Human Rights and Domestic Jurisdiction: A Review of the Universality of Human Rights in Nigeria

Abstract

The jurisdictional divergence on the doctrine and issues of human rights and the efforts to create an
international law of human rights has been largely faced with a struggle to develop effective machinery to
implement agreed norms. Efforts have not brought forth machinery of notable effectiveness globally.
Evidentially, there are doubts as to the universalism of rights even when it appears to exist conceptually;
its applicability globally is hamstringed by jurisdictional realities, this makes the universalism and
relativism of human rights a debateable discourse globally. Notwithstanding the controversies surrounding
the universality of human rights in general, some rights can be classified as universal, although these are
not without problems at the level of interpretation and application to some realities in some jurisdiction
across the world. The paper reviewed human rights and domestic jurisdiction, it analysed the realism of
the universalism of human rights within the context of African realities, using homosexual right as case
study. It emphases the pervasive but persuading factors enabling the refusal of homosexual rights in
Nigeria, from the cultural, religious and legal contexts.