LIVING BEYOND THE RHETORIC OF FUNDAMENTAL HUMAN RIGHTS TO FULFILLED HUMAN RIGHTS IN NIGERIA: THE ROLE OF JUDICIARY

Abstract

Human rights are of the universal concept. They have transboundary flavour and have remained subjects of debates for ages’ time and will continue to appear on the cover pages of print and
electronic media beyond ages. Under the universal arrangement, certain human rights have transformed into active rights. In some states, these rights are classified as the fundamental
human rights while others are grouped under aspirations to be actualized by the state based on the improved economy. In Nigeria, fundamental human rights are provided in Chapter Four of
the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) and they are justiciable. Others such as social, economic, cultural, educational, political, environmental rights among
others are provided in Chapter Two of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) and they are non-justiciable. The classification of these rights into groups in the
constitution without considering the nexus for each other has made the realization of one independent of the other a mirage. The premise of this paper is to unearth the rhetoric of
fundamental human rights without fulfilled human rights in Nigeria and the role of the judiciary. The paper adopted a doctrinal research approach through the examination of primary and
secondary materials with the aim of finding the challenges to full realization of human rights in Nigeria. The paper discovered that, beyond constitutional classification of human rights into
fundamental human rights and other rights, the judiciary has remained the tool to activating the dormant rights into active rights through judicial activism. Where judiciary remained
conservative, it becomes epileptic to achieving even the fundamentally provided rights under the constitution. It was based on the above that the paper made recommendations.