RIGHT OF EXPRESSION UNDER THE NIGERIAN CONSTITUTION: ISSUES AND CHALLENGES

ABSTRACT

The entrenchment of Right of Expression as a fundamental human right in Nigeria could be traced to the 1960 Independence Constitution and those that followed it. The Independence Constitution of 1960 and the Republican Constitution of 1963 have provisions for the protection of fundamental human rights. The 1979 and the 1999 constitutions went further by providing a bill of right. This entrenchment of human right provisions in our constitutions was aimed at creating a society which protects political freedom as well as the social and economic well-being of Nigerians. However, despite the guarantee of fundamental rights and liberties in the Nigerian constitutions since 1960, the country has had the misfortune of military interruption in its polity. This had profound and far reaching effects on the promotion and protection of democratic values such as freedom of expression among Nigerians. This study examines the legal framework within which freedom of expression is practiced in Nigeria due to that fact that concepts such as freedom of expression are subject to various philosophical interpretations. It gives insight into the genesis of right of expression in the modern jurisprudence and provides a proper conceptual framework of human right from which freedom of expression is derivable. The study also examines the judicial attitudes in Nigeria in interpreting the subject matter. Furthermore, some limitations to right to expression which are premised in substantive and procedural laws are also considered. The practical relevance of social justice in the enforcement of this right in Nigerian also forms part of the study.