Title: Towards ensuring fundamental education right in Nigeria

Authors: Barnabas Chinaedu Diala

Addresses: Olaniki Okin & Co. Legal Practioners, 1st Floor Suit, Theodolite House, 54, New Hospital Road, Off Ring Road, Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria; Olabisi Onabanjo University, P.M.B 2000, Ago-iwoye, Ogun State, Nigeria; Nigerian Law School, Kano Campus, Baguada, Kano State, Nigeria

Abstract: The right to education is a fundamental human right. The plethora of international human rights law instruments considers education a basic right and not a privilege. However, in a bid to addressing this longstanding problem, legal pundits in the field of human rights law have shared their thoughts on this very salient subject via myriads of written publications and materials that could help guarantee this basic right in Nigeria. Despite these scholarly contributions and the provisions of international human rights legislations, the converse has been the case in Nigeria as the Nigerian Constitution considers education as a privilege and non-justiciable right. In the light of the above, this paper does not only seek to undertake a critical appraisal of the Nigerian Constitution with regards to this very important theme, but also intends considering the benefits of education and the attendant consequences of inaccessible education. Further, comprehensive and concrete recommendations would also be made in this paper that would help entrench this fundamental right in Nigeria.

Keywords: fundamental human rights; right to education; fundamental educational rights; constitutional rights; socio-economic rights; international law; human rights law; basic education; Nigeria; Nigerian Constitution.

DOI: 10.1504/IJHRCS.2014.060436

International Journal of Human Rights and Constitutional Studies, 2014 Vol.2 No.1, pp.27 - 36

Received: 03 Oct 2012
Accepted: 11 Oct 2012
Published online: 24 May 2014 *

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