Sustainable development and the rights of the indigenous peoples of the Niger Delta : towards a legal framework

Abstract

This research sets to unravel the root cause of the conflict in the Niger Delta with the aim of finding a legal solution as a durable remedy. Grave violations of the indigenous peoples’ human rights and irreparable environmental abuse are identified. Nigeria has no specific law for the protection of the rights of indigenous peoples and there are also no provisions for collective rights in the Constitution. With need to protect their indigenous status, Chapter two establishes the indigenous characterisation of the Ogoni and Ijaw peoples as representative of all the indigenous peoples in the Niger Delta so that they may benefit from any international indigenous peoples’ rights that may accrue to them. International law forms the bedrock of indigenous peoples’ rights. The two international covenants on civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights and the African Charter are the most important, incorporating the rights to self-determination, property, development and environment that provide the basic sustenance for indigenous peoples. As analysed in Chapter three, the African Commission jurisprudence on property rights established in its two dynamic decisions - Ogoni and Endorois, provide extensive precedent for all African indigenous peoples. The conflict is grounded in issues of ‘development’ and ‘sustainability’ arising from the unsustainable exploitation of oil and gas. The thesis consequently explores the most relevant international sustainable development instruments – the Rio Declaration and the Convention on Biological Diversity together with the Agenda 21 – to support its environmental and sustainable development propositions in both Chapters two and three. Intuitively, a human development-based theory, Sen’s ‘capabilities’ approach becomes inevitable for the enhancement of the sustainable development ideals. This approach provides choices and values for human development and poverty eradication as the primary solution for the well-being of the indigenous peoples. Chapter five proposes a legal framework on sustainable development of natural resources that could augment the existing framework in Nigeria or be factored in as a new initiative in the absence of any extant framework. The proposed framework provides a solution to recognition of indigenous peoples for the actualisation of their capabilities and values, including how they can participate meaningfully in sustainable development, with the emphasis falling on the role of the state as duty-bearer in sustainable development.