President Muhammadu Buhari in his inaugural speech on May 29, 2015
promised expectant citizens that he would: “tackle head on the enormous
challenges of insecurity and pervasive corruption. Nigerians will not
regret that they have entrusted national responsibility to us.”
Yet, his government is doing very little to address the growing
insecurity, widespread corruption, and associated human rights
violations in the country.
Available evidence on the ground shows increasing violence, insecurity,
and abductions, leading inevitably to arbitrary deprivation of lives,
and many other human rights abuses, and illustrating the troubling gap
between Mr Buhari’s promise and action.
According to Amnesty International, tens of thousands of people have
been killed as a result of violence and serious crimes in many parts of
the country. Herdsmen and farmers clashes have worsened under Mr Buhari
government’s watch. Several students remain missing after gunmen
attacked the Federal College of Forestry in Kaduna state.
Abductions of schoolchildren, teachers and their families have become
routine, resulting in closure of over 600 schools, including in Sokoto;
Zamfara; Kano; Katsina; Niger; and Yobe states. Those statistics should
cause concern to any government. But the Buhari government seems to lack
the political will and determination required to address the critical
human rights situation.
School closures caused by insecurity and violence have exacerbated
existing inequalities, as children who are already most at risk of being
excluded from a quality education have been disproportionately affected.
Yet, Nigeria has endorsed the Safe Schools Declaration, an
inter-governmental political commitment to protect schools, students,
and education personnel from being attacked.
To make matters worse, victims of violence, killings and abductions, and
their families are left to fend for themselves and rarely receive any
effective remedy. Impunity for perpetrators continues to facilitate the
repetition of violence and serious crimes, and associated human rights
abuses, as well as the total defenselessness of victims and their
families.
All too often, corruption, the lack of political will, and sometimes
negligence to effectively investigate and prosecute violent acts also
create a climate that is conducive to a cycle of violence, since society
sees no evidence of willingness by the State to take effective action to
sanction such acts.
Violence and insecurity are exacerbated by years of corruption in the
law enforcement sector, and among the political class. Only recently,
the National Security Adviser, Babagana Monguno, reportedly stated that
$1 billion arms funds are missing under Mr Buhari government’s watch. Mr
Buhari should have seized the moment, and referred the matter to
appropriate anti-corruption agencies for investigation. Instead, Mr
Monguno denied making the statement, despite the translated version of
the BBC Hausa interview suggesting that he was not misquoted. Many
questions remain unanswered, reinforcing the need for an independent
investigation to establish the truth.
Corruption ‘kills’, and has a wide range of other corrosive effects on
societies. It undermines the rule of law, erodes the quality of life,
allows insecurity, violence and other threats to human security to
flourish, thus leading to human rights abuses. By diverting funds,
corruption exacerbates threats to people’s dignity and livelihood, as it
undermines a government’s ability to protect and ensure the human rights
of its population.
While violence and killings have been a longstanding problem, and
predate this administration, the absence of leadership and the requisite
political will by Mr Buhari government to genuinely combat the problem,
implement human rights reforms and observe the rule of law has continued
to exacerbate the problem.
There remain serious shortcomings in the way law enforcement and
security agencies work to prevent, deter and suppress violence and
serious crimes across the country. Apart from fostering impunity, the
absence of effective and corruption-free law enforcement and
intelligence apparatus also increases the sense of insecurity within the
public and its mistrust of these institutions.
Both the federal and state governments spend roughly $670 million (about
N242 billion) yearly as “security votes” but Mr Buhari and the 36 state
governors have resisted attempts by civil society groups seeking
information on how the funds are spent, and to prevent misuse and
embezzlement of public funds in the name of security votes.
Violence, abductions, and corruption intersect where law enforcement
agencies are corrupt and, in some cases, complicit in gross violations
of human rights.
The milieu into which violence, abductions, and corruption merge is
extremely threatening to the rule of law and respect for human rights in
the country. The failure of the federal and state governments to
recognize the centrality of this trinity is one factor that continues to
allow this nexus to flourish.
The rhetoric of Mr Buhari’s promise is further illustrated by the
government’s apparent unwillingness to design and implement credible
policies to prevent and combat violence and crimes, and to promote the
rule of law.
The issue of people’s security and safety has for too long taken the
back-seat. Yet, it is the duty of any serious government to guarantee
the human rights to life and security of the population.
This failure to exercise responsibility to promote and ensure the
security and safety of the population constitutes a serious breach of
the Nigerian government’s human rights obligations, including under the
Nigerian Constitution 1999 (as amended), and the African Charter on
Human and Peoples’ Rights to which Nigeria is a state party.
Both the Nigerian Constitution and the African Charter guarantee and
protect the rights to life, physical integrity, and liberty among others
relating to people’s security. As a corollary, the government is
required to ensure the effective functioning and operation of
governmental apparatus and, in general, all the structures through which
public power is exercised, so that it is capable of juridically ensuring
the free and full enjoyment of human rights.
It is not sufficient to abstain from violating this right: positive and
specific measures are also required to respond to the needs of those who
require protection because of the specific risks they face or their
situation of marginalization and discrimination. The main purpose is to
ensure that no one is arbitrarily deprived of their lives, and other
human rights.
Clearly, mere promises are not enough. The government must move swiftly
to match its words with serious and concrete action to guarantee the
human rights of all people in Nigeria if it is to be taken seriously on
its oft-expressed commitment to stop the persistent corruption,
violence, abductions and other human rights crimes.
It’s important for the Buhari government to urgently end the impunity
that continues to facilitate a culture of official corruption, violence,
abductions and killings across the country, and to ensure access to
justice and effective remedies for victims.
Mr Buhari should promptly refer the allegation by his National Security
Adviser to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and Independent
Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission for thorough and
transparent investigation, and to ensure suspected perpetrators are
brought to justice, and the recovery of any missing public funds.
The federal and state governments should honour freedom of information
requests, including by the anti-corruption watchdog Socio-Economic
Rights and Accountability Project seeking access to information in the
spending of security votes meant to secure people’s lives and other
human rights.
Similarly, Mr Buhari’s government must end its persistent refusal to
implement court orders, including the judgment by Justice Hadiza Rabiu
Shagari ordering the government to tell Nigerians about the stolen
assets it allegedly recovered, with details of the amounts involved.
Doing this would contribute to improving the security of the people and
guaranteeing the rule of law, as well as respect for human rights. As
Aristotle pointed out: “It is better for the law to rule than one of its
citizens, so even the guardians of the laws are obeying the laws.”
Mr Buhari needs to end slogans and empty rhetoric, wake up to his
responsibility, and act before the insecurity situation gets worse.
Addressing the people on his strategy for tackling the problems should
be the easiest place to start.
Kolawole Olaniyan, author of Corruption and Human Rights Law in Africa,
is legal adviser at Amnesty International’s International Secretariat,
London.