Fundamental human rights and the Nigerian state in historical perspective

As a signatory to the United Nations Resolution No. 181134 of December, 1993, the Nigeria government set up the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), a body established by an Act of parliament. The Act which established the (NHRC) provided it with the legal basis to promote, protect, enhance and enforce human rights in Nigeria and made the Commission a forum for public enlightenment and regular dialogue on human rights issues. With this body in operation, one expected that cases of human rights abuses would drastically reduce, instead the democratic administration inaugurated on the 29th May, 1999 has been found on many occasions to be in the same violation of human rights. It is against this background that this paper takes a panoramic view of the relationship between Nigerian State and human rights demands and the incorporation of these demands into the laws and statues of modern-nation- state. The paper also assesses the plights of human rights groups and/or agitators under the despotic military regimes in Nigeria as a basis of comparison with the democratic fourth republic. The study employs the use of secondary sources of data. The study reveals that there is no major or any significant improvement in human rights record in Nigeria. It concludes by making some bold and poignant recommendations on how to sustain social justice in Nigeria and reduce the tendency of power welders to abuse and violate the human rights provisions which have become a central template of civilization and social progress amongst human beings on planet earth. Hence, the need for conscious redress of the structural imbalance in the system and promotion of deeper democratic values through which citizens’ rights can be protected and guaranteed.