SOCIO-ECONOMIC RIGHTS AS THE PANACEA TO FOOD SECURITY IN NIGERIA: A CONSTITUTIONAL AND HUMAN RIGHTS LAW ANALYSIS

Abstract

Food insecurity remains a pervasive and debilitating challenge in Nigeria, despite the country's vast agricultural potential. This paper contends that the prevailing policy approaches, which often treat food security as solely an agricultural or economic productivity issue, are insufficient. Instead, it argues for a re-conceptualization of food security as a fundamental question of human rights and social justice, positing that the entrenchment and justiciability of socio-economic rights are the essential panacea. The paper critically examines the legal foundations for a rights-based approach to food security in Nigeria, engaging with the long-standing judicial and political debate over their justiciability. The central thesis is that the combination of domestic constitutional directives and unequivocal international legal obligations creates a compelling legal mandate for the Nigerian government to prioritize food security as a matter of right, not charity. The paper employs doctrinal method of research to address the issue. The paper concludes that for Nigeria to achieve sustainable food security, it must transcend mere policy rhetoric and undertake concrete legal and institutional reforms. These include adopting a framework law on the right to food, enhancing judicial enforcement mechanisms for socio-economic rights, and aligning national food and agricultural strategies with its human rights commitments, thereby transforming the state's obligation from a moral aspiration into a legal imperative.