THE descent to anarchy, no matter the form it takes, should not be tolerated in any society that law and order guide. Some of the biggest challenges our law face are from the authorities, who stretch the limits of immunity, and constitute themselves into law. They chose which law to obey and the ones that they treat with disdain.

A trend in this direction is the growing interests of States in disobeying federal laws, or enacting their versions of the law, which usually contradicts the federal law. Examples are the sharia law in the North and the refusal of States to obey the 11-year-old Child’s Rights Act, and the 2011 Freedom of Information Act.

The dangers of this conduct are obvious. What is illegal in some parts of the country, are legal in other parts. The case of the sharia law is worse. While the federal law prescribes 14 years’ imprisonment for same sex relationships, the sharia law states death by stoning as the penalty.

In Bauchi, some in a motley crowd that gathers when some alleged homosexuals are brought to court are waiting to hurl stones at the suspects. A guilty verdict would award them the right to stone the offenders to death. The law says stone the offenders to death!

As critics condemn the 14 years’ imprisonment the federal law prescribes, they ignore the finality of the sentence in Bauchi, if the suspects are found guilty. The Bauchi setting is only one of the dangers of state laws that contradict federal laws.

The other is the bleak future absolute disinterest in the Child’s Rights Act entails. The Act provides for education of the child, among other welfares, and prescribes punishments for child labour and early marriages. Why would governments that are interested in the future of Nigeria, neglect children, the building blocks for the future?

States excuse their illegality by claiming they have concurrent jurisdiction on these issues. The excuse is not tenable. Our Constitution is clear about the precedence of federal laws over state laws.

According to Section 4 (5) of the Constitution, “If any law enacted by the House of Assembly of a State is inconsistent with any law validly made by the National Assembly, the law made by the National Assembly shall prevail, and that other law shall, to the extent of the inconsistency, be void”.

No State had a Child’s Right Act by 2003 or the Freedom of Information Act in 2011. Even with the sharia law that preceded the 2014 same sex law, the Constitution states that the contradictions in the sharia law are void.

It is time the Attorney-General of the Federation legally compelled States to obey the Constitution.