LEGAL APPRAISAL OF THE INFLUENCE OF INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS AND NORMS ON INTERNATIONAL TRADE CONCERNING NIGERIA: THE NIGER DELTA IN VIEW

Abstract

This article provides a rigorous legal appraisal of how evolving transnational human rights norms influence international trade frameworks concerning Nigeria, keeping the persistent socio-ecological realities of the Niger Delta in view. Utilizing a doctrinal legal methodology, the study evaluates Nigeria's commercial profile under preferential and regional trade regimes, including the United States’ AGOA, the European Union’s GSP, and the AfCFTA. It uncovers a profound constitutional and institutional dissonance within the Nigerian state, where the strict dualist constraints of Section 12(1) of the 1999 Constitution operate as a structural bottleneck to the municipal enforcement of signed trade treaties. Focusing on the extractive energy sector, the paper analyses the acute legal friction arising when export imperatives clash with human dignity. Examining regional jurisprudence and recent transnational tort litigation like Alame v. Shell, the article charts the evolution of corporate accountability. It evaluates contemporary, highly contested asset divestments by oil multinationals which, under recent United Nations expert scrutiny, risk setting a dangerous precedent of corporate evasion. The article concludes that global commerce and human rights are increasingly interdependent, requiring Nigeria to statutorily codify corporate due diligence frameworks and enforce strict environmental remediation.