Mainstreaming Human Rights into Anti-Corruption: A Strategy for Protecting Vulnerable Groups in Nigeria from Double Jeopardy

Abstract

The paper alludes to the idea that stemming corruption requires a holistic and multi-dimensional approach where various groups in the society work in concerted and coordinated manner to combat the menace. It goes further to advance that a human rights based-approach to corruption will enhance the protection of vulnerable groups and individuals from double violation, while in the same vein, open up leeway for multiple systems of accountability, transparency, participation and effective oversight, all of which are important tools for a successful and sustainable anticorruption campaign. This work draws inspirations from research papers commissioned by the International Council on Human Rights Policy (ICHRP), and other available literatures on the discourse of corruption and Human rights. First, the paper briefly examines the conceptual links between corruption and human rights, and highlights the constitutional foundation of anticorruption regimes in Nigeria. Second, it examines the disproportionate impact of corruption on rights of vulnerable people. Third, illustrates how human rights principles and instruments can play a pivotal role in ensuring an effective anti-corruption campaign. At the end, it shows that denouncing corruption is in the individual and collective interest of all Nigerians.