Elijah Adewale Taiwo

Professor of Law & Head of Department Private and Business Law

College of Law, Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria &

Research Associate, Faculty of Law

Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, South Africa

Abstract

This paper reviews the relevant legal instruments protecting the right to education in Nigeria. It posits that the right to education is given wide recognition in view of its guarantee in the various global, regional and national human rights instruments as well as in the national laws and constitutions across the globe. The paper starts with some discussion on the International Bill of Human Rights, followed by an examination of the relevant instruments introduced by the United Nations’ specialised agencies on the right to education as well as those instruments specifically protecting vulnerable groups. The regional instruments relevant to the right to education as well as national instruments on the right to education in Nigeria are also examined. The paper posits that there is a comprehensive list of legislation, laws and policies which guarantee the right to education, as well as on the administration and managements of schools in Nigeria. It states that these instruments present education as a key national and international project which marks a path for individual, community and collective development. The paper gives a critical a review of relevant international, regional and national instruments that comprise the corpus of human rights law on the right to education as well as stating a comprehensive picture of the current state of the law on the protection of the right to education in Nigeria. It posits that why legislative measures are necessary for the realisation of the right to education; non-legislative measures also play complementary roles.