The Role of Ubuntu South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission and Oputa Panel Revisited

Abstract

This paper laid out a summary of the history of South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) and engaged in a re-visitation of Nigeria's Judicial Commission for the investigation of human rights violations (Oputa’s Panel) in the light of the cultural approach found in Ubuntu. In the review, it re-examined the South African Truth Commission and its implications as a political and cultural instrument for mending a fractured society. In addition to this, it further sought to understand the cultural leadership role played by Archbishop Tutu using the traditional African principle of Ubuntu, which affirms an organic wholeness of humanity, as the driving philosophy behind the TRC. The relative success of the South African transition process, rooted in its Ubuntu's modelling to other commissions invited a comparison with the Oputa Panel. The Justice Oputa’s Panel and its limitations were reviewed, examining how it attempted to address the same fractures that have continued to present themselves in Nigeria's governance. It raised the possibility of re-instituting another commission in Nigeria better patterned after South Africa’s. It recommends the use of the South African template within the Nigerian context. It concludes by making policy recommendations that may be applied to the Nigerian society in the face of the fractures it faces to ensure the protection of human rights.