Importance of subnational legislative advocacy

In Nigeria, there is a popular saying among political analysts, “Nigeria is not short of laws”, and while this is true, it is often truer for laws made at the federal level; hence, most of the laws and policies are only effective as they are in Abuja, the federal capital territory.

It is important to note that the impact of laws and policies on the larger population of Nigeria often depends on their effective implementation of the law at the state level. While the federal government plays a crucial role in policymaking, it is the state governments that have the constituted power to domesticate and adapt these laws to suit “local contexts”.

The Nigerian Constitution, in recognition of the country’s diversity and the distinct needs of its states, provides a mechanism for state domestication of laws. Save for some priority areas, the philosophical drive of most of our laws in Nigeria is rooted in cultural and religious beliefs.

These cultural and religious beliefs are highly dependent on the geographical region of the country. This is why the Nigerian Constitution provides a framework for the distribution of legislative powers between the federal and state governments. According to the Constitution, certain matters, known as the “Exclusive Legislative List,” are reserved for the federal government to legislate upon. These include issues like defence, foreign affairs, and currency.

Conversely, the “Concurrent Legislative List” allows both the federal and state governments to make laws on matters such as education, health, and agriculture.

The second schedule, part 1, Section 4 of the Nigerian Constitution, stipulates the areas where both the federal and state governments have concurrent legislative powers.

These areas include education, health, education, some customary laws and agriculture, among others. States have the authority to enact laws in these domains, allowing them to customise federal legislation according to their specific requirements. Subsection 7 goes further to emphasise the authority of state legislatures to make laws on subjects within their jurisdiction. It asserts the autonomy of states in legislating on matters that affect them directly.

This division of legislative powers is crucial to the Nigerian polity because it acknowledges the diversity and unique needs of Nigeria’s various states. It recognises that what works in one state may not be suitable for another. But while this is the case, our lack of effective engagements with state legislature allows for easy misunderstanding of crucial tenets of our policy advocacy efforts. Thereby affecting how laws are implemented. 

As we advocate for policies in Nigeria, we are often blinded by the act of federal legislation that we forget the role of the state house of assemblies. Sometimes, when we manage to coerce and convince the federal legislature to pass or modify a particular law or policy, we just automatically assume that all 36 states of the federation will now adopt it.

Meanwhile, as states work to domesticate, some key components of the laws and policies decimate because we do not channel our advocacies to these legislatures to understand why those components are important for the laws to have an impact.

We have seen this happen severally where federal directives or federal laws do not have an impact at the state level. For example, take the Child Rights Act of 2003 and the Child Protection Bill. While Nigeria adopted these Acts at the federal level, not all states initially domesticated them. Some states made amendments to align the Act with their “cultural and religious beliefs”. For instance, Kano State domesticated the Child Protection Bill but with modifications to ensure that certain adulterated and retrogressive cultural practices and traditions were preserved while still “protecting children’s rights”.

The same can be said for some states across the six different geopolitical zones of Nigeria. Another example can be the Violence Against Persons Prohibition Act (VAPP). While the federal government adopted the act into law, most states in the north removed the components of marital rape. And this was a key component of the advocacy process for the adoption of the VAPP Act. 

Advocacy efforts at the federal level are important. However, they are not sufficient to bring about meaningful change and lasting impact that affects the larger Nigerian populace. State legislators play a pivotal role in shaping the laws and policies that directly impact the lives of their constituents.

Therefore, it is crucial that advocacy efforts are channelled toward state legislators. We have to start seeing subnational legislatures to be as important as the federal legislatures. The application of federal laws is largely dependent on the ability of these subnational houses of assemblies to understand the benefits for their states. 

Sulaiman wrote from Abuja