The effectiveness of Nigerian National human rights commission in human rights protection

Abstract

National Human Rights Commissions are institutions established by nations across the world to protect and promote human rights. Due to constraints in domestic judicial system and ineffectual international mechanisms for the protection and promotion of human rights, nations were encouraged by the United Nations to consider the possibility of establishing independent NHRC to advance the protection and promotion of human rights standards at the domestic level. As such, the Nigerian NHRC is established for similar purpose. This thesis aims at assessing the effectiveness of the Nigerian National Human Rights Commission. It seeks to discover whether the Commission has met up with the protection and promotion of human rights as the sole purpose for which it was created. To achieve this, the thesis examines the activities of the Commission over a period of fifteen years. It establishes that the Nigerian NHRC was set up by a military administration at a time when human rights violation in Nigeria was at its peak. Thus, the circumstances under which it was created were susceptible to different interpretations. Based on this premise, this thesis seeks to examine the general performance of the Commissions from inception till August 2010. In examining the effectiveness of the Nigerian National Human Rights Commission, this thesis explores available concepts like dominant and holistic concepts. Although, it agrees with these concepts, the thesis develops Standard Basic Theory as additional yardstick upon which the Commission is assessed. Thus, the thesis assesses the legal framework of the Commission. The researchwork finds that the enabling Act under which the Commission was established is weak and inadequate, thus it has undermined the performance of the Commission. This thesis scrutinises the appointment procedure of the Commission’s members. The thesis concludes that the independence of the Commission is not guaranteed as the appointing body is the executive who can terminate membership when it’s will is not carried out. In assessing the performance of the Commission, the thesis examines its complaints procedure, funding, accessibility and its collaboration with NGO community as key factors which can have significant impact on the effectiveness of National Human Rights Commission. This thesis finds that all these are inadequate and insufficient for the Commission to perform maximally. As a result of these findings, the thesis recommends some legislative amendments in order to strengthen the legal framework of the Commission. It also recommends some far-reaching measures to both the government and the Commission in order to enhance the Commission’s performance and enable it to meet international standards of protecting and promoting human rights.