By Prof. Uwaoma Uche
Delivered at the year 2024 National Human Rights Lecture of the HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) on July 25th 2024 in Abuja.
1.1 Introduction – Generally, the importance of human rights promotion and protection is well recognised and formalized globally.
Therefore, we have in existence several municipal, regional and international legal instruments on human rights. According to U.O. Umozurike in (1986:63) in an article he titled “The Present State of Human Rights in Africa” published in Law Journal of the Faculty of Law, University of Calabar, “these instruments are testimonies of the importance and relevance of human rights and show that these rights have been accepted universally as being inherent, inalienable and imprescriptible”.
While these rights are clearly articulated in the legal instruments, especially the 1999 Constitution in Nigeria, the challenge often lies in their implementation and enforcement. Often, you find many citizens view the Constitution as a mere document rather than a binding or implemented law.
This is largely because of the challenges in the implementation of the Constitution, especially on certain persons who are seen as the political class in Nigeria.
1.2 Fundamental Rights
Fundamental rights developed in three stages, first being the basic civil and political rights, the economic and social rights and in the later part of twentieth century, the cultural and environmental rights.
In Nigeria, the grund norm – The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigerian 1999 (as amended) enshrines several fundamental rights aimed at ensuring the liberty and dignity of individuals within the country.
These rights are stipulated in Chapter IV of the Constitution. They include – Right to Life (Section 33); Right to Dignity of Human Person (Section 34); Right to Personal Liberty (Section 35); Right to Fair Hearing (Section 36); Right to Private and Family Life (Section 37); Right to Freedom of Thought, Conscience and Religion (Section 38); Right to Freedom of Expression and the Press (Section 39); Right to Peaceful Assembly and Association (Section 40); Right to Freedom of Movement (Section 41); Right to Freedom from Discrimination (Section 42); Right to Acquire and Own Immovable Property (Section 43).
In addition to the foregoing rights, there are also rights to employment, housing and shelter, health, food, water and education. These rights are within the realms of the economic and social rights, which are recognized in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR, to which Nigeria is a party.
1.3 Brief explanation of some of these rights:
First, the right to life – involves ensuring that every person has a right to life and cannot be deprived of it intentionally, except in execution of a court sentence following a conviction of a criminal offense. Second, the right to the dignity of the human person guarantees every individual respect for their dignity, prohibiting torture, inhuman or degrading treatment, and slavery or servitude.
Third, the right to personal liberty entitles every person to personal freedom and outlines the procedures for lawful arrest and detention.
This right was upheld in Uzoukwu v. Ezeonu II (1991) 6 NWLR (Pt. 200) 708, where the judiciary emphasized the protection of individual rights against infringement.
Fourth, the right to fair hearing ensures that in the determination of civil rights and obligations or any criminal charge, every person is entitled to a fair hearing within a reasonable time by an impartial court or tribunal.
The Supreme Court reinforced this in Orji Uzor Kalu v. Federal Republic of Nigeria (2016) 9 NWLR (Pt. 1517) 21, emphasizing due process and the right to a fair trial.
Fifth, the right to private and family life guarantees the privacy of citizens, their homes, correspondence, telephone conversations, and telegraphic communications.
This was notably upheld in Okafor v. Lagos State Government (2019) 5 NWLR (Pt. 1665) 63, where the court ruled against unlawful eviction, emphasizing the protection of privacy and property rights.
Sixth, right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion entitles every person to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion, including freedom to change religion or belief, and to manifest and propagate their religion or belief.
The right to freedom of expression and the press guarantees every person the right to hold opinions and receive and impart ideas and information without interference. This right was defended in Falana v. National Assembly (2018) 2 NWLR (Pt. 1601) 558, where the court ruled against laws that unduly infringe upon freedom of expression.
Seventh, the right to peaceful assembly and association allows every person to assemble freely and associate with other persons, including forming or belonging to any political party, trade union, or other associations for the protection of interests.
The right to freedom of movement ensures that every citizen of Nigeria is entitled to move freely throughout Nigeria, reside in any part thereof, and not be expelled from Nigeria or refused entry or exit.
Nineth, the right to freedom from discrimination prohibits any citizen from being subjected to disabilities or restrictions based on ethnic group, place of origin, sex, religion, or political opinion.
This was reinforced in Ezugwu v. Attorney-General of the Federation (2015) 15 NWLR (Pt. 1482) 1, where the court held that discriminatory practices based on ethnicity are unconstitutional.
Tenth, the right to acquire and own immovable property allows every citizen to acquire and own immovable property anywhere in Nigeria.
Lastly, the compulsory acquisition of property provision stipulates that no property can be compulsorily taken possession of or acquired except in accordance with the law, which provides for prompt payment of compensation and gives a right of access to the court.
Eleventh, Rights to Work includes opportunity to secure adequate means of livelihood and suitable employment. It also includes obtaining just and fair conditions of employment, protection against forced or compulsory labour and the right to form and join trade unions.
Twelve, Rights to Health – the right to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, right to healthy living conditions and available, accessible, acceptable and quality health services.
Thirteen, Right to Education – includes ensuring that primary education is free and compulsory, that education is sufficiently available, accessible, acceptable and adapted to the individual.
Fourteen, Right to Food – includes the right to freedom from hunger and access at all times to adequate nutritious food or the means to obtain it.
Fifteen, Right to Water – includes the right to sufficient water and sanitation that is available, accessible and safe.
These rights enshrined in domestic, international and regional human rights instruments are legally binding. Member States have a legal obligation and primary responsibility for making these rights a reality.
Thus, the member states must respect these rights – they must not violate them. They must protect these rights by ensuring that other people or bodies do not abuse these rights. And they must fulfill these rights by making them a reality in practice.
Therefore, state parties to the ICESCR are required to take progressive action towards fulfillment of these economic and social rights. Moreover, the state parties must show genuine efforts to secure these rights, as well as prohibit discriminations in respect to them.
1.4. Who are the political class? This political class in Nigeria comprises individuals and groups who hold or influence political power and decision-making processes in the country.
They include elected officials (such as President, Vice President, Governor, Deputy Governor, Senators, House of Representative Members, Local Government Chairmen and Councilors; appointed officials (such as Ministers, Commissioners, Special Advisers and Assistants, Heads of Government Agencies); party leaders (National Party Chairpersons, State and Local Party Chairperson); and influential political actors (Former office holders, political godfathers, civil society leaders), etc.
There are also other influential entities who although are not formally part of the political structure, but they also wield significant influence over their communities and can impact political decisions. These include traditional leaders, business elites, media influencers, etc.
1.5 Political Class Engagement in Human Rights: An Evaluation
I. Implementation/enforcement
Under international law, the nation states are primarily responsible for ensuring protection of human rights within their jurisdictions.
And whenever you talk of the nation states, you are talking about the political class, responsible for governance. Consequently, the political class has three levels of obligations towards Nigerians with regards to their fundamental rights. These obligations are: To respect – (a)to refrain from interfering with the enjoyment of the rights; (b) to protect – to protect the right from intrusion or interference by third parties; and (c) to fulfill – to provide resources to facilitate the enjoyment of the rights.
The question that begs for answers is – How far has the Nigerian Political class fared in undertaking these three obligations with respect to the Nigerian Fundamental Rights?
Using the Niger Delta area of Nigeria, one of the 10 most important wetland and coastal marine ecosystems in the world and home to some 31 million people, the IDP camps littered in some states in Nigeria and the actions of the Nigerian Police force in their dealing with Nigerians as indices, one would be right to say that the Nigerian political class has failed woefully in undertaking these obligations.
ii. The Niger Delta – by the Report of the Niger Delta Technical Committee of November 2008, at p. 102, using the Figure from the 2006 census, much of the populations in the oil producing areas of the Niger Delta relies on fisheries, subsistence agriculture and associated processing industries for their livelihood, and their landscape and natural water enabled these occupations to thrive.
The extraction of the oil resulted in oil pollution which brought about the degradation of the marine and ecosystem. In the Niger Delta region of Nigeria, oil pollution has ravaged the environment for the last 50 years.
Indeed, according to a report from the New York Times, “perhaps no place on earth has been as battered by oil”, as the once vibrant wetlands have been rendered lifeless. This has brought about impacts on the environmental, loss of Business Profits and Subsistence Rights, forced displacements and loss of property, health risks and loss of life and wrongful death.
In fact, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Niger Delta Human Development Report, 2006, describes the region as suffering from “administrative neglect, crumbling social infrastructure and services, high unemployment, social deprivation, abject poverty, filth and squalor, and endemic conflict.”
The majority of the people of the Niger Delta do not have adequate access to clean water or health-care. Their poverty, and its contrast with the wealth generated by oil, has become one of the world’s starkest and most disturbing examples of the “resource curse”.
The human rights implications are serious, under-reported and have received little attention from the political class or the oil companies. However, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (African Commission) and the UN Human Rights Committee have expressed serious concern about this state of affairs and have called on the Nigerian government to take urgent action to deal with the human rights impacts of oil pollution and the consequent environmental degradation. (See Amnesty International, Petroleum, Pollution and Poverty in the Niger Delta (United Kingdom: Amnesty International Publications, 2009), pages 9 –10).
iii. IDP Camps – the level of human rights abuse in the IDP campus is worrisome. Ranging from physical, sexual and economic abuse of the rights of the displaced persons
iv. Incessant Brutality – by securing agencies: the level of alleged brutality of the citizenry by the security agencies is quite abysmal. It is either on the road with multiple road blocks, dehumanization, attack on communities and even razing down communities based on not defined causes. There is need to improve the level of civil military, police relationship.
1.6 Role of the Political Class in Human Rights
Undoubtedly, the political class plays a crucial role in ensuring that these fundamental rights are not just theoretical or academic but are also actively protected and promoted in practice and policy. Much can be done by the political class to make the fundamental rights in Nigeria more effective and they include:
- Legislative Actions: The primary source of law in Nigeria are Nigerian legislations. It is what the courts refer to for interpretation, it is what the executives implement. The Constitution is only the grundnorm and the basic law of the land, other laws exist to strengthen the Constitution and give more credence to the implementation of its content. One of the ways that the political class can help to make the enforcement of fundamental rights more effective is to strengthen existing laws and pass new legislation that supports and protects fundamental rights.
This includes laws that prevent arbitrary detention, ensure fair trials, and protect individuals from discrimination and abuse. Despite the existence of the Constitution, this has remained a challenge in enforcing fundamental rights, hence, the need to strengthen the provisions of the Constitution.
The Fundamental Rights Enforcement Procedure Rules, 2009 (FREP Rules) make provisions for the enforcement of fundamental rights. From an overview of the FREP Rules, the intention is for fundamental right actions to be speedily attended to and redressed, but this is not so in many courts in Nigeria.
There is need to make regulations (especially for the judges) on the need to see to their quick attention to fundamental right enforcement cases.
Another thing that can be done by the Political class it to ensure that institutions responsible for upholding these rights, such as the judiciary and human rights commissions, receive adequate funding and resources to perform their duties effectively.
- Policy Implementation: One of the best ways to make fundamental rights effective is to deter or mitigate fundamental right breaches. Most law enforcement personnel do not understand this and often, the breach of fundamental rights of Nigerian citizens are largely attributed to law enforcement agencies.
Out of numerous fundamental right enforcement suits in court, one may find that a certain law enforcement agency is always attached as a party instigating or doing the actual breach. Implementing training programs for law enforcement, judicial officers and public servants on human rights principles to reduce incidences of rights violations.
These trainings should include understanding the rights enshrined in the Constitution as well as international human rights standards.
Another essential way to leverage on policy implementation is to promote public awareness about fundamental rights through education campaigns, ensuring citizens are informed about their rights and how to protect them. Most law enforcement agencies thrive on the ignorance of citizens who don’t know their rights, they go ahead to do things that directly breach the fundamental rights of citizens as provided for in the Constitution.
Massive sensitization programs on fundamental rights can largely help to increase the awareness and participation of citizens on fundamental right enforcement. This can involve collaboration with schools, media outlets, and community organizations to disseminate information widely.
- Accountability Mechanisms: To ensure accountability to the laws governing fundamental right enforcement, there is need to establish and /or support existing independent bodies to monitor, investigate, and report on human rights abuses.
These bodies should have the power to hold violators accountable, ensuring that no one is above the law. An example would be strengthening the National Human Rights Commission, giving it more autonomy and resources to investigate and act on rights violations.
Additionally, to build public trust and accountability, there’s need to ensure transparency in government, actions and decisions, particularly those affecting human rights. This includes making government data and reports on human rights issues publicly available and accessible. - Judicial Reforms: Improving access to justice by reducing barriers such as cost and complexity of legal processes, and ensuring the availability of legal aid for those who cannot afford it, can greatly help the enforcement of fundamental rights.
Also fast-tracking human rights cases is important to ensure timely justice and prevent prolonged violations. The judiciary can adopt special procedures for handling human rights cases, ensuring they are prioritized and resolved quickly. - Engagement with Civil Society: Another vital role that the political class can play in ensuring that fundamental rights are more effective is to work with non-governmental organizations, community groups, and international bodies to enhance the protection of human rights.
This collaboration can bring additional resources, expertise, and scrutiny to bear on human rights issues. Engaging with civil society can also help in identifying and addressing gaps in the protection of rights. - Other Necessary Measures: Some other things that can be done include: Combating Corruption and strengthening Anti-Corruption Measures; Ensuring that economic and social policies are designed to reduce inequalities and provide a decent standard of living for all citizens.
This includes access to quality education, healthcare, and employment opportunities. Addressing the root causes of social and economic inequalities by the political class can create a more just and equitable society where fundamental rights are more likely to be respected.
Additionally, respecting and promoting international policies and laws on human rights can help to strengthen our provisions on human rights. - Political leadership significantly impacts human rights in several ways:
- Policy Making: Leaders create and enforce policies that either protect or violate human rights.
- Enforcement : effective leadership ensures that laws and policies are implemented and enforced, holding perpetrators accountable for human rights violations.
- Promotion: leaders can raise awareness and promote human rights through public statements and initiatives.
- Protection: leaders can safeguard human rights defenders and vulnerable groups from persecution and harm.
- Accountability: leaders can assure investigations and accountability for human rights violations, providing justice for victims.
- International Cooperation: Leaders engage in global efforts to advance human rights, collaborating with international organizations and governments.
- Resource Allocation: Leaders allocate resources to support human rights initiatives and programs.
- Symbolic Role: Leaders set an example, influencing public opinion and shaping cultural attitudes towards human rights.
- Institutional Strengthening: Leaders can strengthen institutions that protect human rights, like judiciaries and human rights commissions.
- Emergency Response: Leaders respond to human rights crises, such as natural disasters of conflicts, protecting affected populations.
Political leadership can either advance or undermine human rights, making it a crucial factor in shaping the human rights landscape.This where I commend the Human Right Writers Association (HURIWA)the Civil Rights Societies who have continued to maintain the lead in tasking political leadership to ensure that the rate of human rights is reduced to the minimum
It has become so worrisome with the recent record from the ECOWAS court declaring Nigeria as one of the country with the highest record of humans right abuse. Everyday the abuse from domestic violence , cult related violence in the tertiary institutions,human rights abuse in several public and private institutions abound and needs critical government intervention and the political leadership leading the process
Effective Political Leadership can:
- Enact and enforce laws that safeguard human rights
- Encourage a culture of respect for human rights
- Ensure accountability for human rights violations
- Provide access to education, healthcare and other essential services
- Foster inclusive and equitable societies
Conversely, poor political leadership can lead to human rights violations, discrimination, and oppression. The relationship between human rights and political leadership is interdependent, as:
- Human rights provide a framework for political leaders to uphold.
- Political leaders have a responsibility to protect and promote human rights
- Human rights violations can lead to political instability and unrest.
- Strong political leadership can drive human rights progress
- Human rights can empower citizens to hold political leaders accountable
1.6 SUMMARY
In summary, the nexus between human rights and political leadership is essential for building just, equitable, and peaceful societies.
Political leaders play a significant role in upholding and promoting human rights through the policies they implement, the laws they enact and the decisions they make. By respecting and protecting human rights, political leaders demonstrate their commitment to the well-being and dignity of all individuals within their jurisdiction.
Effective political leadership involves ensuring that human rights are not only recognized on paper but also upheld in practice. This includes promoting equality, non-discrimination, freedom of expression, freedom of assembly, the right to a fair trial, and other fundamental rights and freedoms.
Political leaders should work towards creating a legal framework that protects human rights, as well as mechanisms for their enforcement and accountability.
Moreover, political leaders have a responsibility to address human rights violations, whether committed by state actors or non- state actors. They must ensure that perpetrators are held accountable and that victims have access to justice and remedies.
By promoting a culture of respect of respect for human rights within their societies, political leaders can contribute to building a more just, inclusive, and peaceful society.
The time to act is now and all stakeholders here present and political leadership in society should brace up to the challenge and put the rampage of human rights abuse to a halt.It is no longer holding talks but working the talk
Thank you for listening.
Prof. Uwaoma Uche FPIDM,FOSHA, FSEAN,MACSPN,MIMIM, MNIPR, MACCE, SRF DVC-ADMINISTRATION GREGORY UNIVERSITY, UTURU
EMAIL: uwafine2002@yahoo.com
U.uwaoma@gregory university uturu.edu.ng.
