A new report by the Human Rights Measurement Initiative (HRMI) has revealed a bleak picture of Nigeria’s human rights performance, revealing severe lapses in civil liberties, personal safety, and quality of life.
The 2025 data shows Nigeria significantly trailing behind global and African counterparts in protecting basic human rights, depicting the country having a long way to go in achieving its human rights commitments.
According to HRMI, Nigeria’s “Safety from the State” score, a measure covering protection from arbitrary arrest, torture, enforced disappearance, extrajudicial killings, and the death penalty is only 3.2 out of 10.
This low score places Nigeria among the worst-performing countries in the world, Kenya and Mozambique scoring lower in Africa. “Many people are not safe from these violations,” HRMI stated, highlighting that arbitrary arrest, in particular, scored 2.5 out of 10.
“These are not abstract numbers,” said Nkosi Sibanda, HRMI’s East and Southern Africa Lead. “This is the first time we have produced civil and political rights data for Nigeria, and it is already clear that the government in Abuja has a long way to go in protecting the basic rights of its people.”
The report also evaluated Nigeria’s performance on civil liberties through the Empowerment score, which includes rights such as freedom of speech, assembly, and religion. Nigeria scored 4.5 out of 10, with subcategories except freedom of religion falling within the ‘bad’ range. This shows a widespread suppression of political and civic expression across the country.
Respondents in Nigeria identified activists, peaceful protesters, indigenous people, and labor rights advocates as the most vulnerable groups. The report specifically noted abuses linked to protest movements such as #EndSARS, Revolution Now, #EndHunger, and Ebi np awa “we are hungry”.
These movements and people have often faced intimidation, arrests, and state violence. HRMI emphasized that protesters calling attention to rising costs and poor governance were especially at risk.
In terms of economic and social rights, the situation is equally grim. Nigeria’s Quality of Life indicators which assess access to food, housing, healthcare, and employment, fall within HRMI’s ‘very bad’ category.
When compared to other Sub-Saharan countries, Nigeria performs below average, with housing, water, and sanitation rights showing dangerously low fulfilment levels.
“In many parts of Nigeria, particularly in urban centres, the cost of rent has skyrocketed, in some cases increasing by more than 100%,” said Kehinde Adegboyega, HRMI’s Nigeria Ambassador. “Wages have remained stagnant, creating a severe affordability crisis. Some people are even selling personal belongings to cope with reduced living conditions.”
Nigeria’s Quality of Life scores, which covers the right to health, housing, food, and work highlight even more disparities. Every score within this category falls within HRMI’s ‘very bad’ range, and compared with the other countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, Nigeria is performing lower than average. Looking deeper at the data on the right to housing shows that the Nigerian government is sharply falling behind, highlighted with the right to water (38.25%) and the right the sanitation (46.6%) achieving critically low scores.
Adegboyega stressed that housing should not be viewed as a privilege, but as a fundamental right. “The Nigerian government must go beyond rhetoric and take meaningful, sustained action to address the housing crisis. Ensuring access to affordable housing is not just a matter of economic policy, it is a basic human right and a critical component of national development,” he said.
HRMI Co-Executive Director, Thaila Kehoe Rowden echoed the urgency of the findings. “Our scores show that Nigeria has all the resources it needs to make very significant improvements in people’s lives. The government needs to keep its human rights promises and devote the maximum available resources towards everyday rights like food, education, and healthcare. Much more can be achieved, right now,” she concluded.