Buhari May Sign ‘Human Rights Policy’ In 2022 As UN Makes Case For Women

Amid rising reports of human rights violations in Nigeria, the President Muhammadu Buhari administration may approve a draft document to stop the menace in the country.

This was revealed by the Executive Secretary of the National Human Rights Commission, Tony Ojukwu Esq, during the United Nations and Partners Dialogue on Human Rights in Nigeria, which held at Transcorp Hilton, Abuja on Tuesday.

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The meeting was attended by the Minister of Women Affairs, Pauline K. Tallen, representatives of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geofrey Onyeama, Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Umar Farouq; Chief of Army Staff, Gen. F. Yahaya, lawyers, Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and journalists.

Ojukwu said the policy would be one of the best things to happen to Nigeria’s democratic project when it is eventually approved by the president.

He disclosed that due to the numerous human rights challenges facing the country, relevant stakeholders had brainstormed to frame a recent National Action Plan (NAP) that captures current realities.

“The commission in collaboration with the Ministry of Justice and other governmental and non-governmental stakeholders have walked over the years to develop a successor NAP to replace the initial NAP which is filed in 2013.

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“The consultations of NAP 2021/2025 were completed in the last quarters of 2020 although they spilled over into January and February 2021. After that, the consultative draft was cleaned up into a final draft and will be submitted to the Federal Executive Council through the Attorney General of the Federation for consideration.

“When approved, it will become a current Nigeria’s policy document on human rights. The beauty of this draft is that it is bench-marked on the SDGs and has an attached implementation strategy; once approved, NAP will be printed and disseminated to stakeholders and deposited with the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights by the fourth quarter of 2021 or early in 2022. The idea of developing a National Action Plan for the promotion and protection of human rights is to have a integrated national strategy for engagement and interventions on the promotion and protection of human rights,” he said.

Executive Secretary, National Human Rights Commission, Tony Ojukwu

However, Ojukwu urged development partners who hold the funds for human rights activities to ensure that they channel resources towards ensuring that NAP is adhered to by key actors in the country.

“Without doing this, it will remain a piece of document,” he added.

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On the part of the United Nations (UN) Women, Lansana Wonneh contended that Nigeria cannot talk about fundamental human rights when those of women are being trampled upon.

The UN Women representative gave an instance where the National Assembly has yet to pass a Bill of Rights for Women in Nigeria for the past ten years it has been in the floor of the National Assembly.

“We know that Nigeria has signed many of the human rights frameworks but the challenge is that of implementation. We still do need a Bill of Rights for Women in Nigeria, what we call the Gender and Equal Opportunities Bill which has been in the Senate for ten years; it is still awaiting to be passed by the Senate.

“This is one of the critical priorities that I believe, still needs to be addressed. We have to advance the rights of women in order to advance the rights of all Nigerians. We have the lowest representation of women in Africa, in Nigeria and this is not acceptable. So we need to gather all our efforts to ensure that we get the right legislation so that women political rights can be upheld as well and through the passage of the Gender and Equal Opportunities Bill,” she said.

Tallen agreed with the UN that women and children’s right need to be protected, adding that one of the challenges in the country was that implementation of existing laws and international conventions.

“Women and girls are often disproportionately affected by political, economic, social and environmental stress. Let me use this opportunity to thank the pragmatic innovators of the UN systems in reducing gender-based inequalities. It is also important to stress that it is not only about domesticating the Child Rights Act but proper implementation of these acts. I appeal to all states to implement the Act so that it can address the issues relating to women and children,” she said.

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The Humanitarian Minister, represented by Musa Bagudu, said that the government of Nigeria has shown commitment to protecting the rights of the vulnerable groups through N-Power program, Conditional cash transfers among others.

Speaking to the international community, the Foreign Affairs Minister’s representative, Zaid Abdulsalam assured that Nigeria, being a signatory to international and regional treaties, was committed to making the country a comfortable place for everyone to live in.

“Nigeria, as enshrined in our constitution is committed to respecting the fundamental rights of all citizens as well as non citizens residing in Nigeria. Protecting human rights promotes peace and strengthens our democracy, “ he said.

For the Nigeria Army, Colonel Peter Elayo, who stood in for the Chief of Army Staff, said that a major proof that the army was complying with fundamental human rights was its consistent operation against terrorism and all forms of security challenges.

He vowed that the army will keep watching over the country to ensure peace and security.

“The Nigerian Army has over the years been engaged in addressing the myriads of security issues facing the country, from terrorism, banditry and intercommunal crisis; with troops deployed across the country. Inspite of the various operational challenges, the Nigerian Army has been acknowledged to have acted itself well in all operations and achieving successes.

“The war against terrorism in the North East has been achieving quality results and currently, hundreds of Boko Haram members and their families are surrendering to our troops. This surrenders are the outcome of kinetic and non-kinetic operations that are yielding results. The Nigeria Army intends to sustain its respect for human rights in its operations until the threats of terrorism is completely eliminated,” Elayo maintained.

But the Chairman, National Committee Against Torture (NCAT), S.S. Ameh, SAN, held that “despite efforts put in so far, challenges still persist leaving thousands of Nigerians vulnerable to being subjected to torture, ill treatment and extra-judicial killings.”

However, the UN Resident Coordinator in Nigeria, Edward Kallon, represented by Peter Hawkins, said that even though Nigeria, like other countries, are facing a myriad of human rights challenges, the country can “strives towards a nation that acknowledges the rights of all human beings with strong and effective national protection systems, UN instruments and mechanisms.”

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