As Nigeria marks its 66th Independence Anniversary, the Conscience for Human Rights and Conflict Resolution (CHRCR) has called on Nigerians to engage in sober reflection, warning that persistent security vulnerabilities, political exclusion, and systemic corruption continue to undermine the nation’s path to sustainable growth.
In a press statement released on Monday from Lokoja, Kogi State, the Executive Director of the rights organization, Comrade Idris Miliki Abdul, emphasized that while remaining a united entity through decades of political and economic turmoil is worthy of celebration, the present state of the nation falls far short of the aspirations of its founding fathers. He observed that despite improvements in democratic transitions, educational institutions, and infrastructure development, deep-seated societal issues such as rising poverty, inflation, youth unemployment, and violent extremism threaten the stability of the Republic.
Addressing the worsening security landscape, the activist specifically urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the Office of the National Security Adviser (NSA) to immediately approve and publish the validated Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism (PCVE) Policy Document. According to the advocacy group, the document—which was facilitated and coordinated by the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) over the past year—is crucial for enabling sub-national governments to formulate localized counter-terrorism strategies and harmonize security operations across all tiers of government.
The organization criticized the current national architecture for handling violent extremism, describing it as fragmented and inefficient. The statement noted that statutory and non-statutory security agencies frequently operate in silos without shared data systems or a unified policy direction, leading to duplicated efforts and wasted resources. The group stressed that radicalization in Nigeria is largely driven by governance failures, corruption, economic inequality, and weak institutions, which extremist entities routinely exploit.
The human rights group also delivered a sharp rebuke to political actors, accusing consecutive leaderships of deliberately planting ethnic and religious divisions, manipulating legislative processes, disobeying court rulings, and destroying the economic livelihoods of ordinary citizens and market traders. The organization warned that unless public officers abandon personal interests and vengeful politics, the journey toward national rebirth will remain fraught with extreme difficulty.
Looking ahead to the 2027 general elections, CHRCR appealed to political parties, candidates, and electoral stakeholders to adhere strictly to democratic rules, refrain from intimidation, and respect the constitutional choices of the electorate. Reminding leaders that the Nigerian Constitution mandates both security and public welfare, the statement emphasized that rights must exist as living guarantees rather than paper promises to secure a peaceful and prosperous future for the country.
