Implementation of the right of the child to be heard under article 12(1) of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in Nigeria: Lessons from South Africa

Article 12(1) of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child provides for the child's participatory rights. The reference to 'in all matters' indicates that article 12(1) rights is more comprehensive, in that it covers both the private and public spheres of society and creates duties on the state concerning matters left for actors in the private area such as the family. The regional African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child emphasises the preservation of tradition and culture, promoting African morals and values in children's lives, and imparting duties towards family, community and society. CRC and the African Children's Charter are the bedrock of children's rights implementation in Africa. This article examines the implementation of article 12(1) of CRC in domestic children's rights laws in Nigeria and South Africa. While the South African children's law explicitly contains a replica provision of article 12 of CRC reflecting the principles and provisions of the Convention, the Nigerian children's law omits this provision but contains article 12 of CRC in principle scattered in the implementing statute within the meaning of the best interests of the child, the right to freedom of expression under the Constitution. It concluded that having a replica of article 12 CRC provisions in the Nigerian Children's Act will serve as a tool for a rights-based approach advocacy, harmonise its legislation so that it is in line with CRC and makes for greater legislative clarity in terms of children's participation rights within the family as is shown by the South African example discussed in the article.