NHRC's head elected president of West Africa's human rights institutions network

The Executive Secretary of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Tony Ojukwu, on Thursday promised to promote cooperation among West African States for the protection of human rights.

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He gave this assurance while accepting to serve as the President of the Network of National Human Rights Institutions in West Africa (NNHRI-WA).

“My vision for this network is anchored on the following respect and cooperation for the promotion and protection of human rights in West Africa,” he said.

He said his focus would include building the capacity of NHRIs “to be able to meet the ever-growing challenges of resourcing, governance and operations of NHRIs”, and supporting sub-regional monitoring, documentation and reporting of human rights in West Africa by setting up a sub-regional Situation Room and Data Centre.

Mr Ojukwu, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, was elected to the leadership role at the closing ceremony of the 7th Regional Consultation, held from 1 t0 3 July in Abuja.

Other elected officials of the West African human rights network are Vice President, Amsatou Sow Sidibe (Senegal NHRI); Treasurer, Charles Harris (Liberia NHRI); General Secretary, Serge Prince (Benin NHRI); Publicity Secretary 1, Alkadri Diarra (Mali NHRI); Publicity Secretary 2, Patricia Ndanema (Sierra Leone NHRI); and Publicity Secretary 3, Fernanda Maria da Costa (Guinea-Bissau NHRI).

The event brought together delegates from 12 West African countries, the ECOWAS Commission, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in West Africa (OHCHR-WARO), and the United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS).

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***Newly elected officials of NNHRI-WA***

The delegates converged for the regional consultation with the theme: ‘Justice for Africans and People of African descent through Reparations: The Role of National Human Rights Institution.’

Nigeria’s Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, who attended the closing ceremony on Thursday, commended the delegates, noting their vital roles in ensuring reparations. Mr Fagbemi added that the theme centred on a collective issue among Africans that was not “merely about confronting our past”. He said, “it is about shaping our future.”

Mr Ojukwu, in his acceptance speech, noted that his goal as the newly elected president would include fostering collaborations among ECOWAS institutions, and opening and initiating partnerships with the United Nations, media and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs).

Highlights of the consultation

During the three-day consultation, the delegates called for representation and reestablishment of NHRI from countries governed by the military-Burkina Faso, Niger and Guinea.

Military takeovers occurred in both Guinea and Burkina Faso, with Guinea’s government falling to the military in 2021 and Ibrahim Traoré leading a coup in Burkina Faso in 2022.

Similarly, in July 2023, the military in Niger led by Colonel-Major Amadou Abdramane carried out a coup and closed all West African borders.

In 2024, these countries announced their exit from ECOWAS and, despite a year of attempts to persuade them to stay. They officially left the bloc in 2025 and created the Alliance for Sahel State (Alliance États du Sahel – AES) as a new defence pact, isolating themselves from other West African countries.

Other discussions centred around the encouragement of member states to proffer alternative means to detention, urging the ECOWAS Commission to fast-track development and adoption of the ECOWAS Transitional Justice Handbook as mechanisms to guide Member States “to address issues of past and present injustice to promote reconciliation, reparation, accountability and sustainable development.”

Following their deliberations, the participants affirmed their commitment to protecting migrants, increasing advocacy for climate change, harmonising national data collection to track human rights violations and supporting the governments of their respective countries.

They however called the State government “to effectively discharge their economic obligations by providing a conducive environment for their citizens to live meaningful and purposeful lives through increased investments in this sector to create decent jobs, alleviate poverty and improve people’s living conditions thereby limiting the incidence of economic-induced migration.”