Assessing Nigeria’s human rights situation

Where, after all, do universal human rights begin? In small places, close to home — so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any map of the world. […] Unless these rights have meaning there, they have little meaning anywhere. Without concerted citizen action to uphold them close to home, we shall look in vain for progress in the larger world.” — Eleanor Roosevelt

It was Prof. Albert Venn Dicey better known as A.V Dicey, a British lawyer, who propounded the principles of “Rule of Law”. They are:  Supremacy of the law; Equality before the law and Fundamental Human Rights.  In a free society, every human being should enjoy some inherent benefits. These include the right to life, right to acquire property, right to freedom from discrimination, right to fair hearing, right to personal liberty, and right to dignity of human person, among others. Unfortunately, much as no right is absolute, as it is said that where someone’s rights end is where mine begin, however, many of the avowed rights have been severely curtailed in Nigeria, with the government and its institutions observing these citizens’ rights in breach.

The Human Rights Day is observed every year on December 10, which is the anniversary of the day that the United Nations General Assembly adopted, in 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This 2018 marked the 70th anniversary of the UDHR. The theme of this year’s celebration is “Stand Up For Human Rights”. How has Nigeria fared in the area of human rights observance? I was on Silverbird Television magazine programme tagged, “Open Day”, last Friday, December 14, 2018 to discuss Nigeria’s human rights record and other topical issues. My overall assessment of Nigeria’s human rights’ performance is that while we are not where we used to be, we are also not where we ought to be.

Using the Nigerian 1999 Constitution, as amended, as a benchmark, there are several of its provisions that are not being respected by government institutions. This happens despite the fact that there are many laudable provisions in Chapter II of the grundnorm which have to do with “Fundamental Objectives and Directive Principles of State Policy”. Take for instance, Section 14. Subsection (1) says, “The Federal Republic of Nigeria shall be a state based on the principles of democracy and social justice. (2) It is hereby, accordingly, declared that: (a) sovereignty belongs to the people of Nigeria from whom government through this Constitution derives all its powers and authority; (b) the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government: and (c) the participation by the people in their government shall be ensured in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution.” Section 15 (5) says “The State shall abolish all corrupt practices and abuse of power.” Can anyone sincerely say government has been able to do these things?

How about Section 18.(1) which says “Government shall direct its policy towards ensuring that there are equal and adequate educational opportunities at all levels and subsection (3) which says  Government shall strive to eradicate illiteracy; and to this end Government shall as and when practicable provide (a) free, compulsory and universal primary education; (b) free secondary education; (c) free university education; and (d) free adult literacy programme.” Will this ever happen in Nigeria given the clamour for the privatisation and commercialisation of public education? Section 42 of the Constitution says that there shall be freedom from discrimination but in practice, we do know that women, youths, persons with disabilities are still subjected to a lot of marginalisation.

When I said we are not where we used to be I mean to refer to the better-forgotten military era when the constitution was suspended and the country was being governed by decrees and edicts. The years when there was severe press repression with many journalists murdered, clamped into detention without trial or hounded into forced exile. That was when critical media houses were proscribed. I am referring to that point in time when innocent citizens were picked up by police for “wandering” and tortured to admit to crimes they did not commit. Then, Nigeria was in a Hobbesian state of nature where life was short, brutish and nasty.

 We have since moved on from that era especially in this Fourth Republic. Nigerians now enjoy better civil liberties. Citizens now sue law enforcement agencies for their excesses and win. Many courts have awarded damages to victims of oppressions by institutions of governments. It is noteworthy that the  National Human Rights Commission of Nigeria was established by the National Human Rights Commission Rights 1995 (as amended) in line with Resolution 48/134 of the United Nations General Assembly which enjoins all member states to establish independent National Institutions for the promotion, protection and enforcement of human rights. This commission has assisted to address and redress human rights abuses in Nigeria

It is interesting to know that human rights curriculum has been mainstreamed into the training of officers and men of Nigeria Police in order to make them more professional in their service delivery. As part of measures to ensure inclusivity in Nigeria’s electoral process, the Independent National Electoral Commission in November 2014 launched its own gender policy, in September 2018 publicly presented a framework on access and participation of the PWDs in electoral process. and just last week launched  the ‘Framework for Voting by Internally Displaced Persons’, The May 31, 2018 signing into law of the “Not-too-young-to-run” bill  by President Muhammadu Buhari, the registration of 91 political parties, the Continuous Voter Registration are all geared towards  guaranteeing  the constitutional right of Nigerian citizens to vote and be voted for.

It is also noteworthy that in order to promote the rights of women and youths to participate in governance, the government at the federal and state levels has established Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development as well as Ministry of Youths and Sports. There are also the National Youth Policy, National Youth Council of Nigeria, Youth Parliament and 2006 National Gender Policy.

It is important to state categorically that abuse of human rights is not limited to government and its agencies; even among ordinary citizens, there are a lot of infractions of human rights. Those parents who sexually molest their children; those who send out their children for child labour; those who injure children and wards under the guise of corporal punishment are all guilty of human rights abuses. Gender-based violence can be categorised as human rights abuse likewise manufacturing, sales and marketing of fake, adulterated and expired products. Electoral violence is also among  as it has the potential to prevent people from exercising their franchise during elections.

As there are constitutionally guaranteed rights, so are the obligated duties of the citizens. Section 24 (c) of the Constitution urges “respect for the dignity of other citizens and the rights and legitimate interests of others and live in unity and harmony and in the spirit of common brotherhood; (d) make positive and useful contribution to the advancement, progress and well-being of the community where he resides; (e) render assistance to appropriate and lawful agencies in the maintenance of law and order; and (f) declare his income honestly to appropriate and lawful agencies and pay his tax promptly.”