By Hillary Asemota
Human Rights Lawyer who is an Executive Director at the Citizens Advocacy for Social and Economic Rights (CASER), Mr. Frank Tietie, has said that with the over 1 million complaints and cases brought before the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) annually, it is seriously underfunded, just as he averred that the establishment cannot sufficiently carry out its mandate and statutory powers.
Speaking in a TV programme monitored in Abuja, Tietie, said: “When we look at the direction and you find over 1 million cases or complaints going to the Human Rights Commission, the question is does the HRC have the necessary resources to deal with 1 million and it has been 1 million complaints each year from end to end?”
He asserted further, “And those of us who use the services and rely on the Commission to do the work that we do believe that the Commission is seriously underfunded.
“It is underfunded, it cannot carry out sufficient human right education so that there will be less violations and if there are less violations there will be less complaints.
“And with the enormous number of complaints that the commission has, it requires so much resources to deal with them that is having the Council sitting across the 36 States and moving around, listening to complaints, listening to witness and making determinations.
He however acknowledged that some of the successes that has been recorded by the NHRC has been under Mr. Tony Ojukwu, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN).
In terms of accessibility, the Executive Director averred that it is glaring to see that even those who are lawyers and Civil Society Actors are able to direct people to the commission to seek redress.
On the power of the NHRC to determine cases, he added: “Because we have it as law, the NHRC Act as amended, which gives power to the NHRC to make determinations on complaints of human rights violations that is the Human Commission can actually act as High Court to determine complaints of human rights violations and even award compensations.
“Now when we look at in that direction and you find 1 million cases or complaints going to the Human Rights Commission, the question is does the HRC have the necessary resources to deal with 1 million and it has been 1 million complaints each year from end to end.
“And those of us who use the services and rely on the Commission to do the work that we do believe that the Commission is seriously underfunded.
“It is underfunded, it cannot carry out sufficient human right education so that there will be less violations and if there are less violations there will be less complaints.
“And with the enormous number of complaints that the commission has it requires so much resources to deal with them that is having the Council sitting across the 36 States and moving around, listening to complaints, listening to witness and making determinations.
He recalled and commended the late General Sani Abacha for setting up the Commission in 1995, adding you cannot take that away from our history and that was achieved under a military junta. However, wondering if Nigeria was not doing better in the days of the military than we now have in a civil and democratic rule.
According to him, this remains a very tough question to answer.
Tietie, said: “I think that we have not really done and I believe that President Muhammadu Buhari has a good opportunity in the remaining months of his tenure and his administration to show to the world that the human rights approach indeed can turn the Nigerian situation around as Nigerian citizens will be happier and they will have a sense that government is for them when human rights are placed first.
“The first place to start is the NHRC where it will be empowered enough to exercise its statutory powers and also to show to the people that human rights are beyond its civil and political rights and beyond issues of torture and fairing hearing.
“And that it has to do with provision of clean water, access to good health services, well-paying jobs, education and social security. That is the key to good life and it comes by starting with the Commission.”