Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies Academic Directorate Journals
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Applicability of the doctrine of judicial precedent in Nigeria: the case of Ibrahim V judicial service commission, Kaduna State & another in focus
No full textBoth the Interpretation Act and the Interpretation Law of Northern Nigeria, as applicable to Kaduna State of Nigeria, provide the meaning of the term “Public Officer” in varying contexts. In resolving who is a Public Officer under the Public Officers Protection Law of Kaduna State in the case of Ibrahim V Judicial Service Commission, Kaduna State & Another, the Supreme Court adopted the meaning provided by the Interpretation Law of the Northern Nigeria 1963 as applicable to Kaduna State to the effect that “Public Officer” include both natural and artificial person. This differs from the meaning provided under the Interpretation Act, which referred to the Constitution. Over time, the decision reached in Ibrahim’s case has been applied as judicial precedent even in cases affecting federal institutions instead of resorting to the Interpretation Act as the federal law to resolve the lacuna inherent in the Public Officers Protection Act. Thus, this paper intends to investigate whether the continuous application of the decision in Ibrahim’s case as judicial precedent to matters affecting federal institutions or corporations is justifiable in law given the meaning of “public officer” given under the Interpretation Act and the Constitution of Nigeria. It is the findings of this paper that the application of the decision in Ibrahim’s case as stare decisis to cases involving federal bodies was reached per incuriam without regard to the provisions of the Interpretation Act and the Constitution, thereby leading to injustice to litigants that have good claims against such bodies. It is recommended that the doctrine should not be applied hook, line and sinker in every case, even where the facts are similar, as the applicable law may be different. The paper recommends that the Supreme Court reverse itself immediately and abide by the statutory meaning of “public officer” under the Interpretation Act and the Constitution, and the application of the decision in Ibrahim’s case as judicial precedent in issues affecting the federal bodies should not be followed
Information literacy competencies on the use of information resources for legal services in federal universities in Nigeria
No full textThe study examines the information competencies on the use of information resources for legal services in the federal universities in Nigeria. The specific objectives of the study were to identify the information literacy competence of legal personnel in Federal universities in Nigeria and identify the types of information resources that legal personnel used for legal services in the federal universities. Two (2) research questions guided this study. The study focused on 43 federal universities in the six (6) geo-political zones of Nigeria. The population of the study comprised one hundred and sixty-eight (168) legal personnel from the federal university libraries under study. The study adopted a total enumeration technique to engage all the legal personnel working in all the Federal universities in Nigeria. Out of the 168 questionnaires administered, only 163 copies were returned representing 97%. Descriptive statistics (mean) was used to answer the research questions. The study concluded that the demands and uses of information by legal personnel are always very high since they mostly deal with judgments that require lots of evidences. Based on these facts, information resources that are desired and required by legal personnel are of different categories, such as books, journals, law files, judgments, constitutions and host of others. The study recommended that information literacy competency training should considered as a priority by both legal personnel and librarians to ensure smooth cooperation that would facilitate legal services deliveries; a well-organized form of information dissemination strategy should be put in place for legal personnel and information literacy competency training should be made more regular, consistent, holistic and widely embracing among others
Internet adoption in Nigerian university Library: a study of selected universities in Lagos state, Nigeria
No full textThe paper examined the Internet adoption in Nigerian university library with emphasis on the extent to which computer networks aid the use of the internet to obtain academic information within the university library. It also determined the extent at which students use the internet to obtain academic information within the university library and to determine the of cost, labour and maintenance of Internet adoption in the university library. A descriptive survey design was employed and the convenience sampling method was employed to select 132 samples for analysis. The analytical tools employed are simple percentages, frequency counts, Pearson Correlation and regression analysis via the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). The findings revealed that Local Area Network, Wide Area Network, Internet, Campus Area Network, and Networks were the existing computer networks available in selected Nigerian university libraries. The information services provided using internet include; digital library/ repositories, searching library data, searching scholarly content, file storage, building community power and library automation. The paper recommended that university libraries should be proactive. More academic research could only be achieved with effective internet adoption and integration into university libraries
Changing Nigeria’s plurality electoral system in legislative election to open-list proportional representation
No full textThis paper recapitulates the plurality electoral system currently practised in Nigeria‖s legislative election and draws out its negative impact on the nation‖s democracy with regard to representation. The paper explores the electoral system of proportional representation, its types and merits, bringing to the fore the incentives of the open-list proportional representation system, which the paper proposes as the most suitable for a heterogeneous country like Nigeria. In arriving at this proposal, the article discusses the open-list proportional representation system in Brazil‖s legislative election and the feasibility of its adaptation in Nigeria. The article recommends open-list proportional representation electoral system practiced in Brazil as the solution to the identified problems with the plurality electoral system in Nigeria's legislative election.
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Dawning of the regulatory state in Nigeria: origin and rationale
No full textAt independence, Nigeria like most African countries associated capitalism with neocolonialism and therefore adopted a statist approach to economic development, with Government being the major instrument of socio-economic development. Nigeria utilised State-Owned Enterprises as a vehicle of choice to improve the economic fortunes of the newly independent nation. As a result, the size of the public sector grew through the creation of State-Owned Enterprises to provide public goods and infrastructure services across all the sectors of the economy. However, the attendant poor performance of the State-Owned Enterprises subverted the reasons for their establishment and instead became a dead weight on the state treasury. Nigeria, following the global lead, undertook a phenomenal reconstruction of the State's hitherto combined role as owner, investor, manager, regulator and provider of various infrastructures, goods and services to one of an enabler and facilitator. The State's footprints in the sands of the economic and political landscape diminished. The birthing of a new public management governance model termed the Regulatory State took root. Emerging from the ashes of this phenomenon has been an avalanche of Independent Regulatory Agencies established across jurisdictions and sectors in the provision of critical infrastructure, public goods and services. This Paper identifies the new governance model and its characteristics, tracing the contours and rationale of its emergence and rapid diffusion in the process
Managing the Nigerian waste sector in the COVID-19 era: demand for effective regulation of personal protective equipment
No full textThe natural environment in Nigeria has been under a rarely conceivable risk of the ongoing coronavirus disease (COVID-19) since its spread globally, perhaps from Wuhan, China. The risk, in particular, manifests in increasingly disused Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), such as facemasks, face-shields, hand-gloves, hand-sanitisers, and allied single-use products. This stream of waste poses a potential environmental risk. Likewise, it fronts a challenge to the waste sector, and healthcare delivery system especially in developing countries with a bad history of poor waste management, frail healthcare delivery system, weak waste sector based institutions, and unrealistic compliance with policy and regulatory frameworks, as it is currently a case in Nigeria. Even as such waste is being littered around indiscriminately, governments and regulatory agencies are not taking any perceptible, responsible actions. The reality implies that the waste sector cannot be ignored in efforts to manage the COVID-19 pandemic. This study makes a case for special regulatory attention, management, and disposal of waste being generated from the use of PPE in Nigeria. The study examines the inherent, environmental risk of disused PPE. Best practices for robust regulation, management, and disposal of such waste are assessed. The obligation of Nigeria to undertake safe management of COVID-19 waste in extant international regulatory frameworks, and in line with global objectives is also analysed. This study makes significant contributions to policy and essentially advances insights for safe waste management and healthcare delivery.
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Investigation into collection security breaches in selected Academic libraries in Kwara State
No full textThis paper investigated collection security breaches in academic libraries in Kwara state covering University of Ilorin library, Federal Polytechnic Offa library and Kwara State Polytechnic library. The descriptive survey research method was used for the study and the population covered the library staff of the three institutions selected for the study. Descriptive statistics such as frequency and percentage tabulation were used in analyzing the data. Results revealed limited/insufficient library resources; high cost of learning materials; financial inhibition on the library's part; selfishness on the part of the culprits and lack of orientation on the use of library resources as major causes for collection security breaches. Types of collection security breaches in the libraries included misshelving of library materials, mutilation, non-return of borrowed materials and book theft. In curbing collection security breaches in academic libraries, the following measures ranked paramount: use of ownership stamps on library resources; provision of photocopiers and reduction in the cost of photocopying; sanctioning of culprits; checking user's ID before they are allowed access into the library as well as high use of electronic security system. Recommendations were made in line with the preventive measures already identified abov
Protecting the right to health, for internally displaced persons in a pandemic situation in Nigeria: COVID-19 in perspective
No full textThe Internally displaced persons (IDPs) phenomenon presents one of the most pressing humanitarian challenges of recent times. Large-scale displacements within national boundaries, with vulnerable groups such as women, children, and the elderly are mostly affected by the crises. Their personal security, safety and dignity are denied them, including the essentials of life such as shelter, food, medicine, education, community, and a resource base for self-reliant livelihood. They are sheltered in shackled overcrowded camps with little or no respect for their health rights. COVID-19 pandemic is ravaging the world and putting the health sectors of countries to the test. The IDPs are at the receiving end of the pandemic without adequate health care protection. Respect for human rights with an inclusive approach is crucial in containing the spread of the disease. Protection of IDPs is the responsibility of the government because they remain within the Nigerian borders and under the sovereign sphere of the government. Their protection seems delusional especially when compared to refugees who are eligible to humanitarian assistance from international humanitarian organisations because they have crossed their national frontiers. The non-availability of resources for the execution of socio-economic rights masks the sense of responsibility of government to fulfil the right to health of the IDPs. The international community are enjoined to assist in strengthening the responsibility to protect the health rights of the IDPs so that the COVID-19 pandemic can be contained
The (in) expediency of appointing legal practitioners as justices of the supreme court of Nigeria
No full textAccording to the provisions of the Nigerian Constitution, legal practitioners in Nigeria who have qualified to practice for not less than fifteen years are eligible to be appointed as Justices of the Supreme Court of Nigeria. However, the established pattern of appointments to the Supreme Court has been to appoint Justices from the Court of Appeal. This has sparked a clamour for the appointment of legal practitioners to the Supreme Court Bench to add diversity of legal thought and increase adjudicatory vibrancy. This research is anchored on the natural law theory and questions whether the fact that the Constitution provides for the appointment of legal practitioners to the Supreme Court makes such appointments expedient and beneficial for the common good. This research adopts a comparative approach and benchmarks the appointment procedure in Nigeria against the procedure in the United States of America, the oldest democracy in the world. The research finds that Nigeria must not emulate the partisan nature of judicial appointments and the overreaching influence of political affiliation on landmark judicial decisions in the United States of America as a result of the appointment procedure The article recommends that the established method of appointment to the Supreme Court of Nigeria must be preserved to ensure stability in the judicial system and avert partisanship in the procedure of the Supreme Court
Progress and opportunities for sexual and reproductive health and rights protection in Nigeria
No full textIn discussing the progress and opportunities for sexual and reproductive rights protection in Nigeria and by extension, Africa, it is important to begin by tracing the development and emergence of reproductive health and rights as a developmental and human rights concept across the globe as well as the developments in this regard in Nigeria. Reproductive health, as a developmental and human rights concept was first developed in 1968 at the Proclamation of Teheran.1 Since then, the right to women’s reproductive health has been articulated in subsequent conferences and declarations. However, the recognition of reproductive rights as human rights in international human rights discourse universally emerged after the 1993 World Conference on Human Rights held in Vienna This paper highlights the progress and opportunities for reproductive and sexual health and rights in Nigeria. It considers the factors that indicate the capacity or non capacity of willingness in the Nigerian State, and recommends steps that can be taken to achieve international best practices stipulated by the ICPD and other universal documents on human rights and women’s reproductive health