In the past decade, Nigeria has experienced an increased rate of sexual violence in armed conflict between the armed forces of the State and the dissident armed group, Boko Haram. This paper carefully examines the challenges of prosecuting sexual violence in armed conflict under the Nigerian law. The paper extensively analyzes sexual violence in the context of non international armed conflict. It traces the history of sexual violence in armed conflicts in Nigeria. The paper reaffirms the point that sexual violence in times of armed conflict constitutes an international crime. It contends that the inability to prosecute is based on some factors which include the lack of relevant laws to address the crime as well as the absence of domestication of international treaties in this regard as a major constraint to prosecution. It is argued therefore that this creates a gap in terms of protection afforded victims as well as accountability of perpetrators. The paper concludes by recommending that all laws prohibiting sexual violence which have been ratified should be domesticated in order to have the platform upon which accountability will stand.

is a very current law made a lot of improvements on the already existing laws especially in its definition of rape and the sentence imposed on offenders. The Childs Right Act is also an important legislation but the paper discovers that some States are yet to enact their Childs Right Law which would enable them prosecute paedophiles in their States. A major concern of this paper is the fact that child defilement has been condoned in Nigeria on grounds of cultural practices and religion and it is the papers position that this trend must be addressed if we must save our children. The paper also discovers that the Criminal and Penal Codes have various provisions addressing sexual violence but the punishments for the offenses differ a great deal in both legislations.The judiciary has not been of much help in this regard as the punishment for offenses are so watered down against the provisions of the statutes. The paper therefore calls for a review of some of the laws as they are considered obsolete and also recommends that punishment for offenses should be applied the way it is provided for in the statute books.

Nigeria Health care delivery has been on the decline for decades with no remedy in sight until 2014 when Nigeria enacted the National Health Act which is the first legislation to comprehensively address the issues of health care in the country. In view of this, the paper examines the protection of access to and delivery of health care by the National Health Act of 2014. To achieve this, the paper discusses the challenges to access to health care prior to the enactment of the Act in order to appreciate the enormity of what has been and be able to identify the extent to which the Act has addressed the existing trend. The paper discusses the provisions of the Act and observes that the Act is a laudable piece of legislation which tries to address the status quo in the health sector. Despite the objective of the Act which is to provide a framework for standards and regulation of health services, the paper notes that some parts of the Act needs to be reviewed especially the issue of organ removal and transplant in emergency situation without the consent of the donor. The paper also finds that the Act did not specify what constitutes the basic minimum package of health services but left it for the Minister of Health to determine. The paper notes that this is a dangerous trend as Nigerians may never know what they are entitled to. The paper finally notes that the Act is unpopular as many Nigerians are not aware of its existence or what it provides. The paper therefore calls for the urgent implementation of the Act by putting mechanisms in place towards creating the needed awareness to help Nigerians take the benefit provided by the Act as this will help Nigeria to attain Universal Health Coverage and the Sustainable Development Goals with respect to health. It is no longer news that healthcare delivery in Nigeria has been and is still below standard. A major challenge to achieving an efficient and effective health care system in Nigeria is the limited coverage of the social health insurance. This and other challenges will be discussed hereunder. National Health Insurance SchemeThe National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) was launched in 2005. 2 Its main goal was the improvement of the health of all Nigerians at an affordable rate. It was also meant to ensure quality healthcare services, provide financial risk protection, reduce rising cost of healthcare services and ensure efficiency in healthcare.Currently, the programme only provides for federal government employees and contribution to the scheme involves both the employer 3 and the employee 4 in pre determined ratios. This contribution covers the employee, the spouse and four children below the age of 18 years. The fraction of the beneficiaries is quite low when compared with the present population of Nigeria which stands at 198 million. 5

Trans-boundary environmental impact occurs where development projects in one country or state have extra-territorial effect on neighbouring state and this aspect of environmental law falls squarely within the purview of international environmental law. This paper examines the prevention of trans-boundary environmental impact, legal framework and challenges of implementation in Nigeria and generally. The paper adopts a doctrinal approach. The paper discusses trans-boundary environmental impact and its origin in Nigeria. The paper notes that the first trans-boundary environmental impact in Nigeria happened in 1988 and prior to that there was no substantive environmental legislation in place. The paper evaluates the existing domestic and international legal frameworks and discovers that the substantive domestic law in Nigeria, lacks the necessary impetus to address environmental impact of a trans-boundary nature. The paper further finds that the international framework are not complemented by strong, substantive international law. Some of these treaties are married by vague language and weak enforcement mechanisms. The paper notes that there are several challenges preventing implementation of trans-boundary EIA and includes cost of trans-boundary EIA, limited access to document in the affected areas and unwillingness of the public to participate with an activity in another state. The paper recommends that the existing legal frameworks both at the national and international fora should be supported by strong substantive laws to enable implementation and concludes that the challenges can be overcome by specifying the parameters for determining the significance of effects, encourage public participation and dispute resolution mechanisms. Key Words: Environment, Assessment, Impact, Prevention, Challenges, Implementation

Environmental pollution arising from gas flaring constitutes a major concern among the international community, particularly as a result of the negative impact it brings to society, environment, and economy. In the last 60 years, multinational oil companies operating in Nigeria have consistently flared associated natural gas. This paper critically examines the extant legal frameworks for regulating gas flaring within the Nigerian oil and gas industry, as well as other efforts made by the federal government towards ending gas flaring in the country. The effects of gas flaring on the inhabitants of the Niger-Delta region of Nigeria (human and environment) are discussed, then an overview of the challenges militating against ending the menace of gas flaring is provided. The paper contends that unless there is strict enforcement of anti-gas flaring regulations by the regulating agencies of government with stiff punishments and fines for erring oil companies, gas flaring will not abate. Recommendations are, therefore, proffered for combating gas flaring in the country.