The Community Court of Justice

This chapter integrates the perspective of the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice, referred to abbreviatedly in this book as the Community Court of Justice (CCJ), in the proposal for a human-right policy for Nigeria post-Buhari, taking advantage of the inestimable opportunity afforded by a fortuitous conjunction and intersection of earth-shaking events, signified in Nigeria by the reduced influence of the military in the country’s body politic evidenced by General Buhari’s departure after two uninspiring terms in office as President, and abroad by the coronation of a new monarch in the UK. The UK is the creator of modern-day Nigeria and, post-independence, maintains lingering influence and interests in the country, for good or bad, that stretch up to the present day. This chapter is the last of five sample methods—after reconstructing the national interest to improve its readiness for human-right duties, increased human rights in Nigeria, peacekeeping, and the Technical Aid Corps. Based on the impressive human-right jurisprudence of the CCJ, one teachable lesson emerging from this Chapter is that multilateralism is not automatically an albatross in the application of human rights in external affairs, unless the applicator-state makes it so.