The proponents of the principle of Separation of Power saw the need in government for a proper distinction of functions of all arms that they developed these principles which have become facts in our daily life. Aristotle favoured a mixed government composed of monarchy, aristocracy, and democracy, seeing none as ideal, but a mix of the three useful by combining the best aspects of each. In his 1656, James Harrington brought these ideas up-to-date and proposed systems based on the separation of power. John Locke, in his 1690 Civil Government, second treatise, separated the powers into an executive and a legislature. Montesquieu's 1748 Spirit of the Laws expanded on Locke, adding a judiciary. The framers of the Constitution took all of these ideas and converted the theories into practical applications. (http://www.usconstitution.net/consttop_sepp.html#historical). The Nigerian government is a testimony to the applicability of these principles of Politics/Governance.

These principles which have now become facts are intended to make for a perfect system of government. Early Greek philosophers have all got their conceptions of what a true state should be and their theories have to a large extent influenced our government of the day. Plato a student of Aristotle opined that instead of rhetoric and persuasion, reason and wisdom should govern. In his Republic he wrote

Making his premise from the aspect of truth, Plato desires that the “Philosopher King” should be those to rule as that will bring to fore the best form of government.

Aristotle born in Stagira in northern Greece (b. 384 - d. 322 BC) was a student of Plato. One of the most influential Philosopher in history whose works spread from politics Arts, Science, Ethics and Biology saw politics from an angle of the politician as a statesman who applies politics as a legislative science for an end result and sees politics as a science that the politician should manage with prudence according to the universal theory.

While there is on one side the issue of which type of Government is best, there is another angle which pertains to the prevention of the arbitrary use of power. Montesquieu a French philosopher proposed the division of power between the three arms of government, the Executive, the Legislature and the Judiciary. In essence power in government should not be concentrated on one arm. In the position where one of these three over steps its bound, the others are meant to check its excesses.

In the Nigerian government like every other Democracy, the Executive arm is saddled with the function of governance and making policies. The executive is in charge of the Security, the police and many more. The legislature however make laws for the country, while the judiciary interpret the laws of the land as applicable in different circumstances. In an instance of infringement, the other arms act as checks. While this principle is yet to have a concrete implementation in Nigeria as it is in the United States, it is indisputably a classical principle.

All of these philosophers were influenced by the prevalent circumstances of their time to propound the various theories of governance. For instance Aristotle's life seems to have influenced his political thought in various ways: his interest in biology seems to be expressed in the naturalism of his politics; his interest in comparative politics and his sympathies for democracy as well as monarchy may have been encouraged by his travels and experience of diverse political systems; he criticizes harshly, while borrowing extensively, from Plato's Republic, Statesman, and Laws; and his own Politics is intended to guide rulers and statesmen, reflecting the high political circles in which he moved.(http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotle-politics/#PolView) In this age and time, therefore, governance in Nigeria needs a peculiar attention and to my opinion should not be left in the hands of a few who belong in one of the “Three Arms of Government”. there is yet another arm that is somewhat reticent. It is very powerful, yet needs to be controlled by those other three arms.

In addition to the Executive , Legislature and Judiciary, we also have “The People” as the FOURTH ARM, from which the other Arms are derivatives; and is obvious that the

people derive their coexistence from the Constitution which itself again is the peoples’ making. Montesquieu identified in society the monarchy, the aristocracy, and the commons. He also identified two types of powers, sovereign and administrative. For the latter he divided into three, the Executive, Legislature and the Judiciary. In his opinion and quite widely held, those are the administrators. But his opinion which has now become a principle was in fact influenced by his judgment of how he perceived POLITICS in his time, seeing “The People” as the led and powerless as he wrote in his book “The Spirit of the Laws” “"As distant as heaven is from the earth, so is the true spirit of equality from that of extreme equality...."In a true state of nature, indeed, all men are born equal, but they cannot continue in this equality. Society makes them lose it, and they recover it only by the protection of laws." It is for the protection of rights that laws are made, and for the custody of the laws and administration devoid of tyranny that the three arms of government was postulated. The Nigerian situation demands more than having the usual three arms. Since there is the entrenched fear of our leaders in “The People“, it is only necessary that the people be accorded that quota of administration for better awareness of their quasi-administrative functions of checking the other three arms as a non-elected and non-appointed Arm of Government where participation is by virtue of citizenship or domicile. While there may not be any written functions of this very salient unrecognised organ of government, its functions are too numerous.

In checking the Executive, “The People” can go to court to seek legal option against a policy of the Executive where they can harmonise a voice that represents their number, they can also do that in the elections by making changes in who holds what, why, when and how. Checking the Legislature can be done at the elections and a recall of a member, or a call for a referendum for an overhaul of the system. For the Judiciary, “The People” can protest a decision of the judiciary by pursuing a bill at the national assembly for a turn of that decision, by the legislature enacting an act that represents the will of the people.

There is a strong argument that the legislators at the national assembly are representatives of the people and so their imputes are considered the opinion of “The People“. To this very school of thought, “The People” is nothing but a constituency. For electioneering reasons this argument is tenable. And in the aspect of representation, I would opine that all in the governing circle is a representative of the people; the Executive, Legislature or Judiciary. If therefore members of the above mentioned arms represent the people, then the people making a case for themselves while acting as a check on all of those other Arms are representing themselves.

This theory is pertinent to the Nigerian circumstance to strengthen The Peoples’ resolve for a better participation in the up-coming general elections and to diffuse the fear of victimisations should a different choice emerge as the winner of the polls. The “Fourth Arm” which in the actual fact is the most powerful of all the Arms subsists even when others get dissolved or have completed their tenure. That is why it is non-elective and non-appointed.

In the just concluded debate on the 1999 Constitution Amendment Bill 2006, the Legislature performed an Herculean task. That to many Nigerians was a check on the powers of the all powerful Executive Arm. The Judiciary at different times have ruled against certain policies of the Executive. While the Executive nominates for appointment the members of the Judiciary, the Legislature has the final say. It is sometimes asserted that the overwhelming presence of the Executive reduces the chances of their request not being granted by the Legislature. Apparently, some elements of Checks and Balances are visible in the weak Nigerian system of Separation of Powers.

It is therefore necessary to stimulate the “Fourth Arm” to brace up to their duty as the most powerful but marginalised Arm of Government as we approach yet another epoch making political era which of course is one of the periods for “The People” to manifest the inherent capacity to check the other celebrated “Three Arms“, and as the final arbiter of what the other “Arms” become in 2007 and thereafter.