Seite - 53 - in Austrian Law Journal, Band 1/2017

ALJ 1/2017 Non-State Law in Nigeria 53 rights to self determination is claimed by a people also takes into consideration the rights of minorities, indigenous peoples and other population groups within the territory where the right to self-determination is being claimed.58 Legitimacy in this context can be acquired through legal means, dialogue or compromises on the part of all disputing parties. Clearly, Article 1 (1) of the binding ICCPR provides that: ”All Peoples have the right of self-determination. By virtue of that right they freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development.” Conversely, it is expressly pro- vided that the realisation of that right must be ”in compliance with the provisions of the Charter of the United Nations” (Article 1 (3) ICCPR). Additionally, a UN General Assembly Resolution provides the limit to which self-determination can be claimed by people concerned: “Any attempt aimed at partial or total disruption of the national unity and the territorial integrity of a country is incompatible with the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations.” 59 The above excerpt seem to corroborate the point raised earlier with regard to limitations pre- scribed by law. Every political agitation in a sovereign state, particularly the pursuit of social, political and cultural rights agenda under which freedom of religion is usually sought, must comply with the law requiring that public order, safety and the fundamental rights and freedoms of others are not undermined. Part C Conclusion To this end, a “Treasure trove” is a “treasure that anyone finds; specifically: gold or silver in the form of money, plate, or bullion which is found hidden and whose owner is not known.”60 This definition seems comparable to Lon L. Fuller’s analysis of custom which, in other words, means customary law, which ”we may be able to describe in general the class of persons among whom [it] has come to prevail as a standard of conduct, [although] it has no definite author.”61 Customs are handed down from one generation to another. The same can be said to apply to Sharia law that dates back many centuries, and which has been criticised as fundamentally flawed on grounds of being anachronistic, draconian and overtly discriminatory. Comparatively, Pandora’s box, as de- rived from Greek mythology, comes “from the box, sent by the gods to Pandora, which she was forbidden to open and which loosed a swarm of evils upon humankind when she opened it (...).”62 Accordingly, one would suppose that the reintroduction of customary law (including Sharia) in Nige- ria, amounts to a discovery of a treasure trove. On a closer look, considering the troubles now emanating from that reintroduction, particularly, the consequent agitation for (inter alia) self- determination and the bid for secession through acts of terrorism, is it not appropriate to say that the reintroduction of such systems is tantamount to opening Pandora's box? In modern 58 Van Walt van Praag, supra note 53. 59 Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples, adopted by the UN General Assembly Resolution 1514(XV) of 14 December 1960. 60 MERRIAM-WEBSTER DICTIONARY, http://www.merriam webster.com/dictionary/treasure%20trove (last visited Mar. 27, 2017). 61 See FULLER, supra note 8. 62 MERRIAM-WEBSTER DICTIONARY, http://www.merriam webster.com/dictionary/treasure%20trove (last visted Mar. 27, 2017).