Group Asks N’Assembly to Reinstate ‘Right to Food’ Clause Deleted in the Constitution

Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja

A group, Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF) has called on the National Assembly’s Committee on the review of the 1999 Constitution to reinstate the clause on the ‘right to food’ which was reportedly deleted in the Constitution’s amendment Bill.

It said the Senate and House of Representatives Committee who are currently reviewing the constitution reportedly rejected the clause on the ‘right to food’ based on the premise that passing the Bill with the clause on as proposed could put more financial burden on the government.

But HOMEF Media/Communication Lead, Kome Odhomor in a statement issued Tuesday said the amendment Bill which has been pending before the two chambers of the National Assembly seeks to introduce the words ‘right to food ‘ and ‘food security’.

The rights group said the clause was aimed at addressing the failure of agricultural policies to ensure food security in Nigeria; given the philosophical context that there can be no food

security without the right to food.

The group explained that the clause was also rejected on the ground that it “could be

misinterpreted by citizens and might lead to damaging consequences.”

The statement quoted the Director of HOMEF, Mr. Nnimmo Bassey to have said that the right to adequate food was a long standing fundamental human right, universally accepted for years and thus should not be cherry-picked by the legislators.

He said, “To remove the clause from the Bill is to reinforce the lack of regard for the people and keep an open door for the purveyors of risky technologies such as genetic modification and gene editing in agriculture as well as policies designed against the smallholder farmers who are the pillar of Agriculture in the country”

“The right to adequate and safe food is a fundamental human right and lawmakers should not legislate against this right in the constitution amendment process. To do otherwise sends the signal that the lawmakers wish to set Nigerians on the pathway of starvation and neglect.”

Also, the Coordinator, Food Sovereignty Programme at Friends of the Earth Nigeria/Africa, Ms. Mariann Orovwuje, said a recognition of the right to food in the constitution will ensure accountability, transparency, better governance and policies to provide a thriving environment for

optimum food productivity.

She stressed that the right to food is anchored on human rights and is recognized in many international treaties and conventions

including the Universal Declaration on Human Rights (UDHR), The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR),

Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), UN

Resolution23 on Food Security 1998 and the l African Charter on Human Right 1986.

Orovwuje pointed out that Nigeria is signatory to these instruments and thus needs to strengthen

the legal framework for the realisation of the right to food in the country, by strengthening people’s access to and use of resources and informing the public about their human rights; strengthening their ability to participate in development processes and decision making.