2021

Nigeria has been proclaimed a federation. A cursory study of the constitutional provisions shows that it has been aptly described as such. Many have attempted to posit that Nigeria does not practice Federalism in the true sense of the meaning of federalism. However, others have argued that federalism is unique to the country practicing it as there is what is known as American Federalism different from the Swiss Federalism or German Federalism. Thus, they described the type of federalism practiced by Nigeria as Nigerian federalism. As much as we have tried to agree with the latter opinion that Nigeria practices federalism, however, we believe that there are constitutional errors in the structure of the federalism practiced in Nigeria. These errors could be traced to the history of Nigeria’s federalism and the influence of her colonial master’s form or structure of governance passed down or inherited. These errors, unfortunately, has been deeply entrenched.

One of the purposes of the United Nations as proclaimed by the UN Charter is to promote and encourage respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms for all.1 Soon after the introduction of human rights into international discourse through the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), the ideological divide between the West and the East found its way into negotiations for a framework towards recognition and protection.2 This divide resulted in the creation of a dichotomy of human rights along the existing Cold War groupings with the traditional West placing emphasis on civil and political rights and the East showing a preference for economic, social and cultural rights. With the emergence of the global South, a third category of human rights now known as collective or group rights entered into the picture.3

The upsurge of conflict between herders and farmers has resulted in the wanton destruction of lives and properties in Nigeria including Benue State. In a spirited response to the quagmire, the Benue State House of Assembly enacted a law entitled ‘Open Grazing Prohibition and Ranches Establishment Law.’ The passage of the law was received with mixed feelings. While Benue State Government has categorically asserted that the law is for the common good, the leaders of the association of herdsmen known as Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore Nigeria viewed the enactment of the statute with utter skepticism and challenged its constitutionality. This article seeks to analyze the provisions of the Open Grazing Prohibition and Ranches Establishment Law (OGPREL), 2017, with a view to ascertaining the legality or otherwise of the instrument as well as highlighting its challenges and prospects. The article adopts the qualitative research methodology for information. It finds that the recrimination and violent clashes had often occurred in the territory of Benue State prior to the establishment of the OGPEL. It also indicates that states such as Nasarawa and Plateau states which do not have such laws have similarly experienced conflicts between farmers and herders. The article unequivocally espouses the view that the OGPREL is not counterproductive but a potent harbinger and instrument aimed at preventing conflict and galvanizing peaceful coexistence in Benue State.

The paper focuses on human trafficking under international law by addressing issues affecting migration management and control strategies. In order to achieve this objective, the paper adopts a doctrinal analytical framework by relying on a counter trafficking response. The paper argues that for an effective counter trafficking response to be rooted within a broader migration management approach which emphasizes a unified response to migration challenges at points of sources, transit and destination, the strategy shall also accord priority of human rights of all migrants as a means of ensuring better protection for victims of human trafficking. Recognizing the fact that trafficking and exploitation largely occur in the informal sector, this paper recommends among other things that, governments should ensure that, informal and unregulated work activities are brought within – the protection of labor laws so that all workers – national and foreign can enjoy the same labor rights. In this regard, more consideration should be given to the United Nations Convention on the protection of all Migrant workers and their families as a tool to protect Migrants from human trafficking and all forms of exploitation.

The world has witnessed series of international armed conflicts and non-international armed conflicts which has resulted in the commission of international crimes against humanity by both state actors and non-state actors in the waging of such wars. Most heinous crimes have been committed by such actors dating back to First World War (WWI), Second World War (WWII) and other conflicts like the Yugoslavia and Rwanda to mention a few. Efforts have been made by world leaders to address the occurrence of such crimes by setting up ad-hoc tribunals at various times to bring perpetrators of such international crimes to justice. In order to permanently address this scourge, world leaders in 1998 adopted the Rome Statute leading to the establishment of a permanent International Criminal Court with jurisdiction over such crimes instituted by the Statute in order to bring individual perpetrators of these heinous crimes to justice. The Court exercising its jurisdiction has been confronted with challenges that is capable of impeding its relevance to combat international crimes such as its jurisdiction, issue of bias against the Court by some state parties leading to the withdrawal of such state parties from the Statute, refusal of super world powers like the United Nations Security Council permanent members to accede to and ratify the Statute. This paper attempts to examine the significance and challenges confronting the ICC from performing maximally and it shall recommend ones that will make the ICC to be of relevance to the overall development of the society in order to have a society where the rights of humankind are not trampled upon with impunity such as enforcing national justice systems to fully participate in the investigation and prosecution of cases while ICC mainly focus on technical assistance and provisions of additional mechanisms to States to enhance complementarity and cooperation.

Over the years, Nigerians have suffered various forms of human rights abuses from security agencies particularly from personnel of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF). There have been agitations of various degrees for the government to address the menace which did not produce meaningful result thereby exacerbating the plight of the youths who have been the prime victims. In October, 2020 Nigerian youths took to the streets to protest against unaddressed human rights violations by security agencies, demanding the disbandment of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) unit of the NPF (EndSARS). On the 20th of October, 2020, there were allegations of mass shootings of armless protesters by Nigerian Army officers at Lekki Tollgate. Sequel to this, the Federal Government (FG) was urged to set up inquiry into the EndSARS violence. However, there has been the contention as to who between the FG and States, is competent to set up a Panel of Inquiry (PI) into the EndSARS protest. Also, what is the utility of commission of inquiry in addressing the debacle? This paper through doctrinal methodology, interrogates these issues. It discusses factors that should be considered in setting up the PIs; militate against the effective implementation of the recommendation (s) of the Inquiries. It argues that; though under the Tribunal of Inquiry Act, 1966, States are the competent authority to set up PI, there are laws enabling the FG to set up inquiry on the issue hence, attention should be focused on how inquiry can be used to address the quagmire rather competence. The paper makes vital recommendations on how to mitigate the challenges that may confront the effectiveness of the inquiry as well as implementation of the reports

Economic and financial crimes (EFCs) are global problems which affects the economy of countries and the society at large. This situation is exacerbated in countries such as Nigeria with low Corruption Perception Index which has failed to tackle corruption effectively; especially in the public sector. Regardless, combating EFCs in Nigeria has led to the establishment of several Anti-Corruption Agencies (ACAs) and Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs). To facilitate the successes of the ACAs and LEAs in the fight against EFCs through financial intelligence a financial intelligence unit (FIU) was established, as recommended globally, to provide the requisite financial intelligence to the relevant ACAs and LEAs. The Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) has been further empowered with the fairly recent enactment of the NFIU Act 2018. In order to aptly assess the relevance of this development in the fight against EFCs in Nigeria, this paper, using content analyses approach, reviews the role and relevance of the NFIU in combating EFCs in Nigeria under the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission Act (EFCC Act) and under the extant NFIU Act with the antedant challenges faced by this Unit.

In 2020, the world was hit by the Covid-19 pandemic, and states have since resorted to the use of digital measures such as contact tracing applications and location data analytics to curb the spread of the virus. These measures, though with obvious benefits, also have significant impact on data protection. The major challenge becomes ensuring personal data privacy/protection on one hand and managing the public health crisis on the other hand. This article examines the effectiveness of the legal requirements governing the use of digital measures for curbing the Covid-19 virus in Nigeria. Through doctrinal research methodology, this article examines the legal framework for data protection in Nigeria in order to determine the status of data privacy in Nigeria. The study also focuses on the impact of the digital measures for the processing of personal data for purposes related to curbing the Covid-19 virus on data privacy in Nigeria. To determine this, the legal requirements governing the use of such digital measures are examined. This article finds that there is no comprehensive data protection law in Nigeria and that there are no guidelines setting out minimum data protection standards that digital measures used in curtailing the virus should comply with. This article argues that the use of digital measures to contain the spread of the Covid-19 virus requires adequate regulatory framework to guarantee data privacy/protection. The study also makes recommendations to ensure better protection of personal data in Nigeria.

This paper adopts the doctrinal methodology in appraising the propriety of the JUSUN strike embarked upon to compel State Governments to recognize the financial autonomy of the judiciary. Thus, strike action is a last deployed by employees to compel their employer to grant their demands; it is a corollary of the right to freedom of association guaranteed by the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (1999 CFRN). The paper examines the provision of the Trade Disputes Act (TDA) as to the prerequisite and grounds upon which employees can embark on strike action, the meaning of trade dispute to ascertain whether the dispute that led to JUSUN strike is a trade dispute. The paper found that; while employees are legally permitted, upon fulfilment of certain conditions, to embark on strike, the strike embarked upon by JUSUN, does not come within the ambit of sections 18, 43 and 48 of the TDA and the dispute pursuant to which the strike is anchored, is not a trade dispute hence, same is therefore illegal. It argues that; while judicial officers are unable to “unionize” and embark on strike, the category of judicial staff who are directly affected by the lack of financial autonomy of the judiciary, are regarded as projection of management and therefore ineligible to join or form trade union (JUSUN). Also, despite embarking on an illegal strike, members of JUSUN are paid salaries notwithstanding the provision of the TDA. Giving the commitment shown by the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF), the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) and other sympathizing stakeholders should implore JUSUN to call of the strike or governors should invoke no work, no pay rule.

Corona virus disease (Covid-19) is caused by a new strain of corona virus (SARS-Cov-2) that causes respiratory illness in humans. It was first reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) on the 31st of December 2019 to have occurred in Wuhan China.1 The disease defied scientific projections as the trajectory of the virus revealed an unfamiliar pattern difficult to predict and manage. At the emergence of the Covid-19 viral pandemic, the World Health Organization (WHO)2 and the World Bank3 had a grim prognosis that Covid-19 would disproportionately affect countries of the world especially poor and vulnerable countries of Sub-Saharan Africa which were projected to bear the brunt of the impact.4 And by 2021, the Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta mutations of the virus generated concerns bordering on the management of the rapidly mutating virus.