Winners Declares Ahead of the 2019 Human Rights Award

By Shola Akingboye – December 6, 2019

Ahead of the much publicised National Human Right Awards bids to hold on 8th of December, 2019 as earlier reported by RegentAfrica Times,  the winners of the maiden edition  of the 2019 Human Rights Award have eventually emerged through the electronic votes decided by Nigerians through the national poll conducted online and made public through the official website of the 2019 Human Rights Summit, the Executive Secretary of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) Tony Ojukwu Esq has said.

Ojukwu made this disclosure at the end of electronic voting for nominees, and after the Local Organizing Committee (LOC) thoroughly reviewed the total number of 10,752 votes cast on Wednesday evening at the headquarters of the Commission.

Ojukwu who hinted that the LOC was made up of stakeholders including representatives from relevant Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDAs) said the award which will be an annual event is aimed at encouraging humanitarian activities in the area of promoting the rights of Nigerians especially the indigent members of the society.

The Executive Secretary said the awards will be presented in six categories namely: (1) Civil Society Organization; with CLEEN Foundation emerging the winner, (2) Donor Agencies and Diplomatic Communities in Nigeria with United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) as the winner, (3) Multinational/International and Philanthropic organizations, has Toni Elumelu Foundation as the winner. (4) State Government; Kano, Lagos and Ebonyi States came top on the list. (5) Federal and State Ministries Departments and Agencies, (MDAs) has the Institute of Peace and Conflict Resolution also making it to the top of the list, and finally (6) Individual category, with Prof Joy Ezeilo of the University of Nigeria Enugu campus as the winner.

According to the statement by the Commission, the Criteria for Human Rights Award include the following:

• The impact of the nominee’s work or contribution in improving the understanding and respect for human rights;
• The impact of the nominee’s contribution in eliminating social injustice, discriminatory attitudes and practices;
• The impact of the nominee’s work in promoting, protecting and defending, monitoring and reporting human rights abuse/violations;
• The impact of the nominee’s work in creating an enabling environment conducive to the enjoyment of human rights and sustainable development;
• The amount of energy, industry, time and resources spent by the nominee in the promotion and protection of human rights in the country;
• The risk of negative consequences faced by the nominee in the cause of his or her work;
• The extent to which the approach employed in the work of the nominee is responsive to the needs and rights of the people; and
• The impact of the nominee’s work in addressing human rights violations in the society.

The Human Rights Boss further stated that the Human Rights Award is one of the activities lined up for the 2019 Human Rights Summit scheduled to take place from the 8th to 10th of December 2019. The summit, he said will be declared open by President Muhammadu Buhari GCFR, President of the Federal   Republic of Nigeria. He noted that it is first of its kind organized by the NHRC in the fulfillment of Nigeria’s obligation to institutionalize a national consultative forum to promote dialogue in the field of human rights.

According to him, the summit is also expected to provide an opportunity for the review of Nigeria’s performance with reference to the protection and promotion of human rights by relevant stakeholders.  it will serve as an imperative strategy for policy appraisal and agenda setting in the area of human rights.

“On behalf of the NHRC and the LOC I thank everyone who participated in the voting process and with your support, we hope to do better in the coming years,” Ojukwu said.