What is your assessment of human right abuse in the country?
Nigeria as a nation has done a lot to improve its records on human rights. The first thing we did at the National Assembly is to comply with the United Nations’ declaration to give financial autonomy to and make the National Human Rights Commission functional. We succeeded in amending the Act establishing the commission to ensure that it has full prosecutorial powers in line with the statutory objectives establishing it. We also had cause to strengthen it in the sense that all the regulations are binding enough and admissible in the court of law. So, if you have a case of human rights violation and you report it to the commission, they will investigate and whatever findings they come up with can be used in a court of competent jurisdiction. We did this to reduce the congestion in our prisons, especially prisoners awaiting trial. This is because about 80 per cent of the people in our prisons are those awaiting trial. Some people are in prison not because they are guilty, but because their cases have not even been heard by the judges. So, the judicial system needs very strict reforms and that is why this audit is very important. The result has been published and presented to the public and what we will do now is to urge the chief judges of states to ensure that all those who have served their sentences and are still awaiting trial to have their sentences reduced or be released. It is the same thing that the Chief Judge of Lagos State is doing. If you spend two years for instance awaiting trial and your offence would ordinarily attract a year or less than two years’ sentence, you are made to sign a bond to be of good conduct and automatically released.
Another thing we have just done in the National Assembly is to amend the Act establishing the National Agency for the Prohibition of Traffic in Persons. Human trafficking has been a huge problem in Nigeria. Nigeria is a country that transits and also a destination point. We looked at the laws setting up NAPTIP and we discovered that the punishment in the existing law is too light. It gave the judge an option of fine of about N100,000. You know trafficking is a multi-billion naira industry, so what is N100,000 for an offender? Many of them would just pay the fine and gain their freedom. But for now, we have taken away that option because we want to ensure that human trafficking is stamped out.
I must say that the key challenges in the enforcement of human rights in Nigeria are the unlawful killings generally, kidnappings, armed robbery, insurgency, terrorism and so on. These things have been documented by the UN as gross human rights violation. Nigerians in all parts of the country must understand that life is precious and sacred. The constitution recognises that everybody has a right to life; nobody has the right to take another person’s life. In the constitution amendment, we have included right to health, education and other social amenities. Provision of basic healthcare should not only be the responsibility of the Federal Government. But state and local governments have a role to play. We have to ensure that the quality and standard of life of the citizens is another right that should be applicable to every Nigerian.
In essence, what you are saying is that what the International Human Rights Organisation used as yardsticks are these killings either by way of kidnap, armed robbery and insurgency. But these are issues of institutional violation of human rights either by government agencies or other private organisations?
What I am saying is that those cases are minimal, compared with the broader picture where people take lives of innocent citizens, whether on the roads, in the villages, through kidnapping and armed robbery or through terrorism. Be it whatever, those are the biggest violations. The other ones are not as critical because the critical ones take away lives, which is the fundamental of the human rights abuses. There is no nation without human rights abuses, absolutely none. Even the United States of America, Europe, everywhere. But the ability to minimise it and have institutional structures is what matters.
Nigeria has come under pressure from the international community to pass the Gay Rights law. Do you see the non-recognition of gay rights as an infringement on the rights of some Nigerians?
Nigeria has a culture and a rich one at that. So, our laws are basically in line with that culture. Just as Nigerians are saying that you cannot impose other people’s norms and cultures on them, similarly we cannot impose our culture on other people. So, definitely, Nigeria as a sovereign nation cannot allow other people to impose their alien norms and cultures on the nation.
Well, if you agree that mal-administration is also a human rights violation, how will you rate the Jang administration in Plateau State in terms of delivering the dividends of democracy?
I would say that Governor Jonah Jang has been, probably to me, one of the best performing governors because if you look at the infrastructural development taking place in Plateau State, especially the road networks and other amenities that were not there before, you can’t help but admit that he’s performing. We have flyovers now in Jos and some are still under construction and every time I come to Jos, I see massive constructions going on. Whoever the next governor of Plateau State would be, I pray he or she will continue in this fashion and even build more because the state needs this kind of spirit in order to develop. Once the state and the activities thereof are commercialised, you will find people getting more involved in the activities of the state. This will also reduce the pressure on the government.
What is the record of Plateau State in the implementation of Child Rights and women empowerment?
The record of the state in child rights and women empowerment has been encouraging. Recently, at a conference in Abuja, we realised that care for children in the state, especially the less privileged ones and those orphaned by HIV/AIDS, have been taken with all sense of seriousness. The women too seem to be very active in politics in the state and they have been given an atmosphere conducive for them to excel in their chosen endeavours. The issues of education and enrolment of children in schools are also being attended in the state. The issue of children out of school seems also not to be a problem in the state as you find in other northern states of Nigeria.
Despite your position, Plateau State is still ranked among the least in terms of educational performance.
Yes, unfortunately, that is true but I think the recent development and improvement in the sector in Plateau State will go a long way in addressing the situation. I am convinced that what the government is doing, especially in the recruitment of qualified teachers and the improvement of the learning environment, are the right steps in the right direction. It will interest you to also know that what we are planning to do is to amend the Universal Basic Education Act to provide one free meal a day to every child in the school, from primary one to six. This will help in their growth and nutrition thereby helping them to make learning interesting. This should extend to the rural areas as well. It has already gone through the first reading, I guess.
Do you think Nigeria is ripe for a social security scheme for its citizens?
I think Nigeria is ripe for a social insurance scheme. The only challenge we have at the moment is that we have about 50 different institutions providing various forms of social insurance. So, what we need to do is to compress everything to one. We have bodies like the National Directorate of Employment that provides not really a form of social security, but trains the youth and supports them to establish themselves. I think the Industrial Training Fund too does the same thing and so many other similar organisations. That is just one, and that too is training but we have others that are responsible for the provision of some welfare, if I am to put it that way. But what we need is to synchronise them into one for efficiency. What I understand, however, is that the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund, the key body that is responsible for this, does not have a clear policy. Nigerians need a clearly defined policy on social insurance so that those that are not employed, at least, for the first two or three years of graduation or of their employment, are taken care of adequately.
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