How Dirty Politics Affected Human Rights Promotion In Nigeria – Ex-NHRC Boss

Dirty politics and its associated effects have been identified as part of the challenges facing the National Human Rights Commission for so many years.

Prof Muhammed Tabiu, Pioneer Executive Secretary (1996 – 2000) of the NHRC, said human rights issues are easily trivialized when the polity is unstable.

Tabiu stated this while making his presentation during Tuesday’s NHRC 5th Governing Council Members Retreat which held at the National Judicial Institute (NJI), Airport Road, Abuja.

He said fouled political atmosphere instigated by “controversial coup trials” as well as the cancellation of June 12 elections by former Head of State, Ibrahim Banbangida, threw the country off balance as far as human rights ideals were concerned.

He said the Commission found itself in between a political climate that had very low status in human rights promotion and protection going by the activities of “the regime in those days.”

“Many were sceptical that the Commission could make any difference at all, some were cynical about the Government’s motive; some had unrealistic expectations due to little awareness of what a NHRI was,” Tabiu added.

In retrospect, Tabiu said the commission recorded successes despite the daunting challenges.

In the early years of the commission, the NHRC former ES was of the view that an effective coordination of the institution made it a trusted one in the eyes of Nigerians.

He said based on progressive records, governments, NGOs and the international community began to see the commission as a “worthy partner” which is now evident in the Commission’s partnership with the United Nations, European Union among other bodies.

He further listed “inspection of prisons and police cells”, “extensive human rights education (2018)”,” human rights skills building”, “Increasing patronage of the complaint mechanism” as part of the progress the NHRC has made.

The retreat which began on Monday seeks to enable the newly inaugurated NHRC Governing Council Members to finetune ideas that can help the commission to record greater impact in the bid to promote, protect and enforce human rights in Nigeria.