THE LAW

CONTRIBUTORY REASONS FOR LAWLESS ACTIONS AND IMPUNITY IN OUR SOCIETY

Law governs man's social and physical environments, and even the supernatural - 'as above so below'. It then becomes a duty for man to obey laws in order to make the best of life experience here on earth and perhaps hereinafter as concerns the supernatural.

However, obedience to law appears to be acknowledged as a duty only by those who recognize the authority of the law or the right of the lawmaker to command. Such authority or right must be derived or conferred through a legitimate and credible process.

Lawlessness mostly results in a society to the extent where the legitimacy and credibility of institutions and processes become undermined and entrapped in impunity. This unfortunately is the bane of most of the less-developed societies like ours. We do have a lot to do to put the state of affairs in our country and the ship of national progress and prosperity on an even keel.

A majority of people would be willing to obey the law even if no external sanctions could be enforced against them by a superior power if the law binds them in conscience rather than by its coercive force. They will obey the law because they believe it is morally right to do so. The sense of the law's moral authority is for them the sense of duty from which the dictates of conscience flow. And the law can only bind them in conscience as to evoke the zeal of duty of obedience if they believe the law to be just, fair, equitable, inclusive and capable of bringing about greater good to society.

It is my hope that we become ever-conscious and learn to imbibe these time-tested principles towards building a better and more progressive society going forward.

God bless Nigeria!

(Contains few adaptations from John Locke's thoughts on duty as espoused in Britannica Great Books Vol.2, 257).

Ceejay Ojong commenting from Abuja - Nigeria.