Gadzama Christopher Linus, Zekeri Glory Ojomachewu, ThankGod Okeokwo

Keywords: Protest, human rights, lawful-assembly, grundnorms

Abstract

The social contract under which democratic governance is predicated
has largely vested governance on the people and allocated exercise of
day to day administration of governance on elected individuals. This
delegation of powers does not divest the people of their right to express displeasures on reproachable policies exacted by those to whom power has been entrusted. The crux of civility and modern civilization resides in citizens freely gathering and expressing their
grievance in protest. Thus, this paper focuses on the rights of Nigerians to protest under the Nigerian constitutional democracy. The
doctrinal methodology is adopted in analyzing provisions of the the Nigerian 1999 Constitution and international instruments relevant to
right to protest. Findings affirm protests as part and parcel of human
rights recognized under national and international groundnorms which do not require the permission of governments before the exercise of
such human rights. Findings also established that the Nigeria Police
has the constitutional duty to provide security for protesters whenever they are exercising their right to protest. The paper concludes that protest is a constitutionally recognized human right and all institutions of government should ensure its enforcement and enjoyment.

Author Biography

Gadzama Christopher Linus, Zekeri Glory Ojomachewu, ThankGod Okeokwo

Faculty of Law, Federal University Wukari, Taraba State, Nigeria

Email: [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]

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