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Jide James-Eluyode

Permission Requested: Jide James-Eluyode, Collective Rights to Lands and Resources: Exploring the Comparative Natural Resource Revenue Allocation Model of Native American Tribes and Indigenous African Tribes, 29 Arizona Journal of International and Comparative Law 177 (Spring, 2012) (91 Footnotes Omitted)

      One of the most important and conspicuous developments in the sphere of contemporary international human rights can be attributed to the recognition of indigenous rights as a distinct regime of collective human rights of peoples and of indigenous peoples as special subjects of international concern. Despite these landmark developments, the rights of indigenous peoples to own, use, and control their lands and natural resources remain elusive in most countries. This lack of recognition causes widespread economic exploitation and relentless extraction of natural resources on indigenous lands without adequate participation and access to fair and equitable benefit sharing.

      This paper explores the natural resource rights of two groups, the Native American Navajo Nation and West Africa's Niger Delta Nation. This paper analyzes similarities and dissimilarities between these two groups and determines how the differences have influenced the natural resources revenue or royalty shares accruable to the communities. The hope is that comparing the Native American Navajo Nation and West Africa's Niger Delta Nation will provide a framework for discovering how to continue the process of correcting this lack of recognition.