BEVERLY HILLS, CA, December 10, (THEWILL) – The Federal Government on Tuesday said it will give the ongoing war against terror in the country a human face, pledging to observe the fundamental human rights in its approach.
Attorney-General of the Federation and Justice Minister, Mohammed Bello Adoke, made the pledge in Abuja while speaking at an event to mark the International Human Rights Day.
The Minister said despite the unconventional nature of the Boko Haram insurgency, which necessitated the declaration of emergency rule in three Northeastern states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe, the Federal Government would continue to respect human rights in line with its international obligations.
He noted that government had demonstrated its commitment to rule of law and constitutionalism.
Adoke’s pledge came as the Human Rights Agenda Network (HRAN) advised the Federal Government to take more serious action against corruption in public governance in order to improve social and economic rights in the country.
In a statement signed by its chairman, Chino Obiagwu, the steering committee of HRAN which comprises over 200 human rights NGOs and activists across Nigeria, called on the Federal Government to take more serious action against corruption in public governance in order to improve social and economic rights in the country.
According to the organisation, corruption and abuse of office are the main cause of human rights abuse especially the citizens rights to benefit from the common resources of the land.
“HRAN is concerned that many cases of corruption in the last two years have not been properly dealt with, clearly indicating that the Jonathan administration is not committed to the fight against corruption.
Up till now, no one has been punished for the multi-billion fuel subsidy scam, a corruption chain that traverses ministries and parastatals concerned with finance and oil resources.
“At the NNPC, recent independent financial audit showed gross misappropriation of public funds.”
The statement said accruals from parastatal were not remitted for months, whereas in other countries, such public oil companies were major drivers of the economy.
“The corruption around the use of subsidy savings fund called SURE-P remains unaddressed, so also the allegation of inappropriate use of public resources by the Minister of Aviation to procure two vehicles at mind-boggling sums.
“It is tragic for the nation that while the aviation sector suffers lack of adequate infrastructure, the minister and public officials concerned were spending billions of naira on bullet proof vehicles. There is no other way of impoverishing the common man than through misappropriation of public funds that otherwise should be used for development,” the statement added.
It said HRAN was concerned that government continued to spend more funds in recurrent expenditure, committing over 80 per cent of federal releases to maintenance of public officials and their expensive lifestyles. The organisation said it was deeply concerned that the present administration had totally forgotten its initial promises to the Nigerian people, by the president who once said he went to school without shoes as a child.
“Today our education sector is in complete decay. University students have been at home for months and public primary and secondary schools are in total neglect with number of out-of-school children increasing across the country,” it lamented.
HRAN reminded the Federal Government that the welfare and security of Nigerian citizens should be the primary goal of government as it hoped that the government would concentrate more on this than on the forthcoming general elections in 2015.
The Executive Director of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Professor Bem Angwe, in his remarks, expressed gratitude to the Federal Government for granting additional powers to the commission through the NHRC Amendment Act 2010.
While pleading with non-governmental organisations to partner with the commission, he said plans are underway to expand access to human rights across the federation by establishing 18 new state offices.
The Chairman of the Board of the NHRC and High Commissioner for Human Rights, Professor Chidi Odinkalu, however called for greater cooperation from the citizens, saying “without the citizens, there cannot be a human rights commission.”
And in a goodwill message, the Ambassador of Switzerland to Nigeria, Dr Hans-Rudolf Hodel, pledged to continue the partnership between his country and Nigeria on human rights issues.
“Switzerland appreciates mutual engagement it enjoys with Nigeria on human rights issues, notably through annual rounds of high level Human Rights Consultations, as well as through financial and technical partnerships with among others the Nigeria Police Force, actors of the criminal justice system, civil society, and the National Human Rights Commission.
We look forward to continued partnership in contributing to address some of the serious challenges raised by the international community on the occasion of the Nigeria’s second Universal Periodic Review, held at the Human Rights Council in Geneva last October,” he said.
