By Odimmegwa Johnpeter, Abuja
The Executive Secretary of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Dr. Tony Ojukwu, SAN, OFR, has called on Nigerians to renew their commitment to strengthening democracy in Nigeria.
Dr. Ojukwu made this call at the National Human Rights Commission’s Headquarters in his statement commemorating the 2024 Democracy Day. This was contained in a statement signed by Obinna Nwakonye, Director, Corporate Affairs, and External Linkages.
The Executive Secretary commended the resilience of Nigerians in their quest for democratic governance, which, according to him, has manifested in the repeated elections that have taken place since the return of democracy in 1999.
The Chief Human Rights Officer of the Country however decried the challenges that seem to threaten the effective democratic processes in the Country such as elections marred by violence, ballot box snatching, killings, vote buying, intimidation of electorates, hate-speech, and non/irregular elections into the local government council by State governments.
While assuring Nigerians of the Commission’s continuous interventions in strengthening the democratic process, the Human rights scribe, called on relevant stakeholders to join hands in doing all that is required, before, during, and after elections to further deepen democracy in Nigeria.
“As a Commission, we shall continue to play our role in monitoring democracy in Nigeria and also safeguarding the rights of eligible Nigerians to freely participate in democratic processes. I therefore urge you all to show similar enthusiasm, ” the learned silk stated.
It is worthy of mention that the Commission, in line with its mandate, monitors all elections to ensure that they conform to human rights standards.
The Commission has in a similar vein, carried out a project known as Mobilizing Voters for Elections (MOVE) with the goal of sensitizing the masses on the need to exercise freely their franchise especially as it relates to the right to vote and be voted for as well as being involved in all electioneering processes.
Of significant interest is the Commission’s collaboration with relevant Civil Society Organizations in co-sponsoring a bill seeking enhanced participation of women in politics, elections, and governance. Though the bill was thrown out by the 9th National Assembly, the Commission is still strategizing with stakeholders to represent the same bill to the current National Assembly, hoping that the Law Makers will see reason to pass this important bill without seeing Affirmative Action to prop up women as a discrimination against the men.
Finally, I call on Nigerians to exercise restraint, exude patience remain focused and committed to support democracy in our dear country, despite the obvious economic challenges currently bedevilling the nation. “With Democracy and Good Governance, the enjoyment of Human Rights is assured. But without democracy, human rights will be a victim. Human rights thrive in a democratic milieu, not in a conflict-stricken nation, military governance or anarchy or undemocratic environment.
May the labour of our democratic heroes not be in vain, and may God help us to build a nation where no man is oppressed and may justice and human rights reign in our democracy in Nigeria.
