Public & International Law
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Item Human rights of people with disability: some legal and ethical considerations(Nairobi, Ecumenical Disability Advocates Network, 2016) Akinbola, B. R.; Moronkola, O. A.All human beings have the rights to life and dignity as persons, but with disabilities (PWDS), often experience human rights violations and exclusion from the mainstream of society. Exclusion and segregation against persons with disabilities occurs in forms ofobvious discrimination such as the denial of educational opportunities. It can also occur in more subtle forms such as segregation and isolation resulting from the imposition of physical and social barriers. Effects of disability- based discrimination have been particularly severe in fields such as education, employment, housing, transport, cultural life and access to public places and services. Terms like distinction, exclusion, restriction, preference, or denial of reasonable accommodation on the basis of disability, are words that describe the treatment of PWDS, which negatively affect and impact on the recognition, enjoyment or exercise of the rights of persons with disabilities. Law, therefore, as a system of social engineering, has a lot of potentials to address these social trends which directly negate the human rights of PWDS in all areas of life. This paper examines the relevant legal issues for the realisation of the rights of PWDS including legislative provisions and policies, human rights protection and promotion and the place of affirmative action. The methodology used in this paper is the in-depth content analysis of primary sources in form of relevant legal instruments and other secondary sources in the form of relevant textbooks, journal articles, electronic materials and others. First, various forms of rights violations or denials leading to abuses are discussed and documented. The paper also shows that disability affects people irrespective of race, colour, gender, political or religious inclinations and that PWDS are generally vulnerable to being discriminated against and excluded from the mainstream of society. The paper concludes that the law, if well enacted and enforced, is capable not only of redressing discrimination against PWDS, but by affirmative action, it can create a level playing ground by mandating certain steps which will engender the protection and promotion of the rights of PWDS in NigeriaItem Legal and regulatory reforms to enhance the Nigerian Environment(Ibadan, Book Builders, Editions Africa, 2012) Akintayo, J. O. A.; Akinbola, B. R.Recent events around the world have made humans more conscious of the environment in which they live. Since the environment is not subject to human command, attention must focus on how to use the instrumentality of the law, a potent weapon of social control, to regulate human activities that abuse the environment and unleash devastating consequences on the entire ecosystem. This work is a survey of efforts at enhancing the quality of life in Nigeria viewed from the prism of environmental law. It highlights constitutional provisions, statutory enactments and institutional framework, and judicial remedies that seek to protect the environment. The work also offers useful suggestions on how to ameliorate the deplorable environmental situation in Nigeria by improved enforcement of extant laws, efficient coordination of relevant government agencies, effective utilization of delegated legislative authority, reform of the legal landscape by conferment of statutory standing to sue in environment- related cases and the recognition of the right to a healthy environment as a constitutional rightItem Antitrust as a panacea for economic development in Nigeria(2017-08) Akinbola, B. R.; Uwadi, E. C.Economic development aims at improving the wellbeing and quality of life of a community by creating and/or retaining jobs, supporting or growing incomes and the tax base. Free trade policies which create a high level of competition in the open market are necessary aids for economic development. On its part, Antitrust is a statutory and jurisprudential provision, through which public authorities preserve general welfare by preventing firms from limiting competition, creating monopolies, and charging excessive prices for their products. It aims to ensure the existence of competitive markets and guarantees that firms operating in the free market economy do not restrict or distort competition in a way to prevent the market from functioning optimally. From the foregoing, this paper examined the Nigerian antitrust regime and its import in the economic advancement of the Nigerian economy. The paper found that in developing countries including Nigeria, there is a paucity of antitrust legislation designed to protect consumers, promote free trade and commerce, and prevent unwholesome and unethical trade practices. With a well operated antitrust framework, Nigeria s economic growth will accelerate and gain better stability as well as increase consumer protection.Item Antitrust as a panacea for economic development in Nigeria(2017-08) Akinbola, B. R.; Uwadi, E. C.Economic development aims at improving the wellbeing and quality of life of a community by creating and/or retaining jobs, supporting or growing incomes and the tax base. Free trade policies which create a high level of competition in the open market are necessary aids for economic development. On its part, Antitrust is a statutory and jurisprudential provision, through which public authorities preserve general welfare by preventing firms from limiting competition, creating monopolies, and charging excessive prices for their products. It aims to ensure the existence of competitive markets and guarantees that firms operating in the free market economy do not restrict or distort competition in a way to prevent the market from functioning optimally. From the foregoing, this paper examined the Nigerian antitrust regime and its import in the economic advancement of the Nigerian economy. The paper found that in developing countries including Nigeria, there is a paucity of antitrust legislation designed to protect consumers, promote free trade and commerce, and prevent unwholesome and unethical trade practices. With a well operated antitrust framework, Nigeria s economic growth will accelerate and gain better stability as well as increase consumer protection.Item Police act and police women: is Nigeria police force an agent of protection or violation of human rights?(2017) Akinbola, B. R.The police are the specialist carriers of state power and have enormous powers. The police have the monopoly of legitimate use of force. The primary duties of the Nigeria police include the prevention and detection of crime, apprehension of offenders, preservation of law and order, protection of life and property and enforcement of all law Although police should ordinarily be considered an attractive career, the Nigeria women police face the challenge of inequality with their male counterparts, as a result of some provisions of the Police Act and its regulations, which limit women from the point of eligibility to join the force, right through other privileges of being a police.Item Restorative justice and its reflections in the administration of justice under Nigerian customary law(2016) Akinbola, B. R.The quest for justice is a basic human attribute from time immemorial. British colonization and its adversarial system of justice, met the administration of customary law which served the purpose of justice in Nigeria from time immemorial, characterized by community participation, flexibility, absence of rigid procedure and technicalities, speedy dispensation of justice and absence of courts in the English fashion, but efficient and trusted by the people it bound. Restorative justice is a theory of justice that emphasizes repairing the harm caused by criminal behavior through stakeholder-driven cooperative processes that bring all willing stakeholders to meet to resolve their differences. This article argued that restorative justice is not new to Nigeria as it reflects attributes of the Nigerian customary law. There are common attributes shared by both systems, including participation of the offender, offended and the community, non-adversary resolution of conflict, focus on repair and restoration of peace rather than punishment, technicalities recognition of the victim of crime rather than the state as a principal party. It recommended better dispensation of justice in Nigeria through leveraging on the common attributes shared by the administration of customary law and restorative justice.Item Strengthening the legal protection of the rights of internally displaced persons in Africa(YINKATEC Publishers Nigeria Limited, 2016) Akinbola, I. I.; Akinbola, B. R.Item A review and call for domestication of the United Nations convention on the rights of persons with disabilities in Nigeria(Ibadan University Press Publishing House, University of Ibadan, Nigeria, 2016-05) Akinbola, B. R.The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) has been rated the most widely subscribed United Nations (UN) instrument within a short time after it was adopted in 2006. As at October 2012, the CRPD had been ratified by 125 countries including Nigeria. The high level of acceptance and eagerness of many countries to adopt the CRPD shows that the CRPD was a something the global community had been waiting for. It is also indicative that there had been a wide spread shift in the paradigm of understanding of the concept of disability as well as the human right status of persons with disabilities (PWDs). The high level of participation in negotiating the CRPD marked a definite break from previous approaches that did not pay attention to the rights of PWDs. The article adopted the content analysis research method. It started with a theoretical background and then x-rayed the text of the CRPD, bringing to the fore, unique provisions, including 'reasonable accommodation’ which meets the specific needs that may arise from disability and which may need to be met before some PWDs can fully exercise their rights. Universal Design, which is both needful and economical, is also a unique concept in the CRPD (such as the provision of a ramp instead of a stair case). It concludes that Nigeria's domestication of the CRPD is both for its benefit and an obligation under section 12 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended).Item Quantitative assessment of provisions for the right to access to education of persons with disabilities(2015) Akinbola, B. R.; Osiki, J. O.The quantitative method was applied in gleaning information on the type and degree of legal provisions on the rights of access to education of persons with disabilities (PWDs) in Nigeria. Using the six Geo-political zones of Nigeria, the paper reasoned that participants’ perception and or opinions on rights of access to education, its acceptability, availability and affordability is not discriminatory irrespective of whether the beneficiaries are people with disabilities and or (otherwise, without disabilities). The study utilized the descriptive survey research design subsumed within the ex-post-facto method while it drew and used, through a simple random sampling technique, 399 participants from among tertiary institutions’ students, teachers and administrators who voluntarily completed a Self-constructed and validated research measure tagged ‘the Rights of Persons with Disabilities to Education Inventory’ (RoPDEI). Multiple regression statistical methods at 0.05 alpha was applied. While the findings showed that the provision of rights to education for PWDs (p<0.05) and expected reforms to equal access (p<0.05) were statistically significant. Of the clustered variables however, only “sympathy/pity” and “empathy” accounted for approximately 25% (p<0.05) and 18% (p<0.05) contribution respectively. Furthermore, the disability-type (p>0.05) was not significant; even though, in considering the factor contribution, participants who submitted that “they were people without disabilities” had beta weight of 23.5% (approximately 24%) (p<0.01) to the variance. It thus recommended inter-alia, that the Federal Government of Nigeria should legislate specifically on the rights of PWDs in keeping with its obligation under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD); and that the enactment of an Act to domesticate the convention on the Rights of PWDs in Nigeria should be urgently put in place. All socio-environmental and funding barriers to legislative reforms should be mitigated.Item The precautionary principle of environmental law: an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure(Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, Garki-Abuja, 2015) Akinbola, B. R.; Odewale, O. T.Environmental protection is a topical issue of concern across the global community in the face of undesirable consequences of environmental degradation. Such consequences include global warming, climate change, flooding, desertification, loss of biodiversity, scarcity of water, food and intense weather conditions. Various principles have been developed in the quest for acceptable regulatory framework for the protection of the environment, including the principle of precaution. This Article adopts the view that precautionary principle is a step ahead of the preventive principle, arguing in accord with Article 15 of the Rio Declaration that environmental measures must foresee, prevent and deal with the causes of environmental degradation which threaten to cause serious or irreversible damage, notwithstanding the absence of full scientific evidence. The article adopts the doctrinal research method and divided into six parts. The introduction is followed by an overview of the precautionary principle while the third part examines the criteria for its application and in the fourth pan. the reasons for and advantages of the precautionary principle are examined. It analyses the debates and criticisms of the Precautionary Principle in the fifth part and it concludes with a summary and recommendation that precaution is to be preferred to remedial approaches.