Adoption and Implementation of Treaties by States in International Relations: A Critical Reflection on the Domestication of the 'Convention of the Right of the Child (CRC)' in Nigeria

Nigeria like every other state in the globe is a signatory to many forms of international treaties such as the international instruments and/or charter with the United Nations on Convention of the th Right of the Child (CRC) entered on 20 November, 1989, and the charter with Organisation of African Union (OAU) on the Rights and Welfare of the child (CRWC) in July 1990 and had rectified them in 1991 and 2000 respectively. Hence, in order to domesticate the Convention on the Right of the Child, the Child Right Act in Nigeria was passed into law by National Assembly in July 2003 and was signed into law in September 2003. Despite all the rectifications, Nigeria has not been able to fully implement the convention and charter at the federal level, and has failed to make sure the federating units are propelled to implement the rectified treaties to be fully alive at the municipal level. The study adopted secondary data which were extrapolated, summarised and analysed qualitatively through linkage study design, while anchoring on liberal international relations theory as the beacon of analysis. The study deciphered that only 25 states out of 36 states have localized the Child Right Act. And that 11 states in northern Nigeria are yet to domesticate the Child Right Act. The study recommended that the Nigerian state should include the Child Right Act into the Exclusive Legislative List of the federal government, as this will automatically become applicable in all the 36 states/FCT.