Definition of Constitution-NATURE,FUNCTION AND ORIGIN

Attempts have been made by many authors to define the word “Constitution”. Some writers adopt the simplistic view point of defining “Constitution” as the means by which a people organize themselves into a political community and define the aims and objectives of their association, the condition of membership, the organs and powers necessary for the conduct of the affairs of the association and duties and responsibilities of those organs to the individual. This kind of arrangement exists even at the lower level of clubs and associations. Linking the constitution with the government, Nwabueze has suggested that: “… a constitution refers simply to the frame or composition of a government, to the way in which a government is actually structured in terms of organs, the distribution of powers within it, the relations of the  organs inter se, and the procedures for exercising power.”

From this definition, we can deduce that a constitution must concern itself with the structures of government as well as organs and the interrelationship of such organs.

The Webster’s New Twentieth Century Dictionary defines Constitution as 

(a) the way in which a government, state, society is organized; (b) the system of fundamental laws and principles of government, state, society, corporation etc. written or unwritten; (c) a document or set of documents in which these laws and principles are written down. This definition emphasizes the function and nature of a constitution.

Blacks Law Dictionary defines constitution as “the organic and fundamental law of a nation or state which may be written or unwritten, establishing the character and organising the government and regulating, distributing and limiting the functions of its different departments and prescribing the extent and manner of the exercise of sovereign powers”. The above is made clearer by the definition contained in the Oxford Law Companion as follows: “A Constitution is the:

a. Body of rules prescribing the major elements of the structure and  organisation of any group of persons, including clubs,  associations, trade unions, political parties and citizens of a state. b. The fundamental political and legal structure of government of a  distinct political community, setting such matters as the Head of  State, the legislature, the executive and judiciary, their  constitutional powers and relations”.

NATURE, FUNCTION AND ORIGIN

The nature of the constitution has been aptly put by Hon. Justice Adolphus G. Karibi-Whyte as the “...Fons et origo of the exercise of powers, the employment of rights, and discharge of obligations…” Some of the functions of the Constitution as contained in the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria are as follows:

1.  It states the aims and objectives of the people.
2. It establishes a national government.
3. It controls the relationship between the governments.
4.  It defines and preserves personal liberties.
5.  It contains provisions to enable the government to perpetuate  itself…. .

The preamble of the 1999 Constitution lays solid foundation for the political element and origin of the constitution. It states that “We the People of the Federal Republic of Nigeria having firmly and solemnly resolved to live in unity and harmony … and to provide for a constitution for the purpose of promoting the good government do hereby make, enact and give to ourselves the following constitution….” The constitution could be decreed by the existing government as was done for instance by the military government in 1979 and 1999.

Hood Phillips has suggested that the word “Constitution” could be used in two different senses; the abstract and the concrete. In the abstract sense, it refers to the system of laws, customs and conventions which define the composition and power of organs of the state and regulate the relations of the various state organs to one another and to the private citizens. In the concrete sense, it is a document in which the most important laws of the Constitution are authoritatively ordained. This brings us to the issue of the written and unwritten (flexible and rigid) constitutions.