Nigeria and Human Rights Day

Tomorrow, December 10, 2016, the international community will observe Human Rights the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It would be recalled that the formal inception of Human Rights Day dates from 1950, after the UN passed resolution 423 (V) inviting all states and interested organisations to adopt 10 December of every year as Human Rights Day.
Although the Declaration with its broad range of political, civil, social, cultural and economic rights is not a binding document, it inspired more than 60 human rights instruments which together constitute an international standard of human rights. The theme for this year is; “Stand up for someone’s rights today.”
The focus on “freedoms recalls the theme that underpin the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as first articulated in 1941 by the United States President, late Franklin D Roosevelt. The four freedoms are: freedom from fear, freedom of speech, freedom of worship and freedom from want. Even though many countries recognise human rights and the rule of law as the basis for fair and stable societies, the majority of them especially in Third World countries still lack political institutions, judicial systems and economics that allow ordinary people to live with dignity.
In Nigeria, the constant abuse of human rights has been at forefront of national discourse for several years with successive governments doing little or nothing to improve the situation. It is a fact that many of the state security agencies carry out their duties with brazen impunity and total disregard to the constitutional rights of the citizens. There is no denying that the police, military and other paramilitary outfits behave as if they are above the laws of the land. Most appalling is the increasing incidence of extrajudicial killings by the police, as our prisons and detention centres are full of suspects that are detained for months and even years without judicial trials in competent courts.
For example, the fundamental human rights Chapter 4 of the 1999 Constitution Section 35(3) stipulates that “any person who is arrested or detained shall be informed in writing within 24 hours (and in a language that he understands) of the facts and grounds for his arrest or detention.” Section 39 (1) says “every person shall be entitled to freedom of expression, including freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart ideas and information without interference.”
Unfortunately, most Nigerians do not even know their rights, or even   when they are abused and how to fight for their rights. Coupled with such sad commentary are cases of human rights abuse such as rape, kidnapping, torture, child trafficking and marriage, sexual molestation, which are becoming a societal norm. It is therefore not surprising that Global Rights Watch ranks Nigeria as the world’s 10th worst human rights offender. As the world marks Human Rights Day, we call on governments at all levels to ensure respect for and protection of human rights in the country. In addition, human rights violations should be thoroughly investigated and perpetrators brought to book to serve as deterrent to others.