AN APPRAISAL OF YORUBA PEOPLE’S QUEST FOR SELF-DETERMINATION WITHIN THE CONTEXTS OF NIGERIA’S CONSTITUTION AND INTERNATIONAL LAW

Abstract

Self-determination is one of the core ideas in international law it gives people the right to shape their own political future and work towards their economic and social progress. This paper takes a closer look at how this right applies under international law, focusing on the Yoruba Nation's movement in Nigeria. It digs into the legal roots of self-determination, drawing from major international documents like the UN Charter, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights. The study examines the historical, political, and socio-economic forces driving the Yoruba Nation movement and determines whether these circumstances satisfy the external self-determinism criteria or are grounds for secession based on international law. It also interrogates the question of whether notwithstanding outright prohibition of succession under the Nigerian constitutional framework, recourse to these international instruments can provide the needed justification to back the agitation for Yoruba Nation. Through analysis of precedents established outside Nigeria concerning the actual provisions of the constitution and political conditions, it comes out in the paper that there exist tensions between self-determination and territorial integrity. It concludes that although the Yoruba agitation is driven by fundamental disappointment with the manner of governance and allocation of resources in the Nigerian federation, there are only a few legal bases in international laws on the possibility of secession by one part out of unilateralism. The demand for greater autonomy and restructuring can, however, fall within the acceptable limit of internal self-determination, providing a possible way of resolving ethnic grievances in the Nigerian federation.