National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has urged the federal legislature to immediately amend the 1999 Constitution to strengthen the rights of Nigerians.

Chairperson of its governing council, Dr Salamatu Suileman, made the call yesterday in Abuja at a national town hall on future of litigating human rights in Nigeria. 

According to her, there is an urgent need to tinker with the nation’s lawbook to make the rights in Chapter II justiciable. This, she said, would empower individuals to enforce their socio-economic rights through the courts, thus ensuring greater accountability and protection for all Nigerians.

The organisation implored government to enact a specific legislation that provides for enforcement of socio-economic rights, explaining: “This legislation should clearly define these rights, establish procedures for seeking redress, and ensure robust enforcement mechanisms.”

The United Nations Resident Coordinator on Humanitarian Affairs in Nigeria, Mathias Schmale, urged the country to strengthen institutions to address injustice.

Earlier in his welcome address, NHRC Executive Secretary, Tony Ojukwu (SAN), said the meeting was part of strategies to advance human rights in the country, by aggregating opinions from stakeholders. 

Also, stakeholders attributed the slow pace of human rights litigation in the country to the activities of some judges in collaboration with law enforcement agencies.

They made claim at same event held to mark 75 years of the International Declaration of Human Rights.  Director General of Legal Aid Council, Aliyu Abubakar, revealed that in many instances, his organisation is stampeded to discontinue human rights cases in the name of national security. 

On their part, chairperson of Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Human Rights Committee, Bauchi chapter, Sadiya Bahjatu, and a human rights lawyer, Maxwell Opara, attributed the poor success in litigating human rights to factors like undue adjournments by judges, cultural beliefs and deployment of technicalities to escape justice. 

According to a senior lawyer, Prof. Joy Ngozi, access to courts and unfriendly nature of court impede pursuit of rights. Prof. Adedeji Adekunle (SAN) of the Juritrust Centre for Sociolegal Research and Documentation, while stating that even the institute saddled with the responsibility of advancing human rights also faces challenges from government agencies in the course of pursuing remedies for victims, he, however, advised Nigerians to continue exploring the advantage provided by NHRC to report violations and seek redress.