Abstract
The pursuit of development is a top priority for every society. However, the limited capacity of human and natural resources to sustain developmental patterns in perpetuity has continued to raise serious concerns. There is fear that natural resources which provide the bedrock for development may become depleted or extinguished over time. Already, human developmental needs are believed to have exceeded the capacity of the ecosystem. In response, there has been an increasing effort to integrate sustainability into development patterns. This effort resulted in the adoption of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals in 2015. However, the adoption of Sustainable Development Goals in 2015 has not been effectively translated into development patterns in Nigeria. The aim of this article was to contribute towards the implementation of the SDGs in Nigeria as a necessary part of human rights. The objective was to critically examine human rights which provide rights basis for the enforcement of SDGs. This is because human rights provide necessary physical, social, economic and political conditions for the individual and peoples’ development. Therefore, human rights are crucial legal mechanisms for the achievement of SDGs. The doctrinal method of research was adopted. The article found that the SDGs of zero poverty and no hunger cannot be enforced under any human right in Nigeria. The responsibility of the State to secure the welfare of the people is mere policy direction and the right to life does not contemplate zero hunger. Furthermore, there is no right to the SDGs of good health. Right to life under the Constitution does not cover healthy life. However, African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (Ratification and Enforcement) Act 1981 guarantees a human right to best attainable physical and mental health. On the other hand, there is a human right to compulsory, free and universal basic education. The human right of freedom from discrimination also provide basis for the SDGs of gender equality. Furthermore, the African Charter protects the human right to generally satisfactory environment which is very relevant to the SDGs of climate action. The conclusion of the article was that although the relationship between SDGs and human rights can always be logically established, the relationship is much more limited and sometimes non-existent in law. This is because human rights in the context of the article refer to constitutionally or statutorily recognised rights. With regard to Nigeria, human rights perspectives to SDGs are weak, inadequate and incapable of engineering the achievement of the SDGs. The recommendations of the article are that the National Assembly should amend the provisions of chapter IV of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) to effectively integrate the UN SDGs into human rights under the Constitution; the National Assembly should also amend the Compulsory, Free Universal Basic Education Act 2004 to extend the right to education beyond basic education which terminates at junior secondary school. Furthermore, the National Assembly should enact a Climate Change Act to provide effectively legal framework for addressing the SDGs of climate action.