International Human Rights day 2013: reflections on the situation of social economic rights in Nigeria

On 25 June 1993, the World Conference on Human Rights ended in Vienna, Austria with the adoption of a significant human rights document – the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action (VDPA). The Declaration essentially re-echoes the sentiments expressed in the Universal Declaration on Human Rights (UDHR) adopted 45 years earlier as well as the United Nations Charter to the effect that all human rights – civil and political (C&P) as well as economic, social and cultural (ESCR) – are universal and indivisible. In its preamble, the VDPA enjoins ‘peoples of the world and all state members of the United Nations to re-dedicate themselves to the global task of promoting and protecting all human rights and fundamental freedoms so as to secure full and universal enjoyment of these rights.’

Twenty years after and on the occasion of the 2013 International Human Rights Day, it seems necessary to reflect on the task that VDPA assigns to individuals as well as the government of Nigeria as a state member of the UN to promote and protect rights without discrimination. Before sharing my brief reflections, it is important to observe that VDPA shares its 20th anniversary with the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, which incidentally was originally proposed in VDPA and established by Resolution 48(14) of 20 December 1993.

DICHOTOMIZING RIGHTS

At the adoption of VDPA, Nigeria was guided by a constitution designed in 1979 under a military dictatorship and although it went through another constitution making process in 1989, the outcome of that process was never put to use. The 1979 constitution created a dichotomy between C&P rights and ESCR. Victims of C&P rights could invoke the powers of the court to redress violations while victims of the latter category could not. The current 1999 constitution retains this dichotomy. There is a bit of a history to this.

ESCR came under an interesting head – ‘fundamental objectives and directive principles of state policy,’ which had its origins in India. The Indian constitution creates these objectives and principles and endues them with non-binding or aspirational character. Interestingly, India’s superior courts have managed to interpret these principles and objectives in a way that reflects the interconnectedness of all human rights so they argue, for example, that you cannot have the right to life which can be the subject of judicial scrutiny without the consequential right to healthcare which guarantees life.
In Nigeria, the courts have been slow to embrace this progressive interpretation but beyond that, the executive and legislative arms of government have been rather uninterested in creating the environment for individuals to enjoy the rights guaranteed under international human rights instruments to which Nigeria is party. One of such instruments is the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, which makes no distinction between C&P rights and ESCR. What makes the continued downgrading of ESCR more worrisome is the fact that the African Charter has become part of Nigerian law through the mechanism of domestication.

THE ‘RIGHTS OF THE POOR’

But why should the government of Nigeria or indeed anyone bother about ESCR in Nigeria? They should bother because poverty is inordinately high and according to the World Bank in its Nigeria Economic Report for May 2013, ‘poverty reduction and job creation have not kept with population growth, implying social distress for an increasing number of Nigerians.’

They should bother because ESCR are ‘rights of the poor’ and Paul Farmer was right to say this. Consider the following statistics from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Human Development Index for 2013. Nigeria is ranked 153 of 185 countries listed and classified as a ‘low human development’ country. It has a life expectancy at birth of 52.3 years compared to Congo (57.8 years), Gabon (63.1 years) and Ghana (64.6 years). 630 women die giving birth out of every 100,000 live births in Nigeria. The figures are better in Congo (560), Gabon (230) and Ghana (350). The story is no better with percentage of male and females in the labour force aged 15 and above. Nigeria has 63.3 percent and 47.9 percent respectively compared to Congo (72.9 percent/68.4 percent), Gabon (65 percent/56.3 percent) and Ghana (71.8 percent/66.9 percent). The challenges are enormous but Nigeria has the resources, human and material to tackle them.

Pragmatic leadership is critical in harnessing these formidable resources in a way that prioritizes the basic needs of the ordinary people but also the ‘high and mighty.’ The era of discounting ESCR on account of costs associated with these are long gone as we now know that states like Nigeria spend an enormous amount of money on elections and other items that fall under the rubric of C&P rights. While not underestimating the importance of elections and the crucial part they play in consolidating democracy, I argue that there is no democracy without the people and people cannot make rational choices for democracy in the absence of the bare essentials of life so it’s not a question of ‘either or’, it’s rather a question of effective prioritization in resource allocation.

DEMANDING ACCOUNTABILITY OF LEADERS

Resource misallocation/misapplication unfortunately is one of Nigeria’s more intractable challenges. It appears that the more we earn, the higher the rate of poverty and apparently, the richer a tiny minority of the population gets. If the electorate represent one of the primary pillars of any democracy and they have the power to effect changes in leadership at all levels, they ought to matter when resource allocation (but also resource generation) is being discussed.

Nigerians at all levels must take the initiative to demand accountability of their leaders for resources they hold in trust for the people. For its part, government – executive, legislature and judiciary – must take more seriously the admonition offered by Article 2(1) of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights to achieve ‘progressively the full realization..’ of ESCR with full knowledge that progressive realization requires regular, specific and measurable action.

*Stanley Ibe is a human rights attorney based in Abuja, Nigeria.

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