Nigeria

Status

A NAP on Business and Human Rights was approved by the government in April 2023 and included as a chapter in a broader National Action Plan for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights (2024-2028), which was adopted on 14 January 2024.

Process

Civil society and, in particular, the African Centre for Corporate Responsibility, have been facilitating various multi-dimensional consultations with stakeholders such as community members and leaders, representatives of oil and multinational corporations, private sector, ministry representatives, government departments and agencies, and journalists between 2012 to 2017.

In 2016, the African Centre for Corporate Responsibility partnered with the NHRC to further the NAP development process. The NHRC facilitated a Strategic Multi Stakeholders forum in Abuja, in February 2017. A draft National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights was produced as a result of this consultation.

The annual Roundtable on Business and Human Rights, organised by UN Global Compact Network Nigeria together with other entities (such as the National Human Rights Commission and several CSOs), served as an important forum for discussions, meetings and consultation opportunities from various stakeholders on the NAP on Business and Human Rights. The Roundtable brought together representatives from the business community, government agencies and ministries, civil society, academia and the media to facilitate the understanding of the UNGPs and human rights and business-related issues in Nigeria, including the adoption of a National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights. An article on the 2022 Roundtable and a communique on the 2023 Roundtable are publicly available.

The consultations on the broader NAP on the promotion and protection of human rights were completed in February 2021. After these consultation rounds, a final draft was adopted and submitted to the Federal Executive Council of Nigeria through the Attorney General of the Federation for consideration and approval. The document was approved as Nigeria’s policy document on Human Rights in April 2023. The approved document was then printed and disseminated to stakeholders and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in 2024.

The NAP on Business and Human Rights was included as a chapter in the broader National Action Plan for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights (2024-2028) which was adopted on 14 January 2024.

Stakeholder Participation

Broader NAP

The first consultative meetings with Ministries, Departments and relevant government agencies took place from January to December in 2014. These meetings were hosted by the National Human Rights Commission. These consultations with government institutions continued over the years to enrich the content of the NAP. Activities on the NAP slowed down in 2019, but continued in 2020, with the final consultation meetings taking place early 2021.

The National Human Rights Commission also held several consultations with civil society organisations from 2015 to 2018. These consultations were aimed at seeking input from various stakeholders in civil society in the development of the draft NAP. These consultations resulted in a forum for identifying areas of improvement to guide the development of the NAP 2024-2028.

 

Specifically for the chapter on BHR

A strategic multi-stakeholder forum, facilitated by the NHRC, in February 2017.

On 26 October 2022, representatives from the business sector, government, and civil society came together in Lagos for the National Business and Human Rights Roundtable (NBH2R), which was organised by UN Global Compact Network Nigeria in collaboration with Global Rights Nigeria, to align on the implementation of the NAP for Business and Human Rights. The Roundtable offered a forum for motivating corporations and governmental agencies to advance the business and human rights agenda, bringing together various relevant stakeholders to inform on the NAP.

The 2023 National Business and Human Rights Roundtable took place on 17 and 18 August 2023. A communique on the event is available here.

Follow-up, monitoring, reporting and review

The Chapter on Business and Human Rights specifies that specific activities will be designed in consultation with respective sectors, business operators, relevant agencies of government, Civil Society Organisations and Development Partners in order to realize each of the commitments under the three Pillars (protect, respect, and remedy).

One of the actionable items under the State Duty to Protect pertains to the establishment of a National Working Group on Business and Human Rights (NWGBHR), which is tasked with coordinating all activities of agencies that are involved in dealing with human rights and business-related issues. The Working Group shall consist of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), government agencies and representatives of relevant Ministries as well as non-governmental organisations. The Working Group has several responsibilities, such as conducting capacity-building trainings for different stakeholders, designing a format for reporting on business and human rights by stakeholders and driving the process of reviewing the NAP periodically.

Additional resources

Government

• National Human Rights Commission, National Action Plan for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights 2024-2028, NATIONAL ACTION PLAN FOR THE PROMOTION AND PROTECTION OF HUMAN RIGHTS 2024 – 2028 – National Human Rights Commission (nigeriarights.gov.ng)

External updates and commentary

News articles

• Premium Times, ‘Nigeria approves Action Plan 2022-2026 on Human Rights’, Nigeria approves Action Plan 2022-2026 on Human Rights (premiumtimesng.com) (28 April 2023)
• Arise News, ‘Nigeria Okays Human Rights Action Plan 2022-2026 for Citizens’, Nigeria Okays Human Rights Action Plan 2022-2026 for Citizens – Arise News (27 April 2023)
• Communique issued at the 2023 National Business and Human Rights roundtable Lagos, Nigeria, 2023 NBH2R COMMINIQUE – August 2023 (unglobalcompactng.org)
• UN Global Compact Network Nigeria, ‘UN Global Compact Network Nigeria and Global Rights Nigeria call for the Implementation of the National Action Plan for Business and Human Rights’, UN Global Compact Network Nigeria and Global Rights Nigeria call for the Implementation of the National Action Plan for Business and Human Rights – UN Global Compact Network Nigeria (unglobalcompactng.org)