TITLE:
Unravelling the International Law/Federalism Conundrum: The Nigerian Onshore/Offshore Dichotomy Controversy Revisited
AUTHORS:
Adebisi Arewa
KEYWORDS:
Ownership of Resources Offshore, Sovereign Rights over Offshore Resources, Nature of States Rights Offshore, Federal State, Riparian Constituents, Resource Allocative Mechanism
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Social Sciences,
Vol.11 No.6,
June
30,
2023
ABSTRACT: This study undertakes the critical appraisal of public international law
and state practice regarding ownership of resources offshore. The insights
gained regarding the nature of such rights
shall be ranged against the perennial acrimonious contentions between
the Nigerian Federal State and its Oil Producing Riparian Constituents. The
study found that Articles 56, 57 and 76 and 77 of UNCLOS III, 1982 is jus inter gentium and does not vest
unqualified rights over both living and non-living offshore resources. That
granted, the study further found that reliance on the orthodoxy of Public
International Law will result in absurd and inequitable outcomes.