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From Adanna Nnamani, Abuja
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has said it lacks the manpower and resources necessary to address the volume of Human Rights violations cases in the country.
Barr Abdulrahman Yakubu, Director Civil and Political Rights Department, NHRC stated this at the Amnesty International’s World Social Justice Day 2023 Commemoration and Farewell of its Country Director held recently in Abuja.
Yakubu said despite support from partners and donor agencies, the Commission still needs a lot more human and material resources to enable it carry out its mandate effectively.
He said: “The National Human Rights Commission is a national institution responsible for the promotion and protection of Human Rights in Nigeria. And as we all know, the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) has also given National Human Rights institutions clear active role in the UPR process which has to do with working with the government, particularly, providing technical support to ensure that the government comply with the guidelines of the Human Rights Council in terms of preparations, submissions and also implementations of the recommendations after the adoption of the report by the Human Rights Council.
“The National Human Rights Commission has been doing that excellently but of course there are challenges. These challenges are both external and internal. Some of them have to do with the capacity of the institution, some also have to do with the capacity of the personnel that work with the institution. What this means is that in terms of certain skill sets that will enable the staff to do what is expected of them. Then in terms of the capacity of the institution is resources. We know that Nigeria is a very huge, large and big country and in protecting and promoting human rights in Nigeria we need a lot of resources. Of course government has improved in terms of funding of the Commission and the commission also gets support from development partners and donor agencies but it still requires a lot, lot more.
“One of the skills lacking has to do with ICT. There is need for improvement in terms of ICT. Then, the staff are many but looking at the volume of cases. Like in Abuja, we have four complaints partners that deal with millions of complaints from across the country with about 30 staff in a department dealing with millions of complaints. So the staff strength is not commiserate with the human rights challenges that we have in Nigeria.”
Osai Ojigho, the outgoing country director for Amnest International, expressed her joy at the display of support, saying, “This has truly reminded me that people see you even when you sometimes forget that you are doing anything.”
Speaking further, she said: “I have had high moments, I have had low moments but the biggest gift I am taking away from Amnesty is the connection with people that I met during my tenure here and also the kindness of people. I have also seen the most viciousness in people. I have also been blessed with people who have gone out of their way to look out for me, to care for me and to also be there when things were tough.
She noted that Nigeria has a key role to play not just in Africa, but also in the world as a whole, adding that everyone should be committed to making sure Nigeria plays that role it’s actually destined to be.
“And we all can do it better if we work together. One of my greatest disappointments in civil societies is that fact that we compete more than we collaborate whereas there is enough room for all of us.” She said.
