JUDICIAL ATTITUDE TO ENVIRONMENTAL LITIGATION AND ACCESS TO ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE IN NIGERIA: LESSONS FROM KIOBEL

Rufus Akpofurere Mmadu *

ABSTRACT

This paper examines judicial attitude to environmental litigation and access to environmental justice in Nigeria. The paper employs expository analysis as its methodology in discussing the theme. Essentially, the paper finds that environmental litigations in Nigeria are bedeviled by legal technicalities such that victims of environmental pollution and degradation are ultimately denied access to justice. Ranging from issue of locus to territorial and subject matter jurisdiction, victims of oil spill and environmental degradation are often left without judicial remedies. The paper finds that consequently, the people of the Niger Delta are increasingly losing confidence in the judiciary both at the domestic and international level. This has heightened militancy and youths’ restiveness in the area leading to loss of revenues and sometimes lives. The paper notes with concern the recent trend of outsourcing justice, as evident in attempts to bring environmental pollution cases in Nigeria before domestic courts abroad. For example the celebrated case of Kiobel v Royal Dutch Shell, heard in United States of America. Kiobel is arguably a setback to this approach of searching for environmental justice before international courts and a reminder on the need to look inwards. This paper calls for judicial flexibility and a more proactive approach to legal reasoning by Nigerian courts, in order to put environmental matters on the front burner of our national discourse. Unless and until environmental justice is entrenched in Nigeria through judicial activism, Governmental inertia and unwillingness to provide remedies for victims of environmental degradation may continue to fuel militancy in the years ahead.

Keywords: Environmental Litigation, Access to Justice, Nigeria.

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* Rufus Akpofurere MMADU, LL.M, LL.B (Lagos); Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Nigeria; Lecturer, College of Law, Osun State University, Osogbo and also Mphil/Doctorial candidate of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State, Nigeria. Email: mmadurufus@yahoo.com, rufusmmadu@uniosun.edu.ng . Tel: +2348035319283, +2348127017430.

THE ENFORCEMENT OF SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC RIGHTS IN AFRICA: THE NIGERIAN EXPERIENCE

Ajepe Taiwo Shehu*

ABSTRACT

The debates on socio-economic rights have now shifted from desirability to problems of enforcement. This does not indicate that socio-economic rights have gained universality such that all countries in Africa embrace and enforce them. There are few countries such as South Africa where these rights have not only been constitutionalized, but have been duly enforced. Nigeria has them under the nonjusticiable directive principles of state policy. However, the fact today is that there are cultural and other impediments to the effective and efficient enforcement of such rights. Thus, the main objective of this paper is to identify some of these impediments and to proffer solutions. The paper depends largely on perception of the nature of socio-economic rights arguing that such rights depend squarely on the state of economy of the state and the effective and efficient management of the economic resources. The paper finds that unlike the traditional, first generation rights, the enforcement of socio-economic rights puts huge financial claims on the state and also involves legislative appropriation without which the executive cannot effectively enforce such rights even where the judiciary orders enforcement of the rights in deserving situations. The paper observes that the enforcement of such rights would also invariably depend on ability and readiness to combat the pervasive corruption in most countries of the continent. Besides, although science and technology in the area of agriculture have rendered suspect the Malthusian theory on population, African nations must control population growth in the continent, and also redirect cultural imperatives that encourage unchecked child rearing, illiteracy and poverty.

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∗ Ph.D, Senior Lecturer, Department of Public Law, Faculty of Law, University of Ilorin, Nigeria. Email Address: atshehu2000@ymail.com, atshehu2000@gmail.com, Phone: (+234) 8034810069

TOWARDS SUSTAINABLE FARMING: AN ANALYSIS AND REVIEW OF THE EUROPEAN UNION’S AGRICULTURAL SUBSIDY POLICY

Laura De Deyne*

ABSTRACT

This paper provides an overview of the most important European agricultural subsidies, which aim at promoting a more sustainable way of farming. The European Union has put these subsidies into place in order to create a better balance between agriculture and the environment. Through these ‘green’ subsidies agro-biodiversity can be protected, which is a very important goal since approximately 50% of all species in Europe depend on agricultural habitats or landscapes. The major pressures on biodiversity in agricultural land result from changes in the type and intensity of farming, which generate changes in agricultural landscapes. Such changes can result either from intensification or abandonment, both of which can be detrimental to biodiversity. Each and every single one of the discussed subsidies has its own goals and purposes. (1) Cross compliance, (2) agro-environmental measures, (3) less favoured area payments and (4) subsidies for organic farming have different objectives, which will be addressed in this paper. I will aim at analyzing their overall contributions to the goal of fostering sustainable farming within the EU, through highlighting the benefits, strengths and contributions of these four types of subsidies. This paper will examine their key contents and provisions, their current level of implementation and practical measures that could be put in place to further enhance their successful implementation.

AN APPRAISAL OF THE POTENTIAL CONTRIBUTIONS, PARADOXES AND CHALLENGES OF IMPLEMENTING THE UNITED NATIONS CONVENTIONS ON CONTRACTS FOR THE INTERNATIONAL SALE OF GOODS (CISG) IN NIGERIA.

Kenneth I Ajibo*

ABSTRACT

Nigeria is currently not a contracting party to the United Nation Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG), which governs transactions and sales of goods globally. Sadly enough, the current legal framework regulating the sale of goods in Nigeria remains the 18th century Sale of Goods Act 1893 which is arguably obsolete and out of touch with modern day business reality. This paper argues that despite the potential practical challenges in implementing the CISG, Nigeria has a lot to gain economically by becoming a contracting party to CISG; particularly as the nation inches toward the target of becoming one of the world’s twentieth largest economies by 2020.

Keywords: Private International Law, CISG, Nigeria, Goods

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*Kenneth I Ajibo LL.B. BL. LL.M. PhD Candidate at the Law School, University of Hull, United Kingdom; email: K.I.Ajibo@2010.hull.ac.uk

RE-EVALUATING THE ORIGINS OF THE EUROPEAN UNION’S EMISSIONS TRADING SCHEME: THE EUROPEANISATION OF EMISSIONS TRADING

Gerard H. Kelly∗

ABSTRACT

The adoption of carbon market trading in the European Union (EU) was far from assured. Prior to the Kyoto Protocol, the EU had been critical of market trading and had expressed grave reservations regarding its potential contribution to climate governance. Given this historical backdrop, the EU’s conversion to market trading and subsequent vocal championing of the merits of this regulatory approach, is particularly intriguing. Whilst emissions trading gradually garnered support within the EU, institutionally the Union remained trapped by the normative objections, which it had initially articulated against the idea. Such norm entrapment – the inability to pursue a preferred policy that violates a norm because of prior rhetorical affirmation of the norm – presented a particular dilemma for the EU. Paradoxically, the contribution of individual norm entrepreneurs, located within the Commission, in reframing emissions trading as an effective and efficient instrument for climate governance in the EU proved considerable to unlocking this entrapment dilemma. As a result, a concept, which the EU had previously delegitimised as evasive of domestic responsibilities, was instead reconstructed as a legitimate strategy to salvage the Kyoto Protocol. As market trading internationalises, understanding the drivers and processes by which the EU ETS came to occupy the cornerstone of EU climate policy may offer valuable insights to policy-makers and stakeholders endeavouring to promote global emissions trading initiatives.

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*LL.B. (Dublin), B.C.L. (Oxford), Fellow of the Higher Education Academy; Attorney-at-Law, New York; Lecturer in Law, University of Liverpool.

DEVELOPING COUNTRIES AND THE WTO DISPUTE RESOLUTION SYSTEM: A LEGAL ASSESSMENT AND REVIEW

Linimose Nzeriuno Anyiwe * and Eghosa Osa Ekhator**

ABSTRACT

The aim of this paper is to review and analyse the WTO procedures and rules designed to resolve developing countries disputes. The Dispute Settlement Understanding (DSU) of the World Trade Organization is generally considered as providing innovative set of rules through which countries could address and resolve trade disputes amongst themselves. The DSU also establishes an Advisory Centre, which seeks to assist developing countries to resolve trade disputes. Despite these innovations, opinions are divided on the practical effectiveness of the DSU and the Advisory Centre, particularly with respect to resolving disputes involving developing countries. In this paper, we shall examine the practical effectiveness of DSU and the roles of the Advisory Centre in the dispute resolution processes involving developing countries. Drawing examples from previous disputes, some practical challenges and constraints with the current procedures faced by developing countries are identified and discussed; they are: lack of expertise, inability to enforce WTO rulings, reluctance to institute trade disputes and economic pressure applied by developed countries on developing countries in trade disputes amongst others. Addressing these challenges are critical to the overall success of the DSU. This paper calls for a review of the DSU to incorporate the reforms enunciated by various stakeholders to the WTO.

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* Linimose Nzeriuno Anyiwe LL.B (Benin), LL.M (University of Central Lancashire)

** Eghosa Osa Ekhator LL.B (Benin), LL.M (Hull), PhD Candidate at the Law School, University of Hull, eghosaekhator@gmail.com. Corresponding author

AN EXAMINATION OF RISK ALLOCATION PREFERENCES IN PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS IN NIGERIA

Olufemi Vincent Tolani*

ABSTRACT

Risk allocation preferences are important elements of Public-Private Partnerships (PPP), as the fundamental tension in many negotiations between the public and private sector in PPPs usually comes down to the question: who is responsible for managing a particular risk? Yet research literature suggests that risk allocation preferences phenomena have not been adequately studied; hence they remain poorly understood. This paper provides an empirical analysis and study of risk allocation preferences in PPPs in Nigeria. Research participants (spanning banking, construction, and public sector groups who were selected through a convenience sampling method) completed an online survey with Likert-type items within six months (i.e. between June and November 2011) to gauge probabilities of occurrence, risk impact and risk significance of 46 risk factors pertaining to PPP projects. As data did not meet the assumptions for parametric statistics, Mann-Whitney U tests were performed to evaluate the ranked differences in the independent variables (46 risk factors) between private and public sector groups. This paper shows that 27 (59%) out of the 46 risk factors are preferred to be allocated to the private sector, while 8 (17%) risk factors are to be allocated to the public sector and 11 (24%) of the risk factors are to be equally shared between the private and public sectors.

Keywords: Risk Allocation Preferences, Nigeria, Agency Theory, Public-Private Partnerships, and Mann-Whitney U tests.

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*Director of Policy and Project Development, Ministry of Infrastructure, Alberta, Canada. Dr. Tolani (MPA) (PhD) email: otolani@ucalgary.ca.

HAZE POLLUTION IN INDONESIA

Melda Kamil Ariadno*

ABSTRACT

Haze pollution has been one of the most serious environmental catastrophes in countries with wide areas of forest, such as Indonesia. Efforts to combat haze pollution have been carried out at the national, regional and international levels. Adopting principles developed within international law arena such as sustainable development, precautionary principle, foreseeability, due diligence and good neighbourliness have been canvassed for every state in the world especially those having activities which have potential impact to cause transboundary pollution. Indonesia has been experiencing forest burns from time to time and trying to combat it ever since. National law has been developed, institutions have been designated, and mechanisms have been created. These efforts are however far from complete. Indonesia needs to go much further than what have been undertaken this far. A necessary way forward would be to ratify the 2002 Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution, which Indonesia fails to ratify. This paper discusses the problems of haze pollution in Indonesia, the applicable rules under international law including the state responsibility doctrine, the mechanism developed within the ASEAN Agreement, what steps have been taken by Indonesian Government in combating haze pollution, and the need for Indonesia to ratify the ASEAN Agreement.

Keywords: Haze, Pollution, ASEAN, Indonesia

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* Melda Kamil Ariadno (LL.B) (LL.M) (Ph.D.) is a Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) of International Law at the Faculty of Law, University of Indonesia, majoring in law of the sea, the law of treaties and international environmental law. email: meldakamil@gmail.com

THE CONCEPT OF GENDER JUSTICE AND WOMEN’S RIGHTS IN NIGERIA: ADDRESSING THE MISSING LINK

Ngozi Oluchukwu Odiaka*

ABSTRACT

Over the years, Nigeria has gained the unpopular recognition globally as a patriarchal society in which the inalienable rights of women are often subjected to ridicule, extensive abuse, neglect and violations. Cultural, religious and societal norms have arguably entrenched a historical imbalance in power relationships between men and women and have tilted the overall perceptions and roles of women in Nigeria. In Nigeria, it could be said that the abuse of the natural rights of a woman begins from the time of her birth and only comes to an end at the time of her death. In many parts of Nigeria, particularly the North, women who are prematurely and compulsorily betrothed to a man at birth are not allowed access to basic education and are generally burdened with domestic household chores. These becomes the foundation for a lifetime of circular and absolute dependence on a man she does not know: and upon the demise of the man her right to inherit his property is denied and her life becomes miserable because of obnoxious practices which she could be made to undergo as a sign of respect for the deceased husband. These cultural, religious and societal norms are arguably at the root of the historical neglect of women in Nigeria. The rapid ascendancy of human rights in Nigeria, coupled with Nigeria’s prominent role as a signatory to virtually all the core international human right treaties and instruments raised expectations that women in Nigeria may begin to enjoy some measure of protection from archaic and anachronistic practices that subject them to a wanton abuse. The scope of these happenings requires an extensive reflection and worthy of scholarly examination in the light of recent debates in the Nigeria National Assembly on child marriage, women’s right and the need for constitutional protection for the girl child. This paper examines the nature, scope and extent of human rights protection afforded to women under Nigerian domestic laws and under international law. It reflects on how key issues such as child marriage, women’s property rights and female succession norms and practices affect gender justice and the protection and fulfillment of the rights of women in Nigeria. It discusses the possible legal panacea to these historical and cultural challenges in this 21st century.

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*Ngozi Oluchukwu Odiaka LL.M (Ibadan) is a Lecturer in the Department of Private and Business Law, College of Law, Afe-Babalola University Ado-Ekiti: ngodiaka@abuad.edu.ng; ngodiaka@yahoo.com

THE NIGERIAN FINANCIAL CRISIS : A REDUCTIONIST DIAGNOSIS

Olumide Famuyiwa∗

ABSTRACT

The crisis in the Nigerian financial system from 2008 to 2009 triggered an explosion of scholarly debates on the legal and institutional inadequacies of the Nigerian financial regulatory system that contributed to its inability to anticipate or prevent the financial crisis. Many of the analyses however have yet to consider closely the part played by sub-optimal enforcement of financial laws and regulations before the crisis and how this created opportunities for the crisis. This paper argues for a supervisory failure account of the Nigerian financial crisis. It conceives this failure as an incidence of sup-optimal enforcement of regulatory norms, induced by low or weak regulatory accountability and which largely provides opportunities for a financial crisis. Through a normative analysis of the indicators public sector and financial regulation accountability, it demonstrates how the crisis could have been prevented. In doing so, the paper partly examines the legal and institutional problems of financial regulation in Nigeria; how the Nigerian financial system fared during the financial crisis of 2008 to 2009; and what could have been done to prevent the crisis.

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∗ Doctoral Candidate and College Lecturer, Faculty of Law, University of Oxford, United Kingdom. Email: olumide.famuyiwa@law.ox.ac.uk

TORT CHOICE OF LAW AND INTERNATIONAL FUNDAMENTAL NORMS: A CASE STUDY OF CANADA AND THE UNITED STATES

Chilenye Nwapi*

ABSTRACT

This article considers the tort choice of law rules in Canada and the United States – two highly internationalist societies with similar legal traditions but whose choice of law rules vary dramatically. The two jurisdictions are also known for their constant reference to international law in the resolution of domestic disputes. Moreover, Canada embodies both the common law and the civil law traditions. The aim here is twofold. The first is to evaluate the suitability of their choice of law rules for addressing cases alleging violations of international fundamental norms. The second is to see what other jurisdictions can learn from the experiences of these two jurisdictions in their adjudication of international norms. This article makes these principal findings. While none of the two jurisdictions has a choice of law rule specially attuned to deal with violations of international norms, the operative rule in Canada contains reasonable flexibility to meet the needs of such cases. It finds within the assortment of tort choice of law rules in the US, some rules that at least mention the interests of the international community as an important consideration in the choice of applicable law, and that US courts already do look to international law to determine certain substantive issues arising in cases brought under the Alien Tort Statute

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* Fellow, Canadian Centre for International Justice; PhD (University of British Columbia); LLM (University of Calgary); LLB (Imo State University).

THE NATURE OF LAND OWNERSHIP AND THE PROTECTION OF THE PURCHASER

Clement C Chigbo*

ABSTRACT

This article examines the nature of ownership of land and derivative or subordinate real-rights under English law drawing some comparison with Romanic-Dutch ownership while arguing that the Anglo-American estate’ or interest’ in land is a mere semantic conundrum. It is the position of this writer that the concept of ownership in English law of real property, which dominantly influences our real property law in Nigeria and other common law jurisdictions such as the Bahamas and Jamaica, has not brought the desirable clarity to our real property jurisprudence/practice in Nigeria. The unfortunate problems faced by purchasers of real estate in some common law jurisdiction are also briefly examined in this article. The article seeks to advance a solution to these problems and in this context the writer strongly suggests that a land registration system of some model should be adopted in Nigeria and the Bahamas to protect purchasers of real estates and guarantee greater security of title and clarity in our conveyancing practice.

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* Solicitor of England and Wales, Chigbo is a Peripatetic Lecturer in Law in the UK, the Bahamas and Nigeria. He is presently with the College of Law, Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria.

AMNESTY IN THE NIGER DELTA: VERTICAL MOVEMENT TOWARDS SELF-DETERMINATION OR LATERAL POLICY SHIFT?

Rhuks Temitope Ako and Ohiocheoya Omiunu*

ABSTRACT

The inhabitants of Nigeria’s oil-rich Delta region have engaged the State in long-drawn disputes over the ownership and control of oil resources and revenues. While the country’s Constitution vests the absolute ownership and control of oil resources as well as the distribution of oil revenues in the federal government, the Niger Delta communities claim that they are entitled to participate in the industry that exploits resources from their environment. Simply, they claim that the country’s extant laws and the actions of the federal government infringe on their rights to self-determination. The conflicting stance is one of the fundamental causes of violent conflicts that have besieged the region; particularly in the last decade. Coming off the backdrop of peaceful struggles of the Ogoni peoples considered to be largely ineffectual in achieving the desired objectives, ethnic groups have embraced militancy as a means to force the government and oil-multinationals reckon with their demand for self-determination. The consequent breakdown of law and order in the region and the impacts of shortages in production prompted the federal government to initiate the amnesty initiative in June 2009. Under the amnesty programme, militants were offered a presidential pardon, training opportunities, promises of infrastructure development in the region and direct payments of oil revenues to host-communities. This paper seeks to examine the recent developments vis-à-vis the government’s amnesty initiative to determine if this policy has bridged the gap in the longstanding self-determination demands of the Niger Delta communities.

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* Dr. Rhuks Temitope AKO (correspondence author), Lecturer, University of Hull Laws School, England; R.Ako@hull.ac.uk and Ohiocheoya OMIUNU, Doctoral Candidate at the University of Liverpool Law School, England.

A CLOSER LOOK AT THE MANAGEMENT, REVOCATION AND COMPENSATION PRINCIPLES UNDER THE NIGERIAN LAND USE ACT

Eloamaka Carol Okonkwo*

ABSTRACT

Land use and management has proved to be a source of worry and conflict in the world especially the developing world. In Nigeria, it has proved to be causing a lot of problems amongst the government and the governed, between individuals and even between Governments. The issue of land acquisition and management even heightened with the British invasion of Nigeria and the Colonial rule that for administrative purposes brought some innovations to land ownership. To worsen the issue, the amalgamation of the Southern and Northern protectorate saw a combination of totally two different land uses and ownership of the Northern part governed by the emirs and the South with its family/communal ownership. With the gaining of independence, oil boom and rapid development, acquiring land was more difficult especially in the south leading to setting up of panel to investigate the problem and recommend the way forward. The result was land use Act of 1978, which nationalised land for the whole country, extending what was operational in the North under the Land Tenure Law. This article examines the sections dealing with the management and control and revocation powers given to the Governors of the state as well as the compensation sections for acquisition of land compulsorily acquired for overriding public interest. It ends up with looking at the proposed amendments, the sections that is proposed to be amended, and ends with the writer’s opinion.

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* LL.B (UNIBEN), B.L (THE NIGERIAN LAW SCHOOL), LL.M (UNIVERSITY OF STRATHCLYDE, GLASGOW), DOCTORAL CANDIDATE (UNIVERSITY OF STRATHCLYDE, GLASGOW, UK)

THE LEGAL FRAMEWORK FOR THE INSTITUTIONALISATION OF INTERNATIONAL COMMERCIAL ARBITRATION IN NIGERIA: A CRITICAL REVIEW

Oyeniyi O. Abe*

ABSTRACT

Considering the need to enhance commercial activities in Nigeria and the indisputable right of international parties to resolve disputes through arbitration, the desire for Nigeria to sign and ratify the New York Convention cannot be over emphasized. Unquestionably, the administration of justice through our regular courts is usually beleaguered with delays for diverse reasons. An attempt to combat these delays and ensure swifter dispensation of justice has seen the emergence of arbitration in its effective use in Nigeria. The need for speed, resulting in more efficiency and economy in contract drafting, has always dominated international commercial transactions. Thus, the need for resorting to arbitration is more compelling considering the lethargic attitude of Nigerian courts to the resolution of sophisticated commercial disputes. This paper seeks to examine the mechanisms through which there has been an implantation and implementation of international commercial arbitration legal regime in Nigeria. The work attempts a critical analysis of relevant extant laws in use in Nigeria and the effectiveness as well as efficiency of these laws. A detailed explication of the different international legal regime of commercial arbitration has been highlighted with the ultimate aim of adverting Nigerian as bedrock of sustainable resolution of commercial disputes through the instrumentality of arbitration in sub-Saharan Africa. The work thus queries the receptive nature of our national courts towards the enforcement of foreign arbitral award.

Keywords: International Commercial Arbitration, New York Convention, Enforcement, Nigeria.

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* Mr. O Abe teaches Commercial Law, Law of Contract and Alternative Dispute Resolution at the College of Law, Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti. He is also into private legal practice with a bias for arbitration and dispute resolution. Email: o.abe@abuad.edu.ng

FUSION OF ANTI–CORRUPTION AGENCIES IN NIGERIA: A CRITICAL APPRAISAL

Nnamdi Ikpeze*

INTRODUCTION

A paper presented on behalf of College of Law, Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD), Nigeria at the 46th Annual conference of National Association of Law Teachers (NALT), held at the faculty of law, University of Ilorin, April 2013. ‘Nigeria has become...irretrievably corrupt and unwilling to succeed as a society or country’1

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* Lecturer and Associate Research Fellow at OGEES Institute, Afe Babalola University; Doctoral Candidate at the department of public and private law, Faculty of Law, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Anambra State. Phone: 08038675657, Email: pioneer183@yahoo.co.uk, nikpeze@abuadlawinstitute.org

1 Chinua Achebe, renowned Nigerian author in an interview. Available at: http://www.modernghana.com/news/455855/1/chinua-achebe-as-a-moral-standard-a-tribute.html date accessed 6/4/2013

CLIMATE CHANGE, FORCED MIGRATION, AND INTERNATIONAL LAW A book by Jane McAdam (New York: Oxford University Press, 2012)

Demola Okeowo*

OVERVIEW

The book Climate Change, Forced Migration, and International Law is an authoritative compendium of the real issues in discourse on climate change related movement and its implications in international law. Prior to reading this book, I had read a lot of articles and stories on blogs, which have exaggerated the issue of ‘climate change refugees’. Some of the articles went to the extent of saying that some States will in fact disappear completely at the end of a given time if nothing drastic is done about climate change.1 Professor McAdam describes these authors as ‘alarmists’.2

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* LL.B, BL (Nigeria), LL.M (Groningen, The Netherlands), LL.M (Queen’s, Canada), Doctoral Student, Faculty of Law, University of British Columbia, Canada. I am grateful to Professor Benjamin Richardson of the Faculty of Law, University of British Columbia, Canada who recommended the book under review to me

1 Ajay Chhibber, “Statements at the Pacific Islands Forum Leaders’ Meeting” UNDP Cairns Convention Centre, (6 August, 2009).

2 Jane McAdam, Climate Change, Forced Migration, and International Law (New York: Oxford University Press, 2012) 26.

REVISITING THE LEGAL FRAMEWORK FOR AFRICAN ECONOMIC AND MONETARY INTEGRATION: LESSONS FROM EUROPEAN ECONOMIC DEPRESSION

Ikechukwu Bernard Okafor*

ABSTRACT

The desire for an African economic and monetary union as a strategy for re-positioning the postcolonial continent for global competitiveness has been on for many decades. What initially started as a political movement for independence quickly transformed into an agenda for economic and monetary integration of the continent, drawing inspiration from the European Economic and Monetary Union. The implementation of this agenda has engaged the attention of state actors within the continent especially with the adoption of the various strategic plans of action and the treaty frameworks for its realization. Notwithstanding the near utopian nature of this lofty dream (considering the herculean odds against its realization) a glimmer of hope was shown in the early 2000s after the transformation of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) into the African Union (AU) with new promise that it is not going to be business as usual. The upward-looking economies of some of the major countries in the continent, deepening of democratic culture and other international economic reforms in the region at the time like the debt cancelations all leant support to this new hope. With the recent global economic recession the world economic outlook has substantially changed, necessitating global reforms at various levels of economic cooperation. The African continent however seems not to have seen the need for a holistic reappraisal of its internal mechanisms for realizing a viable economic and monetary union in the light of the present realities. The thesis of this paper is that apart from other problems facing this up-hill task there are fundamental weaknesses in the legal framework for the regional integration agenda which requires urgent attention if the continent is to realize this dream. The effect of the present economic depression in Europe and the strain it has placed on the economic and monetary union presents a rare example for the African continent to seek a stronger, more transparent and effective legal framework for its economic integration in order not to deliver the continent to the world as an irredeemable liability in the near future.

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* Lecturer, College of Law, Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti, Ekiti State, Nigeria. K.M 8.5, Afe Babalola Way, Ado Ekiti. Tel. 2348034415602. Email: ikeokafor1@yahoo.com; Ikechukwu.b@gmail.com.

EARLY INTERVENTION REGIME UNDER THE BANK RESOLUTION FRAMEWORK IN NIGERIA: RESOLVING THE DIVERGING INTERESTS

Gabriel Adeoluwa Onagoruwa*

ABSTRACT

The legal frameworks in most jurisdictions make provision for early intervention in bank resolution as an exception to the general corporate formal insolvency regime. The exercise of the early intervention powers however contravenes well established shareholder rights and gives rise to legal acrimony as seen in the deluge of litigation that trailed the exercise of these powers in Nigeria in the aftermath of the global financial crisis of 2007-2009. This article examines the justification for early intervention regime in bank resolutions and considers the nature of the framework in Nigeria. Drawing examples from the framework in the United Kingdom and the United States, it considers the strengths and weaknesses of the Nigerian framework. While arguing in favour of its continued operation, it considers the ways of bolstering the extant framework in Nigeria.

Keywords: Early Intervention, Bank Resolution, Shareholder Rights, Companies and Insolvency

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* LLB (Ibadan), BL., LL.M (Cambridge), Ph.D (Cambridge). A lawyer in the international law firm of White & Case LLP, London, England.

THE SEARCH FOR ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE IN THE NIGER DELTA AND CORPORATE ACCOUNTABILITY FOR TORTS: HOW KIOBEL ADDED SALT TO INJURY.

Rufus A Mmadu*

ABSTRACT

Right from the beginning Man has been given the privilege by his Creator to tender the earth and take dominion over his environment. But for the impoverished people of the Niger Delta region, the mainstay of Nigeria’s oil wealth, the situation is ironically abysmal. The region has been the scene of protest, sometimes violence, against the repressive tendencies of the Nigerian state and against the recklessness, exploitative and environmentally unfriendly activities of oil multinationals. The issues of environmental injustice and human rights violations are the central focus of this article. The article examines the concept of corporate accountability for tortuous acts and faults Kiobel as a miscarriage of justice against a people so callously and criminally oppressed. Kiobel’s pronouncement that corporations cannot be held liable for egregious abuses under international law is a sad note on global war against environmental injustice. The paper warns that Kiobel could foster situations in which corporations become immune from liability for human rights violations. The war against environmental degradation is too important to be clogged in web of legal technicalities else man would have no environment to live in.

Keywords: Environmental Justice, Niger Delta, Corporate Accountability, Torts, kiobel

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* LL.M, LL.B (Lagos); Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Nigeria; Lecturer, College of Law, Osun State University, Osogbo and also MPhil/Doctoral candidate of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State, Nigeria. Email: mmadurufus@yahoo.com, rufusmmadu@uniosun.edu.ng . Tel: +2348035319283, +2348127017430.