The Nigerian State and International Human Rights Laws in the Fourth Republic

Abstract

Nigeria, during her long period of military dictatorship, earned an appalling human rights record accompanied by various degrees of sanctions by the international community. Underlying these odious developments were the various instances of violations and gross disrespect for international human rights law by the successive governments of the day. Thus, as part of the efforts at redeeming the country’s global human rights image, prodemocracy forces pushed for the return of the country to the democratic system, a desire that eventually materialized in May 1999. This paper, therefore, examined Nigeria’s commitment to international human rights instruments towards the actualization of the International Community’s goal of Universal Human Rights. Relying on data collected through the secondary sources and the qualitative-descriptive method of data analysis, the study found, that Nigeria had exhibited an appreciable commitment to the actualization of the International Community’s goal of Universal Human Rights having ratified several important international treaties and conventions for the protection of human rights both at the global and regional levels. However, certain major challenges still hamper the country’s full commitment to these instruments, and adequate protection of the fundamental rights and liberties of her citizens. To enable Nigeria to overcome the challenges, the study suggests, among other measures, the revocation of section 12 of the 1999 Nigerian Constitution to enable seamless domestication and implementation of all existing human rights treaties Nigeria has acceded to, and those it may accede to in future times.