Jus Cogens, Social Contract and Human Rights in Nigeria: Evaluating the Enforcement of Fundamental Rights through Legislation and Regional Courts, Jurisprudence and Practice

In the Customary International Law Jurisprudence, Jus Cogens (Compelling Law) is a fundamental principle of international law that refers to a set of peremptory norms that are universally applied to all states and international organizations. It cannot be derogated from or modified by treaty or agreement. It is inalienable in nature and cannot be waved or surrendered. There are four primary sources of Jus Cogens; Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (1969), Article 53; International Court of Justice (ICJ), United Nations General Assembly Resolution and Customary International Law. The Chapter 4 of the Constitution of Federal Republic of Nigeria (CFRN) 1999, as amended dedicated to the Fundamental Rights from section 33 to section 46; this section was captured from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UNHR) 1948 in its (General Assembly Resolution 217A). By definition, "every individual holding Nigeria Citizenship and recognized in the Nigerian Constitution is inherently entitled to those rights. To an extent, Jus Cogens Customary International Law can be Likened to Fawehemi v Abacha (2000) and some other case laws like Ogwuche v Federal Republic of Nigeria, Usman v Cop (2020), were the Fundamental Rights of the citizens were enforced by the court. In our essay, we recognized and define social contract as an agreement between two or more parties creating obligations that are enforceable or otherwise recognize by the law. We also put the key elements of social contract into four categories: (1) Consent: citizens agree to be governed and abide by the rules. (2) Sovereignty: the state has authority to make and enforce laws. (3) Protection: the state provides security, justice and protection of rights. (4) Obligation: citizens have duties and responsibilities to the state and each other.