A CRITICAL APPRAISAL OF THE HISTORY OF THE ABUSE OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN NIGERIA, 1960 TO 20

Introduction

The history of human rights in Nigeria predates the advent of colonial rule. Human rights and fundamental freedoms were recognised in the traditional Nigerian societies. The idea of rights was not however conceived in the modern notion. Such values as right to family, kin and clan membership, freedom of thought, speech, belief and association, right to enjoy private property and right to participate in governance of the affairs of the society were jealously guarded. In areas where the Sharia legal system was firmly entrenched, especially in the northern part of the country, human rights and fundamental freedoms were specifically protected and guaranteed in accordance with the tenets of Islam which hold justice and equity in high esteem (NHRC, 2006). The imposition of European imperialism nevertheless eroded traditional values and liberties fundamental to the people. A major consequence of colonialism in Nigeria was the denial of political and economic rights of Nigerians. It was not until 1922 through the Clifford Constitution that limited franchise was introduced in the constitutional history of Nigeria by the British Colonial government. The struggle for better political participation by early Nigerian nationalists led to enhanced political rights in the pre-independence Constitutions culminating in the Littleton Constitution of 1954 (NHRC, 2006). The entrenchment of fundamental human rights in Nigeria in the modern sense could however be traced to the 1960 Independence Constitution and those that followed. The Independence Constitution of 1960 and the Republican Constitution of 1963 have provisions for the protection of fundamental human rights catering for civil and political liberties. The 1979 and the 1999 constitutions went further by having bills of rights in Chapter IV which guaranteed Civil and Political Rights and providing for Fundamental Objectives and Directive Principles of State Policy in Chapter II, which recognised Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The entrenchment of human rights provisions in our Constitutions was aimed at creating a society where there is political freedom, social and economic well-being of the people. However, despite the guarantee of fundamental rights and liberties in the Nigerian Constitutions since 1960, the country has had the misfortune of military interruptions. This had profound and far-reaching effects on the promotion and protection of democratic values and fundamental freedoms among Nigerians (NHRC, 2006). On May 29, 1999 Nigeria transited from military autocracy and absolutism to democracy. Before then, the country had been under firm military rule for all but twelve years since independence in 1960. Essentially, the militarisation of the Nigerian society and the supplanting of constitutional provisions by decrees of the successive ruling military juntas engendered a culture of what UNDP (2001) in its report called “executive lawlessness and human rights abuses” (Ojo, 2006). Not only were Nigerians denied their most basic political rights, their economic and social rights were also seriously truncated by the gross mismanagement and