HUMAN RIGHTS, POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT AND DEMOCRATIC SUSTENANCE IN AFRICA: THE NIGERIAN EXPERIENCE
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Abstract
The most frequent and hottest issues which are topmost in the agenda of states dominating conferences and seminars on the domestic and international scene are issues of human rights, democracy and development. The issues of human rights, democracy and development are as old as humanity itself. The simple fact is that human rights are about human beings, born with some rights from their cradle. Without these rights human beings are nothing but slaves in the society In fact, the expression 'human rights' as term or art is of recent origin, but the idea of the inalienable rights' of man predates the very political system, which produces the law-making institutes, as we know them today. Nigerians have come to realize that genuine concern for human rights, democracy and development is a viable option for attaining effective development well-recognized by international communities. Unfortunately, this realization is now being manifested in the affairs of Nigeria very much in theory rather than in practice. The nitty-gritty of this paper, however, is to fill the yearning gap in the extant literature on the need to appraise the nexus between human rights, democracy and development in Nigeria's contemporary democratic experiment. Following the new thinking in the literature, we also extend our search light to groups' rights'. Nigeria, being a plural and divided society, the paper, infers that there are a lot of loopholes in the contemporary observance of human rights most especially in the present euphoria of the nascent democracy. We however make some policy recommendations that can assist in sustaining, nurturing, and consolidating the nascent democracy in Nigeria. In view, of this, every society must aim at building a prosperous and civilized polity that will be free from such negative indices as ethno religious bigotry, intolerances and acrimony, political instability, corruption, selfishness, greed and social injustices. Doubtlessly, nations must indeed remove all acts inhibiting to fundamental human rights and democratic development. Again the provision of basic necessities of life to the citizen; improving housing/food situation, social welfare as well as making work/job opportunities available are the mark of well ordered society.