Yemisi Izuora
The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has said
the protection of human rights is a cardinal objective of the Buhari
Administration, and that the violation of rights is not a government
policy.
Addressing a High-Level Roundtable organized by the Atlantic Council,
an American think tank on international affairs, in Washington, DC, on
Thursday, the Minister said the picture of impunity and complete
disregard for extant laws and international obligations painted by
Amnesty International, in a recent report, is not a true reflection of
the character and ethics of the Government of Nigeria or any of its
agencies.
Since the counter-insurgency war started in 2009, Amnesty
International has issued periodic reports on alleged human rights
violations by the Nigerian military, with the latest of such reports
bordering on violations of human rights and International Humanitarian
Law by the Nigerian Armed Forces and other government agencies.
Alhaji Mohammed told the Roundtable that the government has taken
several measures to address human rights violation in the course of
the counter-insurgency operations, including the establishment of
Human Rights Desks in all military formations, the quarterly Human
Rights/Military Dialogue, Training on Mainstreaming Human Rights into
Counter-Insurgency Operations, and Court Martials of officers indicted
for human rights violations.
”Very soon, the Federal Government will adopt a National Policy on
the Protection of Civilians in conflict situations to further
strengthen and entrench its constitutional practice of Protection of
Civilians,” he said.
The Minister also spoke on the counter-insurgency operations,
insisting that Boko Haram has been badly degraded hence it is
incapable of carrying out organized massive attacks beyond using women
and children to carry out suicide bombings against soft targets.
”Many have queried how we could say Nigeria is winning the battle
against Boko Haram when the insurgents have continued to carry out
deadly attacks. However, to understand this, it is necessary to put
things in context. When President Buhari was being sworn into office
29 May 2015, 24 Local Governments making up a territory three times
the size of Lebanon were firmly in the hands of Boko Haram. They
hoisted their flag, collected taxes, installed their own Emirs and
administered a large swath of territory. That is history now as not an
inch of Nigeria’s territory is being administered or controlled by
Boko Haram.
”Before the advent of this Administration, Boko Haram could carry out
attacks anywhere in the North East and beyond at a time of their own
choosing. They attacked the UN Complex, the police headquarters, motor
parks and a military barrack in the capital city of Abuja. That is now
history.” he said.
Alhaji Mohammed also told the Roundtable that the incessant
farmers-herders clashes were neither religious nor ethnic in nature,
as they have been portrayed in some circles.
”There is no question that this (conflict) is driven mostly by an
increased contest for dwindling natural resources like land and water.
This has been worsened by demographic pressure and climate change.
Nigeria’s population in 1960 was 45 million, and this has ballooned to
about 200 million in 2018, but the available resources have not grown
at all. If anything, they have shrunk.
”As desertification continues to encroach and the Lake Chad that
provided a livelihood for over 35 million in several countries shrank
from 25,000 to 2,500 square kilometers, herders in particular are
forced to move south in search of grazing land and water for their
cattle,” he said
The Minister said beyond the main causative factors, however,
disgruntled politicians and beneficiaries of corruption, who have
vested interest in undermining the Buhari Administration through any
means necessary, have latched on to the conflict.
He cited two instances to buttress his assertion that the
ethno-religious slant given to the clashes constitutes a false
narrative.
”The northern state of Kebbi is predominantly Muslim and Fulani. Yet,
70% of those who are in jail in the state are there over
farmers-herders clashes. Yet, the herders are Muslim and Fulani, and
the farmers are Muslim and Fulani. There can therefore be no
ethno-religious basis for these clashes.
”Also, the northern state of Zamfara is the hotbed of cattle
rustling, which perhaps has claimed more lives than the
farmers-herders clashes in the entire middle belt. Yet, those rustling
cows are Muslim and Fulani, and those whose cows are rustled are
Muslim and Fulani. Therefore, to impugn ethnicity and religion into
these clashes is simplistic at best and downright mischievous at
worst,” Alhaji Mohammed said.
The High-Level Roundtable, which was convened by the Africa Centre of
the 57-year-old think tank, was attended by about 30 current and
former senior US government officials, as well as other stakeholders
in the US Policy on Africa.
The participants included retired Gen. William E. Ward, former
Commander, US Africa Command; former US Ambassador to Nigeria Robin
Sanders; Ms Florizelle Liser, President and CEO, Corporate Council on
Africa; Mr. Thierry Dongala, Senior Advisor, House Foreign Affairs
Committee; Mr. Trevor Keck, Deputy Head of Policy, International
Committee of the Red Cross and Dr. EJ Hogendoorn of the International
Crisis Group’s Africa Programme.
The Nigerian Ambassador to the US, Ambassador Sylvanus Nsofor, led a
team of the Nigerian Embassy officials to the one-day event.