NHRC Trains Legal Officers To Strengthen Human Rights Compliance In Lawmaking

National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has commenced a specialised training for its legal officers on human rights mainstreaming in legislation and Human Rights Impact Assessment (HRIA) to strengthen rights-based governance in Nigeria.

At the opening of the training in Abuja yesterday, the executive secretary of the commission, Dr Tony Ojukwu (SAN), said the initiative was a strategic investment in the capacity of the NHRC to ensure that laws enacted in the country comply with constitutional and international human rights obligations.

The training, held at the NHRC headquarters, was organised for officers in the Legal Services and Enforcement Department, with participation from the Investigation Department.

Ojukwu said the NHRC had a statutory responsibility to scrutinise existing and proposed legislation to ensure compliance with the nation’s constitution, the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and other international treaties binding on Nigeria.

He urged the legal officers to see themselves as “gatekeepers” of human rights compliance in the legislative process, stressing that the quality of a democracy should not be measured by the number of laws passed but by their quality, inclusiveness and respect for human rights.

“For too long, the quality of our democracy has been measured by the sheer volume of laws enacted. I have consistently maintained that this is a flawed metric,” he said.

According to him, laws enacted without rigorous human rights analysis could become instruments of injustice, trigger constitutional challenges and litigation, and undermine public confidence in governance institutions.

He said the training would equip participants with practical skills to assess proposed and existing legislation, identify possible discriminatory or disproportionate effects and develop human rights-compliant legislative comments and advisory opinions.

Ojukwu explained that HRIA provides a systematic mechanism for assessing the potential human rights consequences of policies and legislation before they are adopted.

He said the process was particularly important in protecting vulnerable groups, including women, children, persons with disabilities, older persons and internally displaced persons, whose interests could be overlooked during policymaking.

The NHRC boss added that participants would also learn how to integrate human rights principles into the entire legislative review cycle, from policy formulation and bill drafting to public hearings and post-legislative oversight.

He said the programme would adopt a participatory and learner-centred approach, with expert presentations, group discussions, case studies and simulation exercises based on the human rights training methodology of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Ojukwu urged the participants to apply the knowledge acquired during the training to their daily responsibilities, saying its success would ultimately be measured by improvements in the quality of legislative reviews conducted by the Commission.

“The ultimate measure of our success will not be the number of trainings we hold or the number of legal officers trained. It will be the positive impact of your enhanced competencies on the quality of legislation that emerges from our National Assembly and State Houses of Assembly,” he said.

He expressed optimism that the initiative would contribute to building a Nigeria where laws, from formulation to implementation, respect and uphold the dignity of the human person.

According to him, strengthening the capacity of NHRC legal officers would not only enable the Commission to fulfil its statutory mandate but also contribute to strengthening the foundations of Nigeria’s democracy.