Paper long abstract:

The antinomy of Human Rights Practices: The Case of Peripheral Populations in Africa discusses concisely the issue of the human rights of marginalized peoples in Africa—particularly the indigenous populace whose population is less than a million—within the following themes: 1.Some general theories of human rights; 2. International human rights instruments relating to the rights of indigenous populations; 3. Marginalized minorities, indigenous peoples and human rights: a brief overview; 4. Human rights of indigenous inhabitants in select countries; and 5. Conclusion.

Generally, in spite of the participation of African nations in the United Nations and the Organization of African Unity—now African Union—that approved instruments for the advancement of the human rights of African peoples, the guardians of the African states, overall, have been unsuccessful in implementing the tenets of the documents they signed for the protection of rights. Moreover, the outcome of this research suggests that African governments seldom respect their national constitutions on the issue of the human rights of minority groups. This political attitude tends to exacerbate political angst and mitigate the quest for peaceful co-existence needed for the agglutination of the sub-national units in the nation-state in particular and African polities in general.