PERTANIKA JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES

As encapsulated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948, economic, social, and cultural rights are indispensable components of the fundamental rights that the global community guarantees to all humankind, alongside civil and political rights. Specifically, the United Nations adopted the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) in 1966 to expedite the fulfillment of ESCR while imploring Member States to adopt and domesticate the same to stimulate the realization of these rights at the national level. This study examined Nigeria concerning their effort toward fulfilling the obligation to the ICESCR, which she affirmed. Depending on data derived from secondary sources and analyzed using thematic and content analysis techniques, the study found that Nigeria maintains demonstrable support for the international community in promoting the universal realization of ESCR. Nigeria has ratified and domesticated the ICESCR at the global level and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights at the regional level and incorporated these rights into their extant 1999 National Constitution. Nevertheless, Nigeria’s path to fulfilling its obligation to the ICESCR is crooked as it faces some underlying problems that impede its effort, including the paradox in its constitution. The study recommends, in addition to other actions, a constitutional reform to repeal Section 6(6)(c) of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria to categorize ESCR under ‘fundamental rights’ and ascribe them the status of ‘enforceable’ rights under the law to ameliorate these issues.

• Ajibade, I. M. (2006). Promoting economic, social and cultural rights: A critical step to achieving human security in Nigeria. http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1547424

• Cahill-Ripley, A., & Henrick, D. (2018). Economic, social and cultural rights and sustaining peace: An introduction. Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, Quaker United Nations Office, and Lancaster University. https://library.fes.de/pdf-files/bueros/genf/14400.pdf

• Centre for Economic and Social Rights. (n. d.). What are economic, social and cultural rights? https://www.cesr.org/what-are-economic-social-and-cultural-rights

• Chinwo, C. A. J. (2006). Principles and practice of constitutional law in Nigeria, (Volume 1). Davis Printing and Packaging.

• Dubay, C. A. (2014). General principles of international law: Monism and dualism. International Judicial Academy. http://www.judicialmonitor.org/archive_winter2014/generalprinciples.html

• Dugard, J. (2020). The international human rights system. In J. Dugard, B. Porter, D. Ikawa & L. Chenwi (Eds.), Research handbook on economic, social and cultural rights as human rights (pp. 2-13). Edward Elgar Publishing. https://www.socialrights.ca/2020/Research%20Handbook%20on%20ESCR.pdf

• Eze, O. C. (1984). Human rights in Africa: Some selected problems. Nigerian Institute of International Affairs & Macmillan Publishers.

• Federal Republic of Nigeria. (1999). Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (with amendments 2011). Federal Government Printer. file:///C:/Users/OPTIPLEX%205250%20AIO/Downloads/Nigeria%20Constitution.pdf

• Grigsby, S. M. (2017). Enforcing economic, social and cultural rights: A stark dichotomy. Northeastern University Law Review. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/56a67d1e05caa777b1877b09/t/590a0a5786e6c07b8df88482/1493830232897/EL_Grigsby_Final+Draft+PDF+Version_05-03-2017.pdf

• Ibe, S. (2010). Implementing economic, social and cultural rights in Nigeria: Challenges and opportunities. African Human Rights Law Journal, 10(1), 199-211. https://www.ahrlj.up.ac.za/images/ahrlj/2010/ahrlj_vol10_no1_2010_stanley_ibe.pdf

• Ifejika, S. I. (2021). The Nigerian state and international human rights laws in the fourth republic. Pertanika Journal of Social Sciences & Humanities, 29(1), 565-581. https://doi.org/10.47836/pjssh.29.1.31

• Igwe, O.W., Nwanyanwu, T., Amah, C., & Dua-Luke, T. G. (2019). Appraisal of the measures for the realization of economic, social and cultural rights in Nigeria. International Journal of Innovative Legal & Political Studies, 7(4), 22-35.

• Ikawa, D. (2020). The international convention on economic, social and cultural rights and the optional protocol. In J. Dugard, B. Porter, D. Ikawa, & L. Chenwi (Eds.), Research handbook on economic, social and cultural rights as human rights (pp. 2-13). Edward Elgar Publishing. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781788974172.00009

• International Justice Resource Centre. (2017). Nigeria: Country factsheet series. https://ijrcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Nigeria.pdf

• Kelsen, H. (1992). Introduction to the problems of legal theory: A translation of the first edition of the Reine Rechtslehre or pure theory of law. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198265658.001.0001

• Kooijmans, P. H. (1994). International publiekrecht in vogelvlucht [Public international law in a nutshell]. Wolters-Noordhoff.

• Kutigi, H. D. (2017). Towards justiciability of economic, social and cultural rights in Nigeria. A role for Canada-Nigeria cooperations? The Transnational Human Rights Review, 4, 125-145.

• Langford, M., Porter, B., Brown, R., & Rossi, J. (2016). Introduction. In M. Langford, B. Porter, R. Brown, & J. Rossi (Eds.), The optional protocol to the international covenant on economic, social and cultural rights: A commentary. Pretoria University Law Press. https://www.corteidh.or.cr/tablas/31393.pdf

• Lougarre, C. (2020). The protection of non-nationals’ economic, social and cultural rights in UN human rights treaties. International Human Rights Law Review, 9, 252-290. https://doi.org/10.1163/22131035-00902008

• Mayah, E., Mariotti, C., Mere, E., & Odo, C. O. (2017). Inequality in Nigeria: Exploring the drivers. Oxfam International. https://www-cdn.oxfam.org/s3fs-public/file_attachments/cr-inequality-in-nigeria-170517-en.pdf

• Mutubwa, W. (2019). Monism or dualism: The dilemma in the application of international agreements under the South African Constitution. Journal of Conflict Management and Sustainable Development, 3(1), 27-37.

• National Human Rights Commission of Nigeria. (2009). Report on state of compliance with international minimum standards of human rights by Nigeria under the universal periodic review mechanism. https://uprdoc.ohchr.org/uprweb/downloadfile.aspx?filename=556&file=EnglishTranslation

• Ngang, C. C. (2014). Judicial enforcement of socio-economic rights in South Africa and the separation of powers objection: The obligation to take ‘other measures’. African Human Rights Law Journal, 2(16), 655-680.

• Ola, A. S., Mohammed, A., & Audi, M. S. (2014). Effects of corruption on economic development in Nigeria. Global Journal of Interdisciplinary Social Sciences, 3(3), 209-215. https://www.walshmedicalmedia.com/open-access/effects-of-corruption-on-economic-development-in-nigeria.pdf

• Olaitan, O. & Oyeniyi, A. (2015). Realizing the right to development in Nigeria: An examination of legal barriers and challenges. Journal of Sustainable Development, Law and Policy, 6(1), 145-168. https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/jsdlp.v6i1.7

• Olaniyi, O. F. (2019). Implementing the socio-economic and cultural rights in Nigeria and South Africa: Justiciability of economic rights. African Journal of International and Comparative Law, 27(4), 564-587. https://doi.org/10.3366/ajicl.2019.0291

• Oluwadayisi, A. O. (2014). Economic and socio-cultural rights in the democratic governance of Nigeria: Enforcement mechanisms beyond justiciability. Nnamdi Azikiwe University Journal of International Law and Jurisprudence, 5,105-117.

• Quane, H. (2012). A further dimension to the interdependence and indivisibility of human Rights?: Recent developments concerning the rights of indigenous people. Harvard Human Rights Journal, 25, 49-83.

• Scottish Human Rights Commission. (2020). Adequate and effective remedies for economic, social and cultural rights: A background briefing paper for the National Taskforce on Human Rights Leadership, December 2020. https://www.scottishhumanrights.com/media/2163/remedies-for-economic-social-and-cultural-rights.pdf

• Shiman, D. (n.d.). Economic and social justice: A human rights perspective. http://hrlibrary.umn.edu/edumat/hreduseries/tb1b/Section1/tb1-2.htm

• Smith, T. (2020). Scientific purpose and human rights: Evaluating general comment no 25 in light of major discussions in the travaux preparatoires of the universal declaration of human rights and international covenant on economic, social, and cultural rights. Nordic Journal of Human Rights, 38(3), 221-236. https://doi.org/10.1080/18918131.2021.1882757

• Udu, E. A. (2014). The imperative of economic, social and cultural rights in the development of nascent democracies: An inter-jurisdictional view. Nnamdi Azikiwe University Journal of International Law and Jurisprudence, 5, 27-41.

• United Nations. (1945). Charter of the United Nations and Statute of the International Court of Justice. https://treaties.un.org/doc/publication/ctc/uncharter.pdf

• United Nations. (1949). Universal declaration of human rights 1948. https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights

• United Nations. (1966). International covenant on economic, social and cultural rights. https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/ProfessionalInterest/cescr.pdf

• United Nations. (2020). Covid-19 and human rights: We are all in this together. https://www.un.org/victimsofterrorism/sites/www.un.org.victimsofterrorism/files/un_-_human_rights_and_covid_april_2020.pdf

• United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. (2020). Impact of corruption on specific human rights. https://www.unodc.org/e4j/en/anti-corruption/module-7/key-issues/impact-of-corruption-on-specific-human-rights.html