Euthanasia: The agony of dying patients under the international treaties Vis-A-Vis Nigeria’s stance

Abstract

The concept of euthanasia is a medical term which means the termination of the life of a person who is very sick or who personally believes that he is in a hopeless situation, hence seeks the assistance of medical practitioners to terminate his life so that he could be relieved of the unbearable pain. Though euthanasia is applied on a sick person whose condition is irredeemable and has been so declared by the medical doctors, it can also be applied on a person who believes that he could no longer continue to bear the excruciating pain that he is going through hence he demands for the termination of his life. This is a medical concept that is ethically problematic in that the level of tolerability of pain does not have a universal yardstick for measurement. Despite the fact that euthanasia has gained international treaties recognition, its development is tortuous and not embraced by all Member States, Nigeria in particular. This paper shall discuss the reasons why Nigeria is yet to embrace euthanasia in its entirety and make suggestions as to the way forward to protect the integrity of the individual concerned.