Nigeria is a major oil producer yet most people live in poverty.

More than 200 different ethnic groups co-exist in an uneasy coalition and the scars of numerous coups and a civil war are still visible.

Beyond these celebrations AfricaNews had an exclusive interview with Lucy Freeman, A Nigerian researcher at Amnesty International.

AfricaNews: Nigeria is 50, anything to be excited about?

Lucy Freeman (LF): Nigeria is a country of over 150 million people, of course!
When Nigeria threw off the chains of colonialism, the country was looked to as a beacon of hope and progress in Africa. A country of enormous energy and potential, Nigeria seemed destined to lead the continent to a bright future, one which recognized the inherent dignity and equal and inalienable rights of all. Yet, despite some significant advances, fifty years later it seems Nigeria’s destiny remains unfulfilled.

Nigeria has explicitly accepted human rights obligations through the international and regional human rights treaties which it has ratified, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), ratified by Nigeria on 29 July 1993; and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.

AfricaNews: What can we say about Nigeria after 50 years?

LF: Efforts have been made by the Nigerian government to improve the human rights situation within the country since the end of military rule in 1999. The Constitution that came into force in 1999 recognizes the right to life, prohibits torture and other ill treatment, and guarantees a fair trial. However, a number of human rights issues remain.

Nigeria’s Police and armed forces continue to be responsible for large numbers of extrajudicial executions, deaths in custody, torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of alleged criminals in custody.

Hundreds of people languish in Nigeria’s prisons awaiting execution; there are women and children, elderly and infirm, and many were sentenced to death by military tribunals following blatantly unfair trials.

People can still spend up to ten years in prison awaiting trial, sometimes even longer. Many prisoners did not have a fair trial. Patrick Obinna Okoroafor, for example, continues to be incarcerated in Aba prison, Abia State, despite a High Court judgement on 18 October 2001 which pronounced his death sentence to be illegal, null and void. He was only sixteen when he was sentenced to death by a Robbery and Firearms Tribunal on 30 May 1997. He did not have the right to appeal and said he was tortured while in police detention. His case mates were all executed in 1997.

There has been a welcome reduction in the detention of political prisoners and an increase in the space for freedom of expression. However, human rights defenders are still regularly put at risk from their work; journalists continue to be threatened and intimidated, and several journalists have been killed in suspicious circumstances in recent years.

Tens of thousands of people have been killed across Nigeria by civilians and security forces in politically-motivated and ethnically-religiously related attacks. Tensions over land and political influence have existed for years but the state has failed to take measures to prevent violent clashes and to protect life of individuals

AfricaNews: Is Nigeria having leadership crisis?

LF: Whoever is leading the country must put the protection and promotion of human rights at the centre of their political agenda.
Amnesty International is already receiving reports of politically motivated violence in the run-up to the 2011 elections.

The Nigerian government must act to prevent, investigate and punish perpetrators of attacks. Otherwise they are failing in their duty under international law and standards to exercise due diligence to protect the victims’ right to life and security of person. Moreover, they are also failing in their duty to protect the right of all Nigerians to take part in the conduct of public affairs, directly or through freely chosen representatives, as well as their right to vote and to be elected.

AfricaNews: Can Africa live without Nigeria?

LF: Nigeria continues to play an important role in international and African affairs. The Nigerian Government played a critical role in ending apartheid and defending the human rights of oppressed people in southern Africa; and in the peaceful resolution of conflict through the offices of the Organization of African Unity.

Nigeria played an important role in the crafting of the African Union (AU) and its various organs; and was instrumental in convincing the AU to adopt the right to intervene “in respect of grave circumstances, namely: war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity” in accordance with Article 4 (h) of the Constitutive Act of the African Union. Nigeria plays an important role in peacekeeping missions and contributes troops to peacekeeping missions mandated to protect the civilian population caught up in situations of armed conflict such as in Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Nigeria has frequently shown its willingness to take a leading role by offering itself to be elected to bodies were it can play a significant role in addressing conflicts in various parts of the world. Currently, Nigeria is a non permanent member of the United Nations (UN) Security Council until December 2011. Nigeria has also been recently elected to a three year term to the AU Peace and Security Council, a seat which Nigeria assumed on 1 April 2010 until 31 March 2013.

AfricaNews: What has been the impact of the oil industry on the human rights situation in Nigeria in the past 50 years?

LF: 50 years of commercial oil extraction in the Niger Delta has brought impoverishment, conflict, human rights abuses and despair to many. Pollution and environmental damage caused by the oil industry have resulted in violations of the rights to health and a healthy environment, the right to an adequate standard of living (including the right to food and water) and the right to livelihood for hundreds of thousands of people living in the Niger delta. The massive oil deposits have generated billions of dollars in revenues for the country yet the vast majority of people living in the oil producing areas live in poverty.

The regulatory system in the Niger Delta is deeply flawed and the laws and regulations that are supposed to protect people have failed them. Laws and regulations that require companies to comply with internationally recognized standards of “good oil field practice”, and laws and regulations to protect the environment are poorly enforced. The government agencies responsible for enforcement are ineffective and, in some cases, compromised by conflicts of interest.

AfricaNews: What can you say about Nigeria's institutions of state?

LF: There has been a welcome reduction in the detention of political prisoners and an increase in the space for freedom of expression. However, human rights defenders are still regularly put at risk from their work; journalists continue to be threatened and intimidated, and several journalists have been killed in suspicious circumstances in recent years.
AfricaNews: Any lessons to learn from Nigeria?

LF: Retention of the death penalty has not reduced armed robbery or murder rates in Nigeria; between 1970 and 1999, more than 2,600 death row prisoners were executed, many in public by firing squad, but the crime rate did not decrease.

AfricaNews: What is the way forward for Nigeria?

LF: Amnesty International is calling on the Nigerian government to take concrete steps to make human rights a reality for all Nigerians, which should include the following ten points:

1. Investigate all cases of torture, enforced disappearance, and extrajudicial executions promptly, independently and impartially and bring to justice those responsible in accordance with international standards for fair trial without recourse to the death penalty;

2. Establish an official moratorium on executions with an ultimate view to abolish the death penalty; and commute all death sentences;

3. Take effective steps to ensure persons accused of a criminal offence are able to exercise their right to promptly challenge the lawfulness of their detention in court, and to have a prompt and fair trial in compliance with international standards for fair trial; and immediately release from prison Patrick Obinna Okoroafor.

4. Protect Human rights in the Niger Delta and strengthen the regulation of the oil industry, including with effective enforcement and appropriate sanctions;

5. End forced evictions and implement measures to realise the right to adequate housing; and develop and adopt concrete and effective measures to ensure to the entire population a minimum degree of security of tenure, sufficient, at least, to protect them from forced evictions;

6. Protect freedom of expression and fully and promptly investigate all acts of intimidation or violence against human rights defenders, including journalists, and those responsible brought to justice regardless of their position or party affiliation.

7. Stop violence against women and implement Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) in in both federal and state legislation

8. Ensure that the Child Rights Act (2003) is enacted and fully implemented in each of Nigeria’s 36 states; and immediately bring all young offenders’ institutions and other detention facilities into line with the standards recommended in the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Administration of Juvenile Justice;

9. Protect the right to life and security of person and investigate all cases of religious, interethnic and communal violence promptly, independently and impartially and bring to justice those responsible in accordance with international standards for fair trial without recourse to the death penalty

10. take all necessary legislative, administrative and other measures to prohibit and eliminate prejudicial treatment on the basis of sexual orientation, consensual sexual relations or gender identity at every stage of the administration of justice;