Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, (SERAP) has sent an open
\nletter to President Muhammadu Buhari requesting him to \u201cuse your good
\noffices and leadership to urgently take concrete measures to address and
\nmitigate the negative effects of the economic recession and crisis on the
\npoorest and most marginalized across the country.\u201d<\/p>\n
The letter dated 2 September 2016 and signed by SERAP senior staff counsel
\nTimothy Adewale expressed concern that \u201cthe economic crisis is having
\ndisproportionate impacts on the rights of the poorest and most
\nmarginalized, who are the most vulnerable because they already suffer from
\nyears of corruption, underdevelopment and abuse of power.\u201d<\/p>\n
The organization asked President Buhari to \u201cUrgently provide the socially
\nand economically vulnerable with social protection programs and
\nsafety-nets to protect them from severe poverty and deprivation\u201d, and
\n\u201cimmediately drop the proposed 10 per cent tax on phone calls, text
\nmessages, data and more, as this would disproportionately affect the
\nsocially and economically vulnerable and push them deeper into poverty and
\ndeprivation.\u201d<\/p>\n
The organization also asked the President to \u201cUrgently propose legislation
\nand constitutional amendment that would end the practice of budgeting
\nbillions of Naira as \u2018security votes\u2019 for the Federal Government and the
\n36 state governments, as the diversion of the funds has continued to
\nundermine the ability of the government to provide essential goods and
\nservices across the country.\u201d<\/p>\n
The letter reads in part: \u201cIncreased poverty and the hunger that it brings
\nwill threaten the right to life and health of many socially and
\neconomically vulnerable, including women and children. These groups of
\npeople are bearing the brunt and feeling the impacts of the economic
\ncrisis on their standards of living, their jobs and their homes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYour government has a binding obligation to ensure that all its policies
\nto address the economic crisis are consistent with standards of human
\nrights law. At the same time, the role of your government is to act as the
\nguarantor of human rights of millions of impoverished Nigerians, including
\neconomic and social rights. Economic recession cannot be used as excuse
\nfor failing to fulfil these rights.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe urge President Buhari to immediately provide economic stimulus
\npackages that are focused on limiting the worst human consequences of the
\ncrisis, and give priority attention to the most vulnerable and
\nmarginalized in the distribution of resources.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBuhari should put pressure on the National Assembly to cut its budget and
\nspending, which in 2016 alone is N115 billion. The sum of N150 billion
\neach was allocated to the National Assembly in 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014
\nwhile N115 billion was allocated in 2015. These huge budget allocations
\ncannot be justified and must stop.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBuhari should immediately cut the sum of N103.47m budgeted for foodstuff
\nand catering materials in the Presidential Villa, and put pressure on the
\n36 state governments (including the Ondo State government which budgeted
\nN103.2m for feeding and entertainment of the state governor in 2016 and
\nthe Cross River state government which budgeted the sum of N1.4bn for
\nentertainment and hospitality for the governor), to cut these outrageous
\nbudget allocations and use the funds for social services and to pay
\nworkers\u2019 salaries.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe economic recession is devastating lives and livelihoods across the
\ncountry, and quickly translating into rising unemployment among Nigerian
\nyouths, hunger and powerlessness. Exacerbated by the failure of many state
\ngovernments to pay workers\u2019 salaries timely, this situation has pushed
\nmillions of Nigerians deeper into poverty. Yet, there are no social
\nprotection and human rights-based responses to the economic crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSERAP is also concerned that the economic recession threatens the full
\nrange of human rights, particularly economic and social rights such as the
\nright to an adequate standard of living and the rights to health, housing,
\nfood and education.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSERAP believes that the economic crisis is a human rights concern not
\nonly because of the serious consequences on human rights, but also because
\nof the underlying structural causes of the crisis which relate directly to
\nunfettered pursuit of self-interest and failures of successive governments
\nto respect, protect and fulfill economic and social rights.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cUnder international human rights law, your government is responsible for
\ncreating the conditions in which Nigerians and other people living in the
\ncountry can effectively exercise the full range of their human rights,
\nincluding economic and social rights. These rights set out the basic
\nminimum standards against which the actions (and failures to act) of your
\ngovernment can be judged.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSERAP believes that the economic crisis in the country is a threat to
\nhuman rights, but also an opportunity to prioritise compliance with human
\nrights obligations, particularly those related to economic and social
\nrights, as well as to fast-track prosecution of corruption cases and
\nrecovery of stolen assets.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDespite the human rights dimensions of the crisis, the language of human
\nrights is still largely absent from the diagnoses or prescriptions
\nproposed by your government. There has been little analysis of either the
\ncauses or the consequences of the economic crisis in human rights terms.
\nThe duty to respect is essentially a duty to \u201cdo no harm.\u201d Thus, your
\ngovernment must work diligently to avoid and mitigate any negative impacts
\nof the crisis on the poorest and most marginalized groups, whose rights
\nare being violated.\u201d<\/p>\n
SERAP also urged President Buhari to:<\/p>\n
1.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Move swiftly to avoid and mitigate the negative effects of the
\neconomic recession on human dignity and human rights of several Nigerians
\nliving in poverty by urgently providing the socially and economically
\nvulnerable with social protection programs and safety-nets to protect them
\nfrom severe poverty and deprivation<\/p>\n
2.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Immediately guarantee minimum levels of economic and social rights
\nessential for survival and human dignity, including the rights to health,
\nfood, housing and education<\/p>\n
3.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Fully integrate human rights principles and standards, such as
\nparticipation, transparency, accountability and redress into the
\ninitiatives developed to respond to the economic crisis, and identify
\nlonger-term measures that address the structural causes of the crisis that
\nimpinge on the government\u2019s ability to meet its human rights obligations
\nand responsibilities to its own citizens<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, (SERAP) has sent an open letter to President Muhammadu Buhari requesting him to \u201cuse your good offices and leadership to urgently take concrete measures to…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":49993,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-52832","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n