What is the mandate of the National Human Rights Commission, NHRC?
The commission has dual mandates. One is to promote human rights while the other is to protect human rights in Nigeria. Simpliciter, that is what we are supposed to do. In specific terms, there are different requirements for the two components. The promotion aspect extends to human rights education, awareness-building, sensitisation of the public and all that. So we educate Nigerians, especially at the grassroots about their rights and what is expected of them as citizens and what the state owes to them as state. That is the promotion component. Then, the protection part is where we actively intervene on behalf of citizens, who have had their rights infringed or trampled upon by the government or private actors. How does the Act which established the commission affect its operations? The current law which we operate under is the National Human Rights Commission Act of 1995, which is a very flawed piece of legislation. It gives the commission very wide and very expansive powers but no t
