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The Impact of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on Domestic Law: A Case study of Nigeria

This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Commonwealth Law Bulletin on 09/06/2015, available online: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03050718.2015.1049633The African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (African Charter) establishes a system or mechanism for the promotion and protection of human rights in Africa within the framework of the African Union (formerly known as the Organisation of African Unity). The African Charter promotes a range of human rights such as civil and political, socio-economic and cultural, individual and collective rights. The African Charter is the first regional mechanism to incorporate the different classes of human rights in a single document. There have been a plethora of academic postulations indicating that the African Charter has impacted Nigerian Law minimally. This article contends that the African Charter has impacted positively on Nigerian law notwithstanding the academic postulations to the contrary

Women and the Law in Nigeria: A Reappraisal

Women in Nigeria face many challenges and discrimination under some extant laws. This paper will focus on some of these laws and their impacts on women in Nigeria. The first section will focus on a brief history of Nigeria as a background to the paper. Nigeria’s unique legal system will be briefly highlighted. The second section of the paper will highlight aspects of Nigerian laws accentuating discrimination against women. Some of these laws will include the Labour Act, the Police Act, customary practices and sexual violence laws amongst others. The third part of the paper will focus on the reforms of the extant laws. Some of these reforms include judicial activism of judges in Nigeria, regional and international treaties which Nigeria has signed and ratified (and in some cases, domesticated), and the social activist roles of the Civil Society Groups or Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) in Nigeria. The fourth section will proffer some recommendations. The final section will be the concluding part of the pape

Protection of the Environment and the International Salvage Convention 1989: An Assessment

This article focuses on the International Salvage Convention and the protection of the environment in salvage operations. The article traces the evolution and history of the law of Salvage to its present status by using the UK as a case study. In essence, the article seeks to ascertain the extent of current international regime on salvage in protecting the environment. The question that this article poses is: Does the International Salvage Convention 1989 accord enough protection to the environment against the backdrop of global efforts to promote environmental protection and sustainable development? The article begins with a brief synopsis of the underlying principles of salvage including the rule of ‘no cure-no pay’ followed by an appraisal of the events that culminated arguably in the development of the International Salvage Convention 1989 to safeguard the environment in the course of salvage operations. A systematic analysis of the defects inherent in the International Salvage Convention 1989 vis-à-vis protection of the environment are analysed and a number of reforms are highlighted

The civil society and the regulation of the extractive industry in Nigeria

This article focuses on the role of civil society organisations (CSOs) in impacting on trends and developments in the extractive industry in Nigeria. For example, CSOs take on the government to promote accountability and probity in the management of the sector that is beset by ineffectual regulation; alleged collusion with multinational corporations having as consequences environmental degradation and human rights abuses; and, ineffective judicial processes, among other things. On the other hand, CSOs are increasingly beginning to play prominent roles in collaborations with extractive corporations in the initiation and management of development programmes. In a nutshell, this paper aims to engage with both theoretical (based on the Hood et al conceptualisation of a regulatory regime, which encompasses information gathering, standard setting and behaviour modification activities) and practical frameworks (such as litigation, collaboration and pressure by CSOs) that explain the evolution of CSOs and their “regulatory” roles in Nigeria’s extractive industry. Civil society and civil society organisation are used interchangeably.Keywords: Nigeria, CSOs, extractive industry, regulatory framewor

Corporate Social Responsibility and Chinese Oil Multinationals in the Oil and Gas Industry of Nigeria: An appraisal

This article focuses on the extant corporate social responsibility ǻCSR) practices in the oil and gas industry in Nigeria. The oil and gas sector of Nigeria has been beset by a lot of problems not limited to violence, kidnappings, eco-terrorism, and maladministration amongst others. One way of curing the inherent problems is the use of CSR by many oil multinational corporations (MNCs) operating in Nigeria. This article focuses on the Chinese oil irms operating in the oil and gas industry in Nigeria and investigates if they operate on the same basis as the Western irms. It seeks to determine whether the variants of CSR practised by non-Western irms in Nigeria have had negative or positive impacts in the oil and gas industry especially with China’s contribution to Nigerian economy

The impact of COVID-19 on the socio-economic rights of older persons in Africa: The urgency of operationalising the Protocol on the Rights of Older Persons

Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic across the world, it has been reported that older persons have suffered acute hardship and fatalities more than any other age group. According to the World Health Organisation the fatality rate among older persons is five times the global average, and the United Nations has predicted that the mortality rate could climb even higher. The situation is aggravated on the African continent as a result of a shortage of medical personnel and other resources, as well as inadequate palliative measures to address the issues around the pandemic. Despite the provisions in the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the Protocol to the African Charter on the Rights of Older Persons in Africa which seek to provide some safety nets, many of these senior citizens continue to suffer untold socioeconomic hardship. Adopting an analytical and doctrinal methodology, this article examines the Protocol, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and several United Nations policy documents aimed at realising the socio-economic rights of older persons. The article finds that there is a lack of political commitment to operationalise the provisions of the Protocol, as evinced by the limited number of countries that have ratified it since its adoption in 2016. It comparatively engages with the provisions of the Inter-American Convention on the Rights of Older Persons to argue that, beyond the normative framing of these rights in Africa, there is a need for deliberate and genuine commitment by governments in Africa, if the rights are to be realised. The article advocates international, regional and national cooperation and calls for a more liberal judicial approach, to ensure that the Protocol’s ‘paperisation’ of the rights of older persons does not lead or continue to lead to their pauperisation

Realizing Substantive Rights to Healthy Environment in Nigeria: A Case for Constitutionalization

There has been never-ending debate concerning the right to a healthy environment and the extent to which the law has provided for or guaranteed the right in national and international contexts. Whilst some countries have expressly recognised the right to a healthy environment in their constitutions and subsidiary laws, others have relied on regional instruments and treaties to guarantee such rights, especially where domestic legislation is either lacking, inadequate or ineffective. This article will contend that constitutionalising (rather than regionalising before a human rights commission or treaty) environmental rights domestically would improve environmental outcomes in Nigeria. To further buttress the constitutionalisation argument, this article will undertake a critical analysis of the right to the environment in South Africa which has constitutionalised the right to the environment

Fossil fuel and the global energy transition: regulation and standardisation as panacea for a more sustainable world energy order / O combustível fóssil e a transição energética global: regulação e normalização como panaceia para uma ordem energética mundial mais sustentável

The transition from fossil fuels to more sustainable sources of energy has become a topical issue that is likely to remain in the front burner of stakeholders as governments and businesses gradually move towards low-carbon economies. This move has been partly accelerated by the need to combat climate change and greenhouse gases (GHG). The move towards more sustainable energy sources has led to an upsurge in the number of international mechanisms such as the 2015 Paris Agreement on Climate Change (COP 15) (and a plethora of regional and domestic initiatives). Regulations and standardisation have been identified as strategic tools that can play critical roles in the drive towards energy transition. Regulation in this context refers to laws or other form of instruments with legal backing and having cohesiveness, while Standardisation entails the voluntary process of developing technical specifications based on consensus among stakeholders. The focus of this paper is how these two strategic tools interact and how they can be used to, enhance creativity, and further accelerate the drive towards energy transition and therefore more sustainable sources of energy.

Protecting and Promoting Women’s Rights in Nigeria: Constraints and Prospects

Women in Nigeria face many challenges and discriminatory practices under some extant laws and customs. The Nigerian society is inherently patriarchal. This is due to the influence of the various religions and customs in many parts of Nigeria. Women are seen as the ‘weaker sex’ and discriminatory practices by the state and society (especially by men) are condoned. This chapter highlights some of the recent reforms that have impacted positively on the promotion and protection of women’s rights in Nigeria. These reforms include the appointment of female Justices to the Supreme Court and the enactment of laws such as the Violence against Persons (Prohibition) Act 2015 amongst others. This paper contends that notwithstanding the development of these reforms and laws, women in Nigeria still face many state sanctioned discriminatory practices. The methodology adopted in this study is of a qualitative nature that consists of library based texts analysis