THE ABSU RAPE FIASCO

FOR FEW WEEKS NOW, THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NATION HAS BEEN BOMBARDED BY A HORRIBLE CASE OF ALLEGED BRUTAL RAPE OF A TEENAGE GIRL BY FOUR OR FIVE STUDENTS OF THE ABIA STATE UNIVERSITY...WORST STILL, THE ABIA STATE GOVERNMENT AND THE ABIA STATE UNIVERSITY HAVE BOTH SHAMELESSLY DENIED THAT THIS UNFORTUNATE SHOW OF SHAME HAPPENED IN THEIR VICINITY EVEN AGAINST ALL CREDIBLE EVIDENCE THAT IT INDEED TOOK PLACE AS ESTABLISHED BY A NETWORK OF GOOD SOURCES INCLUDING SOME STUDENTS WHO HAVE POSITIVELY IDENTIFIED THE SUSPECTED RAPISTS AND THE VICTIM...THIS IS A NATIONAL SHAME THAT MUST BE TREATED PROFESSIONALLY AND ENSURE THAT THE ALLEGED OFFENDERS ARE MADE TO FACE THE RECORD EVEN AS THE VICTIM IS REHABILITATED AND COMPENSATED...SHE MUST BE GIVEN ALL MEDICAL ATTENTION TO ASCERTAIN IF SHE HAS BEEN INFECTED BY THESE MONSTERS...I AM ASHAMED THAT THIS GRAVE AND ABOMINABLE ACT TOOK PLACE IN MY GENERATION AND BY VERY YOUNG ADULTS WHO ARE UNDERGOING UNIVERSITY TRAINING TO ASSUME THE MANTLE OF LEADERSHIP IN NIGERIA...WITH THESE KINDS OF DEPRAVED YOUTHS, NIGERIA IS IN TROUBLE... WHY WILL THESE YOUTH CREATE BAD IMAGE FOR OUR PEOPLE AND THE SOUTH EAST? WHY WILL THE YOUTH NOT FORM A COALITION TO ADVOCATE FOR THE TOTAL INFRASTRUCTURAL LIBERATION OF THE IGBO SPEAKING SOUTH EASTERN NIGERIA THAT HAVE BECOME INHABITABLE BECAUSE OF WIDESPREAD NEGLECT BY SUCCESSIVE FEDERAL ADMINISTRATION TO FIX THE DILAPIDATED ROAD, ELECTRICITY AND HOUSING INFRASTRUCTURES? GOOD AND DECENT YOUTH IN THE SOUTH EAST MUST RISE UP TO THE OCCASION AND WIPE OUT THIS SHAMEFUL CONDUCT BY THESE FEW BAD EGGS....

FOR FIFTY CENT, AFRICANS ARE FED By Emmanuel Onwubiko

Ever wondered why the Kaduna State government recently spent hundreds of millions of public fund to feed some citizens of that state who recently ended their religious fasting period? Well, you need not go too far to understand the impressions created by die-hard critics of the Kaduna state governor Mr. Patrick Yakowa who said the decision to expend huge public funds to feed some religious adherents was purely political and not altruistic contrary to the reasons adduced by the Kaduna State government.

For me, the impression I came out with regarding the unusual practice of some state governments in Northern Nigeria that expend huge public funds in feeding the people during Islamic religious fasting periods is that hunger and mass poverty caused by the prolonged neglect of the Agricultural sector by successive administrations have become ever present and gravely disturbing.

What more can I say and how else can one explain that hundreds of thousands of families now rely on state governments in most parts of Northern Nigeria for food hand-outs during religious fasting periods other than the fact that most families have abandoned the time-tested practices of engaging in Agricultural activities even at subsistent levels?

Nigeria’s former Education Minister and current World Bank’s vice President Mrs. Oby Ezekwesili puts it succinctly thus; “Most of the economies are today mono-cultural, depending on a single source (or window) for their economic activities. In case of Nigeria, they can relate to the oil sector as one that provides government with almost 80 per cent of its budget and represents over 90 per cent of the foreign exchange earnings. It needs not to be so”.         

Oby Ezekwesili also stated what most conscientious analysts have said on how Nigeria can grow her economy and end poverty and mass hunger when she recently told the Cable News Network (CNN) that Agriculture is ‘the next big thing’ in Africa.

Her words: “If you want to diversify your economy you must pursue the kinds of policies that enable sectors that hold those opportunities to unleash”.

The lack of infrastructure, a dearth of relevant skills and unfavorable business climates in many African Countries are stumbling blocks, Ezekwesili stated.

But she adds that recent examples from other nascent industries on the African continent provide hope that the ambitious aims of the agricultural ‘miracle’ can yet be fulfilled.

We will return to this conversation on how the agricultural ‘miracle’ can save Nigeria and other poor African nations to find lasting solution to the situation of growing hunger and poverty.   

First, let’s analyze the recent ambitious decision of one of America’s best known musical Icons, known by his stage name of 50 cent to feed African children in his ongoing charity work to end starvation in Africa.

The reputable black American musical prodigy in a recent media interview disclosed that his range of street king drinks have already raised enough funds to feed 2.5 million children in Africa.

This laudable initiative of Mr.50 cent should provide the tonic for policy makers in Africa and especially in Nigeria to take a fresh look at how to revitalize the Agricultural sector because the continuous neglect and the political lip-service paid to the Agricultural sector consistently by successive administrations may occasion grave hunger in the coming years in Nigeria and we may not get 50 cent to bring up another initiative to feed our hungry and poverty -stricken Nigerian children.

After attending the Sunday mass at the Catholic Church in Asokoro, Abuja, recently, I came face to face with over fifty poverty stricken and severely malnourished street children who besieged worshippers for alms to buy food for their hungry stomachs. This scene is a daily occurrence after every Sunday mass and this signpost great danger if noting is done to bring back the Agricultural sector. Should Nigeria wait for 50 Cent before our hungry children are fed?

Nzamujo, a Nigerian who started the Songhai agricultural center in Benin Republic faulted the situation whereby the severe state of starvation on the continent has made most people in the Western World to see Africa as a charity ground.

Said he: “Africa can feed itself and the rest of the world if it puts its house in order. We are in trouble today because we service other economies. We produce cocoa, coffee, oil and others to service other economies. We export wealth and import poverty”.

Father Nzamujo also gave his candid opinion on why Nigeria’s agricultural sector has collapsed under the weight of corruption, needless bureaucracy and lack of focus.

He said: “Nigeria has cheap oil and feels it doesn’t have to work. Imagine how many billions of Naira we pump into the ministry of Agriculture every year. But the ministry has turned to fertilizer ministry. I wept when I drove from Abuja to Jigawa. We have so many resources, yet we can’t feed our people”.

Pathetic, you may shout. But wait a minute. Nzamujo hazards a scientific guess that very soon; Nigeria’s population will hit 160 million. How are we going to feed them? Are we thinking about that?

Nzamujo’s apprehensions were corroborated by a serving minister in the current federal administration of President Good luck Jonathan who lamented to me in a recent private conversation that the nation is yet to show pragmatic commitment towards revitalizing and reviving Nigeria’s moribund agricultural sector which according to him can actually create a lot of jobs and reduce social tensions that have accumulated over the years, enveloped the public space thereby making most youths restive and ready to venture into violent crimes.

This concerned Nigerian and a member of the current federal cabinet said he is worried that the ministry of Agriculture spends some of the largest annual budgets in the purchase of choice heavy duty vehicles and jeeps parked in the vicinities of some departments of the ministry scattered all over the country but nothing concrete is being done to encourage practical agricultural activities and entrepreneurial practices by the large army of youths.      

He noted that from practical experiences that he has gathered; only old people engage in farming activities in Nigeria.                

A key point I took away from my conversation with this minister is that he said a nation that leaves the agricultural sector to the aged and mostly illiterate population who are largely into small scale or rather subsistent agricultural practices, is doomed. Is Nigeria doomed then?

Mrs. Oby Ezekwesili in that widely acclaimed interview with the Cable News Network (CNN) re-affirmed her belief that if concerted efforts are made by government in reviving the agriculture sector, then the economy will grow in an unprecedented pace.

I am of the opinion that the Federal ministry of Agriculture and that of youth should collectively commence intensive training programs on modern technologically-driven agricultural skills for the teeming unemployed youths all over the country and the Bank of Industry and other commercial financial institutions be compelled to offer basic take-off grants to qualified candidates at very modest and subsidized interest rate and these young prospective farmers should proceed to start off their agricultural businesses in the rural areas. Experts like the founder of Songhai farms, father Nzamujo should be included in the design and implementation of these new revolutionary agricultural skills’ acquisition to be financed jointly by the ministries of Agriculture and that of youth.

Government must also upgrade road and electricity power infrastructures in the rural Nigerian communities to encourage these young farmers to site their farms in those places and live and practice their profession as young and upwardly mobile farmers from rural Nigeria. By so doing, we may not need Mr.50 cent to feed Nigerian children in the nearest future.

* Emmanuel Onwubiko heads HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS’ ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA and can be reached on doziebiko@yahoo.com. 

19/9/2011

    

OWERRI, CITY OF LIVING CHAOS By Emmanuel Onwubiko

For three days in mid-September yours faithfully headed a four member study team to Imo State as part of the final stage of our report gathering on the persistent bloody violence in Jos, Plateau State which we intend to file with the International Criminal Court (ICJ) in the Hague, Netherlands and the United Nations HUMAN Rights Council to urge these two international bodies to press charges against perpetrators of the series of mass killings/murder of hundreds of innocent persons by armed hoodlums in the last couple of years.

Our first stop was the capital of Imo state where we were scheduled to interview some displaced families that fled Jos, the capital of Plateau State, in the wake of the gruesome killings.

But our visit to Owerri was anything but smooth because of the total collapse of basic infrastructure of roads that has given rise to the frightening experiences of traffic gridlock and flooding of almost the entire streets whenever the rain poured down as it did on this auspicious occasion.

Apart from the collapse of basic socio-economic infrastructure of roads in Owerri, the City which prior to 2007, used to pride itself as one of the cleanest in the entire nation has assumed very frightening and dismal environmental situation because the entire streets were littered with all conceivable refuse which constitute grave health hazards to the populace.

For four years, Nigerians were regaled with unverifiable and dubious media claims of huge expenses spent by the immediate past administration in Imo State which said it initiated an ambitious environmentally friendly project that was beautifully code named “Clean and Green” initiative.

As a frequent visitor to Imo State, I also observed before April 2011 that nothing concrete was put in place in most cities and towns of the State to assure the citizenry that their taxes were prudently utilized to clean up the state so as to avoid the kind of floods that recently ravaged Ibadan, the Oyo State Capital and left a trail of blood, misery and deaths in its wake.

The chicken has come home to roost because my last visit confirmed the apprehensions of most observers that our political office holders spend so much in empty media rhetoric even as very little was done that would positively impact on the living condition of the tens- of -thousands of inhabitants.

The new political order is barely three months in office, but as the wise saying goes, ‘the early morning shows how the rest of the day would be’ or rather to quote the great Greek Philosopher Mr. Socrates who said that the ‘first impression is the most important in everything we do’, the same old order of environmental anarchy is intact in parts of the state capital. There are also signs of total absence of governance in most rural areas visited.

Most people spoken to said they were prepared to give their new governor Mr. Rochas Okorocha the benefit of the doubts; but again for how long shall owerri remain the city of living chaos?

Flashpoints of where traffic Chaos, environmental anarchy and unmitigated lawlessness are alive and kicking include Wetheral Road by Emmanuel College, Douglas Road, and Nekede by Lagos Street, Okigwe Road by Imsu junction, tetlow by Bank Road and Mcc by Chukuma Nwoha Junction. Others are Wethedral by Aladinma Road, Bank Road by Ware-House, and Royce Road by Douglas Road.

For hours, commuters would be held down in endless traffic gridlock on these streets and the tricycle operators have become largely indiscipline and lawless that most of them break simple traffic rule by plying on one way lane thereby creating unprecedented gridlock by inhibiting free flow of oncoming vehicles. To compound this ugly situation, the traffic wardens from the Nigeria police are more interested in extorting motorists than doing their statutory duties. State run agencies created to protect the environment from abuses have conveniently gone to bed.

Painfully too, is the fact that one is sure to be confronted by several road blocks by armed policemen and soldiers who are now engaged in the open, brazen and criminal bonanza of extorting an average of N50 from every motorists plying these derelict roads even as little is done by these armed security operatives to check the proliferation of social crimes.

 These armed security operatives through their dubious extortionist agenda also contribute to making the state as a home of living and organized chaos.

This ugly situation calls for very urgent actions from both the federal and Imo state administration to put an end to these scenarios and return sanity to that once beautiful, peaceful and environmentally friendly state prior to the years of the locusts.

There is need for the current administration to put their mouth where the public fund is by reconstructing these dilapidated portions of the state owned roads in the streets of Owerri and also institute a regime of traffic discipline to save the members of the public from the unwarranted waste of productive time and resources.

We also observed that several street children from some neighboring countries of Chad, and Niger have invaded major streets of Owerri and constitute avoidable nuisance. The presence of this large army of destitute made of malnourished children and their parents on the streets of Owerri paints the picture of a failed State.

In the wake of the spate of bomb attacks at certain targets across the country by suspected insurgents, it is inconceivable to observe that Imo State is now home to hundreds of foreign and undocumented destitute.

Why for instance has the state administration not worked out modalities for ensuring that the very extremely poor members of the public are offered meaningful assistance to keep them out of the streets and for unauthorized illegal immigrants to be disallowed from constituting environmental and security nightmares to the law abiding members of the public?

On the issue of mass housing, the returnees we met in Owerri told us that the few available flats in the city centre are extremely high making it impossible for them to afford. They also said there is total absence of business outlets or standard markets where some of them could revive their battered businesses. What has happened to the international market that the last administration said it was building in Owerri or was it a deliberate ploy to misinform the public?

Urban planners are of the knowledgeable view that the features of a city in trouble include multiple deprivations for its poor, high rates of infant mortality, rampant knife crime, and multinational companies shedding jobs as they head for the exit, and broken down public transport. These features are alive in Owerri.

Deyin Sudjic wrote an article in the Times of London published on September 3^rd 2008 in which he responded to our interrogation on what makes the perfect city. Sudjic argued that building a perfect city is impossible but admonished administrators not to rely on what he calls the ‘generous civic investments’ of the past. “Successful cities, he said, are the ones that remain open to change and unsuccessful ones are trapped in rigid pattern that limits future possibilities”.

To rescue Owerri from the notorious appellation as a city of living chaos, the Governor and his team must wake up from post-election slumber and vigourously pursue aggressive environmentally friendly policies to clean up the city and institute workable and sustainable regime of cleanliness by ensuring that agencies set up to maintain the beauty of the state capital are put to effective and efficient work. Governor Rochas truly has his job cut out for him and generations unborn will judge him by how well he handles this historic challenge.

+          Emmanuel Onwubiko heads HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS’ ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA, and writes from doziebiko@yahoo.com.  


19/9/2011                              

PROTEST OVER UNCONSTITUTIONAL CRIME COVERAGE BY THE NIGERIA MEDIA BY Comrade Emmauel Onwubiko

15th July, 2008.

Director of News,

Nigerian Television Authority,

NTA Network,

Area 11, Abuja.

Dear Sir/Madam,

PROTEST OVER UNCONSTITUTIONAL CRIME

COVERAGE BY THE NIGERIA MEDIA

The Human Rights Writers’ Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) is a registered non-governmental but democracy inclined organization of deep thinkers, poets, Journalists and creative writers who deploy their creative talents collectively to work for the comprehensive enthronement of the Rule of Law, durable democracy and respect for the Human Rights of Nigerians.

HURIWA is writing to protest in the strongest possible terms, the unconstitutional style of news coverage of crime suspects by virtually all leading national newspapers and electronic media including yours, sir.

Sir, as writers and Journalists, we note with sadness that crime suspects are not only subjected to dehumanization by the security operatives in the full glare of the media workers who usually see nothing wrong or untoward with the use of torture even when section 34(1) of the 1999 constitution states that; “Every individual is entitled to respect for the dignity of his/her person, and accordingly, no person shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment”.

Sir, we note that Journalism being the only profession specifically mandated by the Constitution to monitor the activities of all segments of the Nigerian society and expose the ills that afflict the polity as enshrined in section 22 of the 1999 constitution, it is therefore disappointing that crime reporters criminalize crime suspects in the styles and manners of presenting news reports of the regular parade by security operatives of crime suspects in Nigeria.

Sir, we wish to draw your attention to section 36(1) and (5) of the 1999 constitution which provides that crime suspects ought to be granted fair hearing and that all crime suspects are presumed innocent until proven otherwise by competent Courts of law and not the media.   

Section 36(1) provides that “in the determination of his/her Civil Rights and obligations, including any question or determination by or against any government or authority, or other tribunal established by Law and constituted in such manner as to secure its independence and impartiality”. This section of the constitution prescribes fair hearing for all crime suspects irrespective of the gravity or otherwise of the alleged crime.

Section 36 (5) of the 1999 constitution clearly provides that; “every person who is charged with a criminal offence shall be PRESUMED to be INNOCENT until he/she is proved guilty”.

Sir, we wish to state emphatically that only the competent courts of law covered under section 6 of the 1999 constitution have the powers to pronounce crime suspects guilty or not. We note with sadness that current sensationalization of crime coverage in the Nigerian media has helped to promote impunity among security operatives. Our group is in no way opposed to the media coverage of crime suspects but objects strongly to what may amount to media trial of crime suspects as seen in most Nigerian media including your own.

For purposes of example, Sir, we call your attention to most weekend editions of virtually all Nigerian Newspapers which project crime suspects like already convicted criminals even before they are charged before the courts of law. Page 51 story of Sunday Punch of July 13th, 2008, among several other instances go to show that crime suspects are convicted in the media even before they get their opportunities to defend themselves in the competent courts.

By this letter sir, we are praying that crime suspects should not be made to undergo media trial or persecution as that will strengthen the security operatives to continue with the use of torture as the acceptable crime fighting mechanism. The media as the agent of change should engage in the crusade against all forms of impunity including media prosecution and/or persecution of crime suspects.

In other climes, as you are well aware, suspects’ identities are protected before they are convicted in the law courts and crime suspects who are below the legal age of consent are not exposed in the media. The show of shame which are regularly relayed in the electronic media and to some extent the print media, whereby crime suspects are chained, maimed, physically abused by the security operatives and these human beings are broadcast as if they have already been convicted by the competent courts of law, to put it mildly, is reprehensible, unacceptable in a democracy and unconstitutional.

Please Sir; it would be appreciated if our letter is given the widest publicity ever by your widely read news papers and electronic media house.

Accept the assurance of our highest esteem and consideration.

Yours in national service,

Comrade Emmauel Onwubiko

National Coordinator.     

HUMAN RIGHTS SOME THOUGHTS ABOUT PROTECTING HUMAN RIGHTS IN NIGERIA By +John Onaiyekan, Catholic Archbishop of Abuja.

1.   A Painful Gap:

In general, what strikes me is the painful gap between words and deeds, between policies and realities as regards the protection of Human Rights of Nigeria. Despite some obvious lacunae and even outright contradictions within the texts of our Constitution, the general spirit within our present deficient constitution declares and prescribes the basic norms for a proper protection of the Human Rights of Nigerians. The problem therefore is not really with regard to our Laws and our Constitution. Furthermore, our country is also a signatory to the major International Human Rights Declarations and Conventions. The problem we have is clearly that of implementation, matching deeds with words and ensuring that the realities on the ground coincide with the policies that we claim to hold.

All this is in my opinion due to bad or weak government. Often there is no political will to do the right thing and even where there is the political will, there are no clear and efficient structures on ground to ensure that the right thing actually gets done. A typical example is in the whole area of access to redress in the law courts. Access to justice at the law courts which should be a right of every citizen has now become the privilege of the few who are rich and powerful.

   

2.   The Tyranny of Poverty

Over and above, there is the tyranny of poverty, rampant and abject poverty which has rendered many people powerless and voiceless, incapable of resisting injustice, less still fighting for their rights. This practically makes whatever we may say about human rights in Nigeria a dead letter.

In particular, I have serious concerns on three points:

 

3.   The Right to Life:

First, there is the right to life which is clearly spelt out in our Constitution and in the Fundamental Human Rights to which we are signatories. Yet there is so much wanton killing going on and killings with impunity. Extra-judicial killing by security agents is a regular occurrence. Then there are the frequent outbursts of murderous sectarian violence. As I am writing this text, we are hearing of over 500 villagers slaughtered in the middle of the night by marauding armed groups that seem to have dissolved into thin air. Besides, people are left to die through criminal neglect. And poverty is the greatest of these killers. We might take the example of pensioners who are left to spend the last part of their lives in misery. Many have died hanging around offices waiting for their meager pensions to be paid. The low value which our society and by extension, our government gives to the life of a Nigerian is very shameful. Otherwise, how can we take so lightly the fact that so many of our country men and women are dying day in day out, either through riots or conflicts or outright poverty and sickness?

           

4.   Freedom of Religion

The second aspect of concern has to do with the freedom of religion, which comes next in importance to the right to life itself. Our constitution spells this out very clearly. It even goes further to insist that the government of the Federation and of the States shall never adopt any religion as State Religion. Most of us take this formulation to mean that every religion is free and equal before the law of the land. And freedom in this matter is not only in respect of the individual but also of groups. It includes the freedom and the right to proclaim, to practice, to propagate and even to change ones religion just as it gives freedom for any Nigerian to claim to have no religion at all. But this is what the law says. In practice however, in many instances, the reality is not so. As a Christian who has many contacts with fellow Christians in many parts of Northern Nigeria where Islam has practically been made into the official religion of the State, I see here a lamentable gulf between what the law says and what is on ground. It is well known that in many parts of Northern Nigeria, the State and the government refuses as a matter of policy to give approval for land for Christians to build churches while in the same State, Mosques spring out everywhere, everyday with no restriction. Similarly public funds are spent training Islamic Religious Leaders and no provisions are made for the training of the religious leaders of Christianity. The frequent instances of attack on churches and religious symbols in the North are clearly connected with this basic injustice and disregard for the fundamental human religious rights of many of the citizens in the North. Until we sort this out, I am afraid; we shall continue to hear bad news in many of these Northern States.

5.   Fake “Human Rights”

Third and finally, I am very much concerned about the so called “new Human Rights” that we keep hearing about now especially from strong lobby groups that seems to have taken control of the United Nations and its agencies, largely with their bases in the Western Countries of Europe and America. Many of these so called Human Rights actually contradict the basic rights that we have all already agreed upon in the classical fundamental human rights of humanity.

The first and obvious example is where abortion is being presented as a right of the woman which the state must fund from public resources. The eyes are deliberately closed to the fact that every abortion entails the killing of an innocent human being. Every law that permits abortion simply means that your human life is sacred only when you can fight for yourself. For as long as the modern world tolerates abortion as a right, we are simply denying with one hand what we are proclaiming with the other.

Similarly, issues of sexuality for example, homosexuality and same sex marriage are all now being proposed as “rights”. This has never been so until recent years. The responsibility for this lies with a small but powerful lobby doing all it can to impose these things on the whole of humanity. The criminal aspect of this exercise is that some of the rich nations are pressurizing poor countries to adopt these inhuman positions as a condition for help and assistance. Nigeria has no business giving in to these pressures because we have enough resources to feed our people. But I am not sure that there is an adequate clear vision in these matters. I suspect that many of those who attend big International meetings on our behalf are often very much unaware of the agenda behind many programmes that appear on the surface very positive and good. The tendency to use ambiguous terminology is often a way to deceive people into accepting things that they would not have accepted when presented bluntly. Thus expressions like “family planning,” “reproductive rights,” “safe motherhood” which are valid and wonderful on their own, often hide the gruesome crime of abortion, which is nothing less than the killing of innocent but defenseless human beings.

          I believe our country should be strong enough to stand up to be counted and refuse to be led along a path that is at the end of the day not even for the good of humanity.

          These are some of my thoughts and I wish your association God’s blessing.

+John Onaiyekan; CON

Archbishop of Abuja.

MY THOUGHTS ON THE PROTECTION OF THE HUMAN RIGHTS OF NIGERIANS BY AWA U. Kalu Esq., SAN

I have to confess that I have not been in the forefront of the fight for the protection of human rights either on a domestic or international level. I have however, not been sitting on the fence nor have I been nonchalant. Rather, my contributions in that sector have arisen in quiet steps that I had taken in a professional capacity arising from  years of serving as a University teacher, as a Special Assistant to two Attorneys-General of the Federation and Ministers of Justice in the heydays of Babangidaism and as a lawyer in private practice. Unbeknownst to many, the human rights struggle is one that goes on irreversibly in many places, whether hidden or in the open having regard to the all encompassing and pervasive nature of human rights – the  classroom, the market places, the streets, in hallowed political offices, churches, mosques and so on. So multi-faceted and so misunderstood as the concept of human rights is, its enforcement has taken many forms including passive means such as conscientious objection or as popularized by Gandhi, Mandela or active means such as modest activism or violent activism as in militancy.

I am compelled to refer to history and to the words which over the years have inspired many:

(i)      Liberte’! Egalite’! Fraternite’! Anonymous: motto for French Revolutionaries.

(ii)          We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Thomas Jefferson (1743 – 1826), statesman, Declaration of America Independence, 4 July, 1776.

(iii)        We look forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms the first is freedom of speech and expression – everywhere in the world. The second is freedom of every person to worship God in his own way – everywhere in the world. The third is freedom from want…everywhere in the world. The fourth is freedom from fear…anywhere in the world.

                   Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882 - 1945) US Democratic President.

                   Speech to Congress, 6 Jan. 1941.

(iv)        Freedom is an indivisible world. If we want to enjoy it, and fight for it, we must be prepared to extend it to everyone, whether they are rich or poor, whether they agree with us or not, no matter what their race or the colour of their skin.

Wendell Lewis Wilkie (1892–1944) US lawyer & businessman. One World. ch 13.

(v)         None ought to be lords or landlords over another, but the earth is free for every son and daughter of mankind to live free upon.

Gerrard Winstanley (c. 1609 – c. 1660) English radical. Letter to Lord Fairfax, 1649.

(vi)                        The poorest he that is in England hath life to live as the greatest he.

Thomas Rainborowe (d. 1648) English Soldier and Vice Admiral;

Life of Rainborowe (Peacock).

Speeches such as these have inspired many to make the world a better place to live in but some have scoffed at them as an attempt to create ideal or Utopia. Be that as it may, I believe as do many others that ‘if you are not part of the problem, you must be part of the solution’. Aluta Continua.

AWA U. Kalu Esq., SAN