THE NEW HUMAN RIGHTS CZAR

What is the connection between an alumnus of Harvard Law School who used to be an Executive Director of Schlumberger Nigeria and the fundamental human rights of Nigerians? How does one go from managing an international private equity firm to being responsible for law reform in Nigeria? Meet Roland Ewubare, the new Human Rights Czar for Nigeria as he shares the vision, the challenges and plans for the National Human Rights Commission with Ayisha Osori.

It is clear that either fate or deliberate strategy has precipitated Roland Ewubare’s appointment as the new CEO and Executive Secretary for the National Human Rights Commission (the Commission) just as the spotlight turns on Nigeria for its dismal human rights record. A few weeks ago, the Nigerian delegation to the 9th Session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva, were embarrassed by the details of a report on the protection of human rights in Nigeria. This is following on the downgrading of Nigeria’s ranking by the International Coordinating Committee of National Institutions a few years ago. Now the Commission has experienced a change of guards with the removal of the Executive Secretary, Mrs. Kehinde Ajoni on March 18 2009, two years before the expiration of her contract and the appointment of Roland Ewubare, who was until this nomination an Executive Commissioner at the Nigerian Law Reform Commission.

To hear him tell, it would be fate because there is God’s work to be done. God’s work? Yes, with over forty thousand Nigerian’s incarcerated and awaiting trial and with gender discrimination institutionalised in our Constitution, Ewubare says there is a lot to do. Genuinely perplexed by the latter statement I ask him to explain. ‘Well, Section 26 the 1999 Constitution implies that when Zainab, a Nigerian marries Richard a Canadian, Richard cannot become a citizen of Nigeria by naturalization. But when Olu marries Rebecca, she can become a citizen of Nigeria by naturalization’. ‘Fascinating’, I thought, not only because I was hearing for the first time that the Nigerian Constitution deliberately discriminates against women but because of the easy way he explained the issue: must be his experience teaching in the Nigerian Law School for three years.

However, Ewubare’s appointment could also be a change of strategy on the part of the Attorney General of the Federation – to whom the new Executive Secretary of the Commission will report to, because for the first time, the Commission will be steered not by a career civil servant, but by a private sector person. If it is indeed a strategic move, then it just might be the right one because Ewubare, a student of Gender Discrimination under Professor Elizabeth Schneider at the Harvard Law School intends to hit the ground running. Although at the time of this interview he had not officially started at the Commission, he was already working out a new employee welfare scheme with First Bank Plc and GT Bank Plc for the benefit of the Commission’s employees. Why? Because as a Nigerian and a private sector business manager, he knows that employees in the civil service are under paid and badly in need of motivation. Besides, he already knows what some of the key challenges for the Commission are and he needs his team ready to tackle them head on.
Ewubare’s understanding of the terrain he is moving into is evident as he reels of a list of some of the challenges he is expecting. For one he is walking into a storm of bad feelings between some of the local and international human rights advocates and the Federal Government of Nigeria. Two days after the removal of Ajoni, Amnesty International released a statement expressing their concern about the trend in Nigeria of peremptorily dismissing the chief executives of the National Human Rights Commission. According to the statement, both Ajoni and her predecessor, Mr. Bukhari Bello were removed from office before the expiration of their contracts contrary to the Paris Principles which provides for certain universally accepted powers given to National Human Rights Institutions, one of which is security of tenure. Amnesty is concerned about the seriousness of the Nigerian Government in strengthening the National Human Rights Commission and making it a truly effective body. This perceived nonchalance towards human rights is supported by the belief within local and international human rights organisations that Ajoni was removed because of the damning report she submitted about the appalling state of Nigerian prisons and the daily complaints on the use of cruel, inhuman and degrading means to extract “confessions” from suspects. This means that one of Ewubare’s first tasks will be to reach out to these organisations to share his plans and assure them of the government’s commitment to improving our human rights records.

“Funding will be a problem” he says calmly, “partly because historically, such agencies do not get enough and because with the global recession, there is a general squeeze on resources”. He expects this to make it harder to execute projects but he fully expects the ongoing prison decongestion exercise initiated by the Attorney General of the Federation to continue - so far, thirty seven thousand and fifty eight (37,058) cases have been reviewed by over two thousand lawyers who earn Three Hundred Thousand Naira for each case handled. On how he intends to manage the issue of funding for the Commission, he is confident that with time, when he has won the confidence of the international human rights organisations, he will be able to lean on and leverage the donor community to assist with the support he needs.

Having the right people, with the right skills in the right positions and constantly improving their performance i.e., capacity strengthening will be another challenge for the Commission. Unfortunately, capacity development is another victim of the recession as when there are budget cuts, the first things to go are ‘training’ and similar benefits. According to Ewubare, ‘one of the saddest things about the civil service is the weak remuneration which makes it near impossible to attract and retain the required talent’.

The sheer amount of work to be done is also daunting because of the range of issues which come under fundamental human rights: the rights enumerated in Chapter IV of the Constitution, gender discrimination, sexual harassment, employment discrimination, and AIDS discrimination are just a few. All of which are much harder to deal with considering the relatively unsophisticated level of socio political enlightenment prevalent in some communities and the amount of sensitisation, advocacy and communication required. ‘For instance, he says, ‘not many people know about the prison decongestion exercise which started under Attorney General Bayo Ojo in 2006 but this is the type of information that the Commission needs to share’. ‘I hope’, he continued, ‘to be able to collaborate with key agencies such as NAPTIP (National Agency for the Prohibition of Traffic In Persons), Legal Aid Council, Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to design an awareness or public education campaign because there are common and interdependent messages which we need our stakeholders, the public, to know. Besides, working together will ensure that we get more mileage and traction for our respective budgets.’

You cannot help but feel confident when you look at his resume, that Roland Ewubare has what it takes to shake things up and add value to the Commission. A graduate of law from the University of Ife, he has two Masters Degrees in Law from the University of London and Harvard Law School and practiced mergers and acquisitions law at one of the biggest law firms in America – Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom. He later served as Corporate Counsel for Schlumberger in New York before going on to become General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of NPTest Inc in Silicon Valley. Most recently Ewubare wore the ‘business entrepreneur’ hat while managing a private equity fund with holdings in Africa, Asia, Europe and America.

But I still had to ask him what he thought he would be able to do once he took over the reins of the Commission and what, if any, immediate plans he has. His response shows him to be both shrewd and savvy. The first thing he intends to do, after reaching out to Amnesty International and all the other human rights agencies is to confer with all the relevant NGOs by asking them – ‘what do we need to do to alleviate the human rights problem?’ and then work with them to do just this. He would also like to approach the Body of Senior Advocates of Nigeria to create a pro bono initiative linked to the Legal Aid Council and the Commission. The idea is to get experienced lawyers to provide the best legal advice possible, free of charge, to Nigerians who qualify. This would be those who cannot afford to hire lawyers or who have particularly thorny legal issues which need the best expertise available. When sceptically questioned about ‘lawyers as humanitarians’, Ewubare became quite animated insisting that, “lawyers are the key soldiers in the war against injustice and oppression. The Learned Senior Advocates represent the epitome of the legal profession and are therefore akin to Generals in this war. Pro Bono collaboration with SANs sends a powerful signal about the commitment of the most eminent crop of lawyers to the protection and preservation of legal rights for the downtrodden and marginalized segments of our society. Bottom line, it reminds potential abusers of rights that superior legal talent will be deployed to defeat them”.

Like almost everything in Nigeria, the legal framework for the Commission needs some work and as there is already a bill to amend the National Human Rights Act (the Act) in the National Assembly, Ewubare intends to use that opportunity to make some changes of his own. With little urging, he shares his concern about the restriction in the Act which provides that the role of Chairman of the Commission must be filled only by a retired judge of either the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeal or the High Court of a State. For him, this is unduly limiting and while the Commission could no doubt benefit from the experiences of retired judges, there is no reason why the Commission should not be able to get a public sector advocate to Chair the Commission. ‘I want that restriction removed’, he says sharply and a bit impatiently. “Why can’t an Ajayi Obe or Olisa Agbakoba chair the Commission? Or a Maryam Uwais, a Wale Fapohunda or a Chidi Odinkalu?”

I cannot help but smile and that is when I get the opening to ask the other question which has been burning in my mind as I listened to him talk: “are you prepared for the politics and obstacles that come with working in Government?” His response comes out of left field: “Government belongs to us all. The obligation to serve is not and cannot be restricted to career bureaucrats and politicians. As a matter of fact, breaking the incestuous connection between bureaucrats and their political masters will be an essential part of the drive to progress and development. I suspect that part of why our country has stagnated for so long revolves around the inability and unwillingness of the civil service to embrace change and innovation. My intent is to offer my best for five years and hopefully provide a different and more efficient perspective. Thereafter, I intend to return to private life and hopefully, someone else from the private sector will replace me.”

‘Ah, so you think you will be allowed to finish your term...how do you feel about the fact that the two Executive Secretaries before you were removed before the completion of their tenure and what do you think about Amnesty International’s call for security of tenure?’ Ewubare laughs heartily at these questions. ‘I am not opposed to security of tenure. I am opposed to the current formulation in the proposed amendment to the Act which requires a two thirds majority of the Senate to remove the Executive Secretary of the Commission. I think such a provision will not pass constitutional muster if analysed from the separation of powers prism. A requirement of a simple majority vote is easier to defend. On whether I worry about the security of my own tenure given the prior experience of my predecessors, the answer is no. Here's why: I was specifically invited for this role based on an assessment of my capacity to effect change and in order to drive this institution to higher levels. That demonstrates to me that the Honourable AGF stands with us and our mission. That said; if the Federal Government decides at any point that my services are no longer required, I'll simply pack my bags and go back to my old life and existence in Atlanta... and believe me, it wasn't a bad existence at all.’

No doubt about it, the Commission is in for a change, at the very least in terms of the capacity building initiatives which this closet academic who still teaches corporate governance on a guest basis at the Lagos Business School will introduce. Is the National Human Rights Commission going to finally take its place in the forefront of making fundamental inroads into securing the rights of Nigerians? It seems likely, but only time will tell.


Roland In a Nut Shell
Most marked characteristic
CURIOSITY
Principle defect
TRUSTING PEOPLE EASILY
The quality you most like in a man
A GOOD MIND
The quality you most like in a woman
A GOOD MIND (AND A BEAUTIFUL BODY)
What do you most value in your friends
LOYALTY AND SINCERITY
What is your dream of happiness
A WORLD WITH NO BIGOTRY, NO WAR AND NO DETAINED PERSONS NEEDLESSLY AWAITING TRIAL
What to your mind would be the greatest of misfortunes for Nigeria
INCREASED UNEMPLOYMENT AND POVERTY
Who is your favourite hero of fiction
HARRY CALLAGHAN (DIRTY HARRY)
Who are your favourite heroines of fiction
JACKIE BROWN
Who are your heroes in real life
NELSON MANDELA, BARACK OBAMA, BILL CLINTON, WOLE SOYINKA
What is it you most dislike
HYPOCRISY AND WICKEDNESS
What global or local reform do you most admire
7 POINT AGENDA (IF IT CAN BE ATTAINED)
What natural gift would you most like to possess
THE GIFT OF THE GAB
What is your present state of mind
EXHAUSTED. NOT ENOUGH SLEEP. THE PROTECTION OF THE CIVIL LIBERTIES OF 140 MILLION NIGERIANS IS MAJOR WAHALA