The legal framework for the institutionalisation of international commercial arbitration in Nigeria: a critical review

Considering the need to enhance commercial activities in Nigeria and the indisputable right of international parties to resolve disputes through arbitration, the desire for Nigeria to sign and ratify the New York Convention cannot be over emphasized. Unquestionably, the administration of justice through our regular courts is usually beleaguered with delays for diverse reasons. An attempt to combat these delays and ensure swifter dispensation of justice has seen the emergence of arbitration in its effective use in Nigeria. The need for speed, resulting in more efficiency and economy in contract drafting, has always dominated international commercial transactions. Thus, the need for resorting to arbitration is more compelling considering the lethargic attitude of Nigerian courts to the resolution of sophisticated commercial disputes.This paper seeks to examine the mechanisms through which there has been an implantation and implementation of international commercial arbitration legal regime in Nigeria. The work attempts a critical analysis of relevant extant laws in use in Nigeria and the effectiveness as well as efficiency of these laws. A detailed explication of the different international legal regime of commercial arbitration has been highlighted with the ultimate aim of adverting Nigerian as bedrock of sustainable resolution of commercial disputes through the instrumentality of arbitration in sub-Saharan Africa. The work thus queries the receptive nature of our national courts towards the enforcement of foreign arbitral award.Keywords: International Commercial Arbitration, New York Convention, Enforcement, Nigeri

SUSTAINING THE RESPONSIBLE USE OF THE ENVIRONMENT THROUGH UTILIZATION OF NATURAL RESOURCES IN NIGERIA. HUMAN RIGHTS CONSIDERATIONS

In recent years, there has been an increased call for what can be referred to as environmental justice. This expression has found support in the fact that indigenes resident in resource extraction environments, ethnic minorities, least educated and impoverished people suffer tremendously from exposure to environmental hazards caused by exploration of natural resources in their environment. This work is an exposition of the age-long battle between the effects of transnational corporations’ activities in developing countries such as Nigeria and the infringement of rights of the inhabitants of extraction areas. The work analyses the principles of international environmental law and creates an exception under international human rights law which demands that States can now be held culpable for acts committed in violation of norms of customary international law. The efficacy of international instruments in achieving these rights is highlighted, considering the fact that the Constitution has failed in realizing the importance of environmental justice in the development of the Country. The work juxtaposes the rights which inure to individuals by virtue of being human with the demand for extraction of natural resources vis-à-vis the responsibility of transnational corporations in the exploitation of such resources. The work recommends that Nigeria must recognize the right to clean and healthy environmental as a justiciable right. Not only must there be the means to implement these rights, there must be adequate and responsible enforcement mechanisms in place. Government must not only be serious but be manifestly seen to be so