By EDITH NWAPI

Dr Anthony Ojukwu, SAN, the Executive Secretary (ES) of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has expressed concern over the state of human rights in Nigeria.

Speaking during the Second Edition of the commission’s dashboard data presentation on Wednesday, Ojukwu said the monthly dashboard on the state of human rights was borne out of the necessity by the Commission to monitor, investigate and report on human rights systematically on a national scale in line with its mandate.

“ The dashboard is a unique and distinctive initiative of the commission that presents to us an infographic report on where we stand on human rights in our country on a monthly basis to enable all actors to monitor the trend of human rights and to be able to take steps in addressing same.

“The commission is concerned over the state of human rights in Nigeria especially the impact of economic reforms on the enjoyment of human rights by Nigerians.

“ Images and videos of citizens breaking into warehouses and trucks conveying food stuffs do not only portend dangers on the rule of law but clearly shows a clear violation of the right to dignity of the human person guaranteed by our Constitution and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’s Rights” he said.

According to him, the dashboard is a graphic representation of the state of human rights in the country.

He added beyond being indicting, it rather presents itself as a guide and a measurement of our progress to realising the human rights of every Nigerian.

Ojukwu said the commission has the onerous task under its establishment Act to present a report on the state of human rights in Nigeria.

“We have been rendering this report to the National Assembly and the Government of Nigeria on an annual basis and the document has been a reference material accessible to all interested persons and authorities to gain insight on the status of human rights in Nigeria.

“Every driver understands the importance of a dashboard to the vehicle, and we all know that it is important for a driver to take a look at his dashboard at intervals to be able to assess the state of his vehicle while on a journey.

“ Once there is a signal or indicator light on, the driver will have a sense of the state of that vehicle at that particular point in time without having to open the bonnet to check the engine” he said.

The ES added the areas with high prevalence of violations to enable us act circumspectly in effectively addressing the human right issues identified.

“ The monthly dashboard on the state of human rights in Nigeria presents facts, statistics and analysis of human rights violations across broad and specific thematic areas for policy makers, security and law enforcement agencies, civil society and the media to respond to the myriads of human rights violations in Nigeria.

“ Ladies and gentlemen, Nigeria is facing social and economic challenges which no doubt impact on our enjoyment of human rights today.

“ The January dashboard which we presented last month revealed some interesting facts about the prevalence of domestic violence which had the highest percentage.

“ The Feb. dashboard which will be presented to us shortly will reveal some interesting dimensional shift of violations revealing another category of victims who are worst hit by the data generated for the month,” he said.

According to him, it provides information that will trigger a chain of multi-faceted actions on tackling insecurity, poverty and inequalities in Nigeria.

For instance, he said the upsurge in violence, killings and kidnappings recorded in Feb. should concern every arm of our government.

Ojukwu added that the dashboard is yet another tool through which the Commission seeks to exercise its mandate of human rights promotion, protection, monitoring and reporting.

According to him, this is coming on the heels of Nigeria’s presentation at the 4^th cycle of the Universal Periodic Review.

“It is hoped that this dashboard process will assist the government in keeping tracks of its obligations to national, regional and international human rights instruments and mechanisms.

“The commission remains committed at making accessible, information on human rights and will continue to cooperate with government at all levels, civil society, media and international development partners towards the promotion, protection and enforcement of human rights in Nigeria.

“The dashboard will also galvanize good collaboration between the Commission, our partners and all human rights actors in data sharing and open up spaces for interventions in particular areas of interest towards the advancement of the course of human rights in Nigeria ” he said.

It Is important for us he advised to know that the data on the chart or diagram is generated from our field office operations across the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory.

This according to him implies that it is a comprehensive, inclusive and verifiable information on the state of human rights by the National Human Rights Commission in Nigeria.

He expressed their appreciation to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) for its support through the Tripartite Partnership Programme (TPP).

He further thanked his team for the tireless work which produced this process and reinstate the commitment to fully and effectively achieve the mandate of the Commission.

The dashboard information was presented by Mr Hilary Ogbonna, human rights adviser to the Executive Secretary and the coordinator of the project.

In his analysis, Ogbonna pointed out that there was an increase of 337 complaints of human rights violations in Feb.

According to him in January, a total of 1,147 complaints were recorded against 1,484 recorded in February.

He added that for child abandonment, out of the 1,484 cases, 176 cases involved being responsible for the violations of children’s’ rights. (NAN)

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