individual or a company, should be subjected to tax by the appropriate authority. The reason behind this is to fund further projects and provide certain infrastructure for the maintenance of the community. Tax is a form by which government raises revenue from the income of members of the community.
The Nigerian community has not been dutiful in this respect as we are a people who always want to hold back all that we have made or earned. People who hold back what is not theirs are described as thieves (Malachi 3:8). We want to hold back our offerings, tithes and now tax. Even Jesus demonstrated that payment of tax is a lawful and rightful thing for every citizen to engage in (Matthew 17:25-27). When we refuse to pay our tax, then we should not be heard complaining that the government has not done anything for us. Don’t forget we are the government, what you pay is what you get.

It is important to state that non payment of tax or filing or returns to the appropriate quarters may amount to a criminal offence which is punishable under the law. This is different from reducing tax liability or making use of incentives to reduce tax liability, it is our duty to seek for professional advice in determining what is tax evasion or tax avoidance.

From all the foregoing, I personally submit that the provisions of the constitution is clear enough as to the duties of an individual but one thing is very certain which is that – your responsibility towards the ‘society’ or ‘government’ will determine how the society or government will respond to you.

If we fold our hands and refuse to register for votes, we have disenfranchised ourselves, then we cannot decide who represents or who rules us, if we do not respect our nation, our nation will not respect us, if we refuse to obey the laws, the laws will deal with us, if we refuse to help the law enforcement agents, we will continue to suffer in silence and if we refuse to pay tax, we cannot enjoy the basic amenities we should enjoy.

I believe firmly that if we hold Nigeria so dear to our hearts, all the provisions of Chapter II will be enforced.

As Christians, it is our duty not only to proclaim religion and show an outward piety and inner frailty, but to established God’s Kingdom on earth, where we decide godly people who rule us, and like Christ, have the government upon our shoulders, we should not be like the snake that leaves no mark on the rock, enough of the Christian mediocrity and the pretence of not belonging to this world even if we are not of this world, literally we live here, and we are to occupy till Christ comes. Let’s go back to our drawing board and show the world how governance should be done, what excellence is like, in our schools, places of work, societies etc.

Let us be at the helm of affairs where decisions are made, we cannot do this if we don’t go back to school, if we are not the best in our fields, if we don’t learn to subdue the flesh, if we don’t harness our talents and understand the place of purpose in life...

Let us stand up and step up the game, we should not only be dutiful in our civic responsibilities, let us take serious our KINGDOM RESPONSIBILITIES.