The Mo Ibrahim report on African governance has identified worsening rule of law and justice in Nigeria.
The report assessed the performance of African countries in terms of governance indicators such as security, rights, and justice.
The report noted that since 2014, Nigeria’s performance in the rule of law and justice has been declining, making it one of the worst-governed countries in Africa.
Several African countries have seen a decline in rule of law and justice, according to the report. The list includes Cape Verde, Mauritius, Botswana, South Africa, Senegal, Ghana, Benin, Rwanda, Burkina Faso, Algeria, Tunisia, Mozambique, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, and Congo Republic.
The report ranks countries based on their adherence to the rule of law and justice. Factors used for the rankings include how well leaders follow the law, fairness in the judicial system, judicial processes, equal treatment under the law, law enforcement, property rights, and public opinion on the rule of law.
The report also listed countries where people’s rights are getting worse.
Some of the rights featured and used to measure performance of countries included media freedom, digital freedom, freedom of expression and belief, protection against discrimination and public perception of freedom of speech.
Countries listed that have worsening deterioration in terms of these rights include Senegal, Tunisia, Mozambique, Madagascar, Burkina Faso, Guinea Bissau, Mali, Nigeria, Guinea, Uganda, Central African Republic, Ethiopia, Algeria, Eswatini, Djibouti, and Egypt.
This comes amid concerns about violations of human rights from state and non-state actors in the country.
Earlier, Amnesty International contextualised the issues of rights abuse in Nigeria.
“Defence and security forces used excessive force, mainly to disperse protests,” it said.
“People were tortured during police interrogation.
“Authorities continued to carry out forced evictions. Authorities failed to put in place measures to mitigate the impact of climate change.
“All parties to the armed conflict committed violations of international law. Cases of enforced disappearances were documented.”
On several occasions, government agencies have been accused of failing to obey court orders.
The World Justice Project had also ranked Nigeria high in-terms of lack of respect for the rule of law.
“The 2023 index released in Washington, D.C., United States, also showed that out of the 34 countries ranked in the sub-Saharan region, Nigeria is rated 23rd,” it said.
The World Justice Report noted that countries were judged on eight indicators listed as government powers, absence of corruption, open government, fundamental rights, order and security, regulatory enforcement, civil justice and criminal justice.
Credit: Saharareporters
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