My position as ihrc ambassador and Saraki’s ambassador at large title
By Abdulrazaq O Hamzat

Few weeks ago, after Nigeria’s outgoing Senate president, Dr Bukola Saraki was announced as Ambassador at Large of the International Human Rights Commission (IHRC), my mobile phone began to ring relentlessly and when I pick the calls, most of my callers were asking me about my engagement with the ihrc.

Initially, I was wondering why all these people were suddenly asking about my role as an ihrc ambassador, then I saw the news.

Basically, friends and associates, who were aware of my position as the first Nigerian Ambassador to International Human Rights Commission (IHRC) wanted to confirm whether or not, the ihrc that appointed the senate president is the same ihrc that I represented as its ambassador.

While I did confirmed to them that it was the same ihrc that I headed for 5 years, I gave them another news that I had, since 2016, resigned from the commission as its Nigerian Ambassador.

Until that moment, many were not aware that I am no longer a serving Ambassador of the ihrc.

It is important to state that, under normal circumstance, my 5 years tenure as the ihrc ambassador should expire in 2016.

However, about 6 months to the expiration of my tenure, the world chairman, Dr Shahid Amin Khan who visited Nigeria in November 2013 during the commission’s advocacy for cultural preservation and liked the work we were doing, in his wisdom, decided to honour me with an award of excellent service to humanity aswell as re-appointment to another higher position (Under Secretary General) for another tenure of 5 year, a position i was to operate after the expiration of my tenure as Nigerian Ambassador.

However, immediately my tenure expired as ihrc ambassador in June 2016, I felt the need to take a break from the human right community and give more attention to the development of my main profession as a peace practitioner and since our new organization, Foundation for Peace Professionals (FPP) had just been registered, it made sense that I resign and fully concentrate on building the new organization.

To do this, i sort understanding of the world chairman about my thought and after much deliberation, he consented to my request, leading to my exit from the Commission.

Further more, immediately Dr.Saraki’s appointment was made public, a journalist had sent me an inbox message, asking me to differentiate between Ambassador at Large and a Country's Ambassador.

Let me state that, in the ihrc structure, there are two types of Ambassadorial titles, an executive ambassadorial and ambassador at large.

An executive ambassador oversees a country or region, such as U.S Ambassador to Nigeria or United Nations ambassador to a region.

On the other hand, Ambassador at large is more like a ceremonial or goodwill ambassador with no portfolio.

However, on special occasions or when executing specialised project, Ambassador at large title holder may be called upon to use their influence to advocate for a cause or contribute to the organizational activities as time dictates.

Additionally, some people also called to inquire about the relationship between ihrc and the United Nations and my response to that question is very simple.

Ihrc is not under the United Nation, but it is an affiliate of it, with consultative status and many of its members are affiliated with UN in various capacities.

Personally speaking, moving on from ihrc to building Foundation for Peace Professionals (FPP) has been fulfilling because of the achievements FPP has recorded in such a very short period of time.

Despite our limited capacity and resources, FPP has been able to contribute immensely to building peace and averting crisis in Nigeria.

Since the establishment of Foundation for Peace Professionals (FPP) in 2016, the organization has continued to make great impact in Nigeria, particularly in the area of peace building facilitation, crisis intervention, human right defense, research and advocacy for social justice.

The foot print of FPP can be seen almost everywhere in Nigeria, starting from our intervention during the crisis that erupted at Ife, Osun State in April 2017, to our fact finding mission to Southern Kaduna over the fulani herdsmen recurrent attacks in May 2017 and our major anti hate advocacy to avert genocide in Northern Nigeria after we uncovered an inciting hate song, calling for genocide against a section of the country.

The organization has also produced a major research project, tagged Nigeria Peace Index (NPI), which is a national replica of the renowned Global Peace Index (GPI), measuring the level peacefulness in the 36 states of Nigeria.

The research work commenced in 2016 and was publicly unveiled in April 2018 at the Federal Capital, Abuja.

FPP is also actively operating in North East conflict zone, where it is combating the misinformation of the dreaded Boko Haram terrorist group through counter narratives. Our anti suicide bombing campaign in North East involved the production and distribution of counter terrorism tracts, spanning over states like Bauchi, Yobe, Gombe and Borno State.

The anti suicide bombing campaign also extends to North Central State of Plateau and Abuja, Nigeria’s federal capital.

The organization also releases periodic reports on development at the heart of Nigeria’s war against insurgency in North East, particularly in Borno and Yobe State.

This is particularly important because, it allows the government, international community and the general public to have a different non partisan perspective that could enrich the quality of information at their disposal, as well as enhance the quality of decision to advance the counter terrorism efforts.

FPP has also involved utilizing mediation as a tool for alternative dispute resolution (ADR). The organization has been involved in facilitating out of court settlement of disputes between parties in conflict. Also, we have been leading advocacy for improved accuracy in conflict reportage and analysis.

For me, doing this silent work with little or no rewards gives me great fulfilment and i believe that soon, our work will get the recognition it deserves.

Abdulrazaq Hamzat is a Human Rights Ambassador and Executive Director of Foundation for Peace Professionals (FPP)

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