1. Familiarize himself or herself with the
candidates and issues.
2.Know the location of his or her polling
place and its hours of operation
3. Bring proper identification to the
polling station
4. Make sure that his or her completed
ballot is correct before leaving the polling station.
5. Report any problems or violations of
election laws to the supervisor of
elections
The Citizens Participating in
Electoral Process
Qualification for Election in Nigeria
1.Citizenship: The person must be a Nigerian
citizen either by birth, naturalization, or registration.
2.Reasoning capability: The person must be
sane and be able to reason well. Mad or lunatics people are not allowed to vote
because they cannot reason well.
3.Registration: He must be a registered
voter before the actual election takes place.
4.Loyalty: Such a person must be loyal to
the country and be law-abiding.
5.Age: He must be of the right age. Children
below the age of 18 are not allowed to vote in Nigeria.
The
word ‘’Citizenship’’ means thelegal rights a person has to belong
to a particular society. A citizen is then a recognized
member of a particular community or country. A citizen is a person who is a
legal member and owesallegianceto a particular country he resides
in which he enjoys full civil
and political rights and will be ready to put his life at
stake in defense
of its territory when the occasion calls for that.
It
can, therefore, be said that in a country, not everybody that resides in its
territory is a citizen. There are people in the state who are not legally
recognized as members of the state. They are called aliens.
Ways of Acquiring Citizenship
1.By Birth: A person is a citizen by birth
if either of his parents is a citizen of a country. it can also be explained as
when a child is born in a particular state i.e. a child born to Nigerian couple
in United State is automatically a citizen of the country.
2.By Naturalization: One can become a
citizen of a country through
naturalization. This is possible if he can satisfy the constitutional
requirements for naturalization.
3.Marriage or Registration: If a woman is
married to a person of another nationality, she can acquire the citizenship of
her husband’s country through registration. For example, a Nigerian woman
married to a British man or a British woman married to a Nigerian.
4.Dual Citizenship: It is legitimately
possible for a person to hold citizenship of two countries. For example, a
child born to a Nigerian parent living in the USA becomes a US citizen as well
as a Nigerian citizen because the parents are Nigerians.
5.Honorary Citizenship: An individual could
be honored with the citizenship of another country. This is made possible if
the individual has distinguished him/herself in a particular area through
academics or by doing something globally beneficial to a country.
Some
of the agencies responsible for the protection of human rights in Nigeria
include:
•Constitutional Rights Project – founded
in 1990 to promote rule of law in Nigeria.
•Nigerian Center for Human Rights and Development –
founded in 1995 to promote democracy and enforcement of rights.
•Human Rights Monitor – founded in 1992 to
promote human rights.
•Institute for Dispute Resolution –
founded in 1999 to promote peaceful conflict resolution.
•Human Rights Law Services (Hurilaws) –
established in 2007.
•Youths For Human Rights Protection And
Transparency Initiative
The roles
of agencies for the protection of human rights
Centre
for Advanced Social Sciences (CASS)
History
The
Centre for Advanced Social Sciences (CASS) was formed in 1992 and is based in
Port Harcourt. Two other branches are planned, one for East and Southern
Africa, the other for francophone West and Central Africa.
Mandate
CASS
is a think tank concerned with improving management and public policy in
Africa.
Structure
The
Centre has a Board of Trustees and is governed by an international Board of
Directors.
Program
CASS’s
research
areas are public policy, governance and democratization, and the international
system. The Centre runs seminars and training sessions.
Civil
Liberties Organisation
(CLO)
History
Established
in 1987, the Civil Liberties Organisation
(CLO) is one of Nigeria’s largest human rights organizations.
Mandate
The
CLO is a non-governmental organization set up for the defence and
expansion of human rights and civil liberties.
Structure
The
CLO is a membership organization with sixteen state branches outside Lagos. It
has a staff of 23 and is headed by a National Advisory Council and a Board of
Governors.
Program
The
CLO investigate s human rights abuses and campaigns through litigation,
publications and communications with the government on behalf of people whose
rights have been abused.
Human
Rights Monitor
Human
Rights Monitor is an organization in Kaduna which was started in January 1993 by
about 15 people in response to the need for a human rights body in the North.
Mandate
The
purpose of the organization is to address human rights issues in the north of
Nigeria.
Structure
Human
Right, Monitor has three full-time staff members and is a membership organization with approximately 50 members.
Program
The
organization has taken cases to court with the CLO and issued joint releases
with the CLO on human rights issues in the north. The organization is
completely self-funded and accordingly its activities have hampered.
1.Saves Time for the Parliament: There
are
lots of overwhelming activities that the government should be concerned about.
In order to resolve the complexity and volume that the legislature needs to
deal with, the power needs to be delegated to the executive branch
2. Enables Flexibility: Rigidity in
administration has been created by statutes, but the administrative legislation
can be more adaptable to varying circumstances.
3. Dealing with Emergencies: Clothing the
administrative agencies with needed discretion should be better in dealing with
possible contingencies. Such contingencies might result from the application of
laws as the legislature has been unable to foresee or allocate for everyone.
4.Done in Consultation with Affected
Interests: In order to make legislation effective, it is important to have
prior consultation regarding interests that should be affected.
5. The Administrative Legislation Provides
for Expert Legislation: The rules are being drafted by the experts familiar
with actual conditions in appropriate departments.
6. Sets Up New Standards: The increase in
the delegated legislation can likewise be attributed to the requirement of
setting up new standards in social interest
National Assembly
Demerits of Delegated Legislation
1.Undemocratic Procedures: The legislation comes as a result of undemocratic processes and procedures.
2.Apparent Lack of Debate: The apparent
lack of debate and publicity that should be associated with a form of secondary
legislation has also been noticeable.
3. The problem of Sub-Delegation: The arousal
of sub-delegation may come when the responsible body for the creation of
legislation has not been able to deal with it directly. Thus, the creation of
sub-delegation will give the job to other parties.
4. Dependence on Individuals Making Claims
to Review Legislation: One more limitation about delegated legislation is that
it renders the courts unable to review such legislation.
5.The Wording of Delegated Legislation:
Another problem when it comes to delegated legislation is the wording that can
be obscure and technical in nature that should make it hard to understand. This
was the trait shared with the Acts of Parliament.
Roles of Individuals in
UDHR(Universal Declaration of Human Right)
The
roles of the individual in the Universal Declaration of Human Right are highlighted
below
•Every individuals should be conscious of
their rights as citizens and be ready to claim it at any point in time.
•Every individuals should be ready to
acquire more knowledge about human rights.
•Individual should participate in joining
human rights groups to promote respect for all human rights.
•They should participate in casting their
vote during the election for political parties that believe in the protection of human
rights.
•Have respect for the right of their
fellow beings, individuals should not participate in abusing the rights of
other people.
•Individualsshould participate in giving financial
support to human rights abuse victims.
•They should also be willing to report
cases of human rights abuse to necessary authorities.
The Judiciary
Roles of Government in Universal
Declaration of Human Rights
•Conduct investigation into cases of human
rights violation; the state government have the obligation to conduct an
impartial investigation into allegations of the human right violation.
•Through Education and Training; the
government can organize training to teach citizens on the knowledge of their
rights and include the human right into the school curriculum.
•The government and groups can take all
necessary measures to protect human rights defenders against violence,
discrimination, and retaliation.
•Established agencies such as NAPTIP, Legal Aid Council
can help to defend human rights.
•Government should punish offenders of
human rights.
