Democracy thrives on social justice – Osinbajo

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo SAN at the 53rd Conference of the National Association of Law Teachers, at the Bayero University, Kano (BUK), with the theme: “Law, Democracy and the Electoral Process,” expressed that democracy thrives on social justice. He emphasized that democracy and social justice are closely linked, and that the cornerstone of democracy is the insistence that “our society must be governed by the rule of law and not the whim of man.”

Prof. Osinbajo stated: “As law teachers and legal practitioners, we are custodians of this truth. However, democracy cannot endure without social justice; the pursuit of justice lies at the heart of the quest for the good of society.”

He maintained: “This makes the legal profession one of the cardinal vocations upon which civilization rests. Indeed, law is an instrument of pacific social engineering, the end of which is justice. When it is rooted in this postulate, it follows that the law and therefore democracy, are meant to serve beneficial social ends.

“A society in which an increasing number of people consider themselves alienated from legal institutions or perceive these legal institutions to be incapable of delivering justice for all cannot be stable and prosperous.”

Prof. Osinbajo said that without social justice, legal justice is ultimately unattainable. According to him, “our idea of social justice also refers to the social and economic rights of the people.”

The vice president emphasized that ‘these rights, according to the Constitution, include the right to food, shelter, employment, education and a reasonable national minimum living wage, care for the elderly, pensions, unemployment benefits and welfare for the physically challenged.’

He declared: “The degree to which citizens are in possession of their social and economic rights has a direct impact on the degree of their access to legal services and, thence, to justice. Our concern as teachers and practitioners of the law, therefore, must extend beyond the courtroom, beyond the precincts of our legal institutions, to the social reality in which these structures exist.”

Prof. Osinbajo stated that “the principle of the dignity of the human person implies that governments must be considerate, egalitarian and universal in the sense that they must serve everyone.” He noted that this cardinal principle was a major reason for the Federal Government’s Social Investment Programmes.

Osinbajo assured that the Buhari Administration will continue to ramp up its efforts in social welfare and expanding universal health insurance to ensure “that our most vulnerable citizens are not abandoned to the vicissitudes of fate.”

Vice President Osinbajo was of the view that as Nigeria has experienced 22 years of unbroken democracy, the country is still a young democracy.

According to the vice president: “We have witnessed a series of peaceful transitions of power. This is a huge credit to the democratic sensibilities of our people. Along the way, we are learning valuable lessons that can only make us better practitioners of liberty.

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“Many of our institutions are still in their infancy, and we must carefully guide them into maturity. We recognize that the price of liberty is eternal vigilance.”

The vice president said that the Electoral Bill being processed is a testament to the Administration’s commitment towards improving Nigeria’s electoral process.

“The Bill itself has been the subject of robust engagement between the government and civil society. While some have expressed reservations about the time it is taking to enact the new law, we should remember that a truly inclusive democratic, deliberative process often takes time. I am confident that the legislation that emerges will be one that reflects a broad consensus between all the stakeholders,” Osinbajo said.