Upholding Human Rights in Turbulent Times: Addressing Insecurity and Hardship in Nigeria
By Toyin Raheem
The Chairman,
Members of the high table, Leadership of Committee for Defence of Human Rights CDHR, invited guests, members of Committee for the Defence of Human Rights CDHR, members of the press, audience in the hall, fellow Nigerians, comrades, ladies and gentlemen.
Good morning everyone.
I salute you all with fraternity greetings.
Solidarity for ever.
My right is my right is my right and no one can take our rights away from us.
Today we are gathered today at the annual general meeting of Committee for the Defence of Human Rights which reminds us that all of us as a people deserve. respect, freedom and equality.
Human Rights protect our dignity regardless of background, races, religions, sex or belief.
It gives me a great pleasure to be here to share my thoughts with you on the topical issue, “Upholding Human Rights in Turbulent Times. Addressing Insecurity and Hardship in Nigeria “.
No doubt Our Present Nigeria is not only in a very turbulent period. It’s indeed in a precarious situation .Chief Gani Fawehinmi of blessed memory said Nigeria was in a gulag of mess but presently it is going deeper into the bottom of gulag of nonsense. The economy is in a mess, health care is in shamble, vagabonds are everywhere, criminality is the order of the day , Corruption is the way for several political office holders, chaos everywhere, no one is sure of safety of his or her life and properties, divide and rule through sentiments of religion, tribes and politics. Failure of our government to comply with the order given in Section 14 ( 2) b of 1999 CFRN as altered. ” Security and welfare of the people shall be the primary aim of the government”. In such a situation , how do one protect his fundamental human rights and or protect others?
Besides the legal profession and journalism that are specifically mentioned by the 1999 CFRN and the two professions have a nexus that links them with the fight for People’s rights. The activists, defence advocates and labour unions are also playing vital roles to protect people’s human,political ,cultural and economic rights.
No doubt, Nigeria is in a big mess. How do we uphold human rights in this present Nigeria?
To accurately answer this question , it will be proper to examine the fundamental human rights and challenges of upholding them.
No one earns human rights; everyone is entitled to them. In 1948, the United Nations ratified The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), which was the first international agreement of what human rights entails . Subsequent treaties, constitutions of countries and policies continue to define human rights and how they should be applied.
We have the African charter of human and people’s Rights, Universal Declaration on Human Rights UDHR and so on.
Despite the activities of our comrades at their various states, chapters, units and cells, rights of people are still being violated brazenly.
1. The right to life
The right to life as enshrined in Article 3 of the UDHR and Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights ECHR and African Charter on Human and People’s rights guarantees all persons the right to life, liberty and security. This right means no one – including individuals and the government – can kill you without consequence. The State must protect human rights, so governments must do everything possible to safeguard human life.
How many lives of Nigerians are being safeguarded in Nigeria by the government?In this month of October 2025 alone, Several Nigerians had lost their lives in the hands of millitants,kidnappers ,armed robbers , hired killers etc. On Thursday 9th October, 2025. Some millitants had the effrontery to attack a military base in Borno State killing our soldiers. What will Nigeria government do ? They have always been on top of the situation.
If family of Nigerians seek justice , how would our courts respond ?
Five years ago, rights to lives of some Nigerians were brutally taken away from them. They were killed by the Police and armed forces at the Lekki Toll gate in Lagos State and other states in Nigeria for exercising their rights , peaceful protest to demand for proscription of End SARS.Till today they are yet to get justice. This is a challenge for all of us as a people, not just the lawyers. Nigerian state must be held responsible. Human rights defenders. It’s over to you.
I must not fail to mention the brutality displayed by the Police to disperse peaceful protesters calling for the release of Nnamdi Kanu. This is not acceptable , the police must be reminded the little freedom they have now as well as the welfare package they are enjoying, though still not enough,was made possible by the struggles of these activists, not forgetting the role Great Late Comrade Samori played, DSM Comrades, UAD , NOPRIN , Cleenfoundation and movement for Improved Welfare for Nigeria Police Force miwNPF. Establishment of the Police Trust Fund was made possible by the Civil Society. How can the Police that are our friends also be attacking we their friends.
The Police must be reminded by virtue of 1999 CFRN , the police are to obey only lawful orders. Duties of the police are well spelt out in the Police Act and nothing more. This brazen action of the police is an embarrassment to us as a people and so it condemnable.
Let me say it, the first right of the people is the right to rebel. Civil disobedience is the way to go if the government fails to protect the economic, human ,political and social rights of the people. No government has the right to take the life of any person for been a rebel.
In 1977, Sir Robert Mark , a former head of the metropolitan Police , fulminated about what he saw as the most serious threat to society, ” I do not think that what we call ‘crimes of violence’ are anything like as severe a threat to the maintenance of tranquility in this country as the tendency to use violence to achieve political or industrial ends. As far as I am concerned that is the worst crime in the book. I think it’s worse than murder”.
In Year 2000, during the Second Chechen War, the Russian military promised rebel soldiers safe passage from a city. However, a day before the evacuation, the Russian Army mined the area. Fighters sought shelter in a village where villagers were not told they were coming or how to escape safely. An aviation bomb dropped from a plane, killing a local man and his three daughters. His mother sought justice,the European Court of Human Rights found a violation of the right to life. Even though the violence occurred during wartime, the Russian military did not try to protect civilians or perform a thorough investigation afterward, making their actions a violation of human rights.
The most disturbing police abuse in Nigeria is the impunity enjoyed by the violators. Though the police authorities do set up intenal Police boards to investigate allegation of excessive force to allay public pressure. However, according to Nigerian Human Rights lawyers , internal police boards of inquiry have never resulted in disciplining of police officers that violate human rights.
2. The right to freedom from torture
Freedom from torture and inhumane treatment is in Article 5 of the UDHR and in the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, which was adopted in 1984. “Torture” is defined as both physical or mental severe pain or suffering inflicted for reasons like trying to get a confession or punishing someone for an action.
Survivors of Abu Ghraib torture win in court
After the United States invaded. In 2003 United States invaded Iraq and took over Abu Ghraib maximum security prison.American soldiers were said to have tortured prisoners physicaly, sexually and psychologically. Three torture survivors were awarded $42 million. Appeals are still possible, but for now, this decision is a victory for the right to freedom from torture.
3. The right to equal treatment before the law
The right to equal treatment before the law Article 7 of the UDHR, Protocol No. 12 of the European Convention on Human Rights.The legal system must treat everyone fairly and equally. Different treatment, like racial discrimination or gender discrimination, violates a person’s rights.
The US Supreme Court finds the death penalty discriminatory
In 1967, William Furman killed a homeowner during a botched robbery in Savannah, Georgia. Despite suffering from psychosis and other impairments, Furman stood trial, where he testified that the shooting was an accident. A jury of 11 white people and one Black person sentenced him to death anyway. Furman’s lawyer took the case to the Supreme Court. In 1972, the Court ruled that because the death penalty led to discriminatory results (Furman was Black, as were most people who received death sentences), it violated the 14th Amendment. Furman’s death sentence was overturned, as were the death sentences of 589 others. Sadly, the death penalty was reissued just a few years later, making it an ongoing human rights issue in the United States.
4. The right to freedom of movement
The right to freedom of movement includes the right to live within a country’s borders, the right to move freely within those borders, and the right to leave a country. Some restrictions are said to be lawful argumement. Idiroko border and no sales of petrol. Freedom of movement is protected in places like Article 13 of the UDHR, Article 12 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and Article 45 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights.
Women in Saudi Arabia slowly gain more independence
Saudi Arabia has a history of restricting women’s right to movement; until 2018, women weren’t allowed to apply for a passport without a male guardian’s permission or even drive. In 2022, Saudi Arabia passed a Personal Status Law that authorities claimed was a major reform for women. According to advocacy groups like Amnesty International, the law still protects male dominance. Divorced mothers don’t share equal rights with men, which makes it harder for them to travel with their kids or move overseas. It will take more reforms to fully guarantee the right to freedom of movement.
5. The right to return.
People have the right to leave their country, but they also have the right to return. Documents like the UDHR, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and various treaties recognize that everyone has the right to go home if they choose to. This protects people’s right to go back to their countries after a violent conflict, a natural disaster or other crisis that forced them to leave.
Exiled Palestinians keep the keys to their family homes
When the state of Israel was established in 1948, military forces displaced hundreds of thousands of Palestinians during what’s known as the Nakba, which means “catastrophe” in Arabic. As a video from Al Jazeera describes, exiled Palestinians have been holding onto house keys, some for homes left in 1948. In many cases, the homes have been destroyed; the keys are symbolic of the intent to return to their homeland. The UN has repeatedly affirmed that Palestinian refugees have the right to return and receive compensation, but Israel continues to displace and oppress Palestinians.
6. The right to asylum
The right to asylum protects a person’s right to seek protection in another country if they’re facing persecution or are very likely to face persecution. Most people seeking asylum are oppressed based on factors like gender, race, nationality, sexuality or political opinion. Article 14 of the UDHR and the 1951 UN Refugee Convention are two ofv documents that enshrinine this right.
Australia till today is still very strict on the issue of asylum except if there is a public pressure on the government as it happened in the case of Nadesalingam family before Australia gave them permanent visas.Many human rights organizations believe Australia’s strict rules on asylum fail to protect the rights of asylum-seekers .
7. The right to marry
The right to marry is in Article 16 of the UDHR, the European Convention on Human Rights, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. There are some restrictions. For example, you can’t marry someone against their will. Most States also restrict marriage between close relatives.
As a deeply conservative country, Greece has been slow to adopt many of Europe’s policies on equality and human rights. In 2024, the government finally passed a law allowing gay couples to marry and adopt children.
8. The right to freedom of thought
Freedom of thought, which also includes the freedom of opinion and expression, ensures a person’s right to hold and express thoughts and opinions without interference, punishment or coercion.
Debates on what should or shouldn’t count as protected speech or freedom of expression is continues. Article 18 and 19 of the UDHR protect freedom of thought and opinion, as does Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
American students win the right to protest against war
Before Christmas break in 1965, some students walked into their high school wearing black armbands to protest the Vietnam War. They students were suspended when they refused to remove the bands. The students sued the school authority. The four-year court battle went to the Supreme Court, which ruled in favour of the students that the students had a right to wear the bands.
9. The right to education
Everyone deserves an education, which includes free and universal primary school, available and accessible secondary education, and technical and vocational training opportunities. In other words, “education” doesn’t only include classroom learning. The right to education is enshrined in places like Article 26 of the UDHR and Article 14 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. In Nigeria ,1999 CFRN says there should be free education at all levels. Though there is a clause “,when the government is able to do it”. This is a scam . There has never been a time the government of Nigeria can not provide free education at all levels . In Nigeria where a political office holders do steal billion of dollars .
Campaign for the right to free education at all levels need to be intensifier by CDHR along with organisations like Education for All in Nigeria EFAN and Education Rights Campaign ERC
10. The right to political participation. Right to vote and be voted for.
Article 21 of the UDHR states that everyone has the right to participate in the government of their country, either directly or through elected representatives. Political participation includes protesting, voting, running for office, volunteering for campaigns, and joining and forming political parties. Governments that restrict public participation through legislation or coercion violate this right.
Many of us would remember the roles played by United Action for Democracy UAD, Campaign for Democracy, Centre for Constitutionalism and Demilitarization CENCOD and many others before this democratic dispensation . Though many are still strongly of the opinion that what we have is not a democracy but a civil rule by dictators. It must not be forgotten ,the gallant role played by National Concsience NC led by Chief Gani Fawehinmi with the likes of Comrade Femi Aborishade ,the Symbol of CDHR, Segun Sango , Abiodun Aremu , Joe Odumakin , Olumide Fusika , Emma Ezeazu, Bamidele Aturu, Tanko Yunusa , Adeola Soetan ,Lanre Arogundade , Toyin Raheem , Amitolu Shittu , Ayodele Akele, Baba Ayelabola, Larry Suraj , Mark Adebayo,Nma Odi and a host of others to expand political space to accommodate all Nigerians.
The right to vote and be voted for is still not wholly in Nigeria. Many political parties dienfranchise several Nigerians through sales of nomination forms which are priced beyond common man and only affordable by very few Nigerians that have looted the treasury or being sponsored by a looter or looters of our treasury. This is a task for all comrades and legal minds to challenge the rights of political parties to sell nomination forms in the courts of law. If INEC is barred through the Court not to sell nomination form , why should political parties except one or two ,be selling nomination forms more so at exorbitant price .?
Insecurity and Hardship
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Let me say it unequivocally that hunger/hardship itself is a form of insecurity. Though so many definitions are attributable to the word security .
A. Akinade ,A specialist in security in one of his books defined security as free from danger ,hunger ,poverty and apprehension. The new English Dictionary defines Security as free from danger ,safe,stable, firmly held or fixed, confident , assured and reliable . It expantiates further by saying that security is to make safe , to fasten firmly,to protect ,to confine ,to satisfy, to guarantee,surety for repayment etc.
It’s commonly said, an hungry man is an angry man. How does a hungry man protect his rights or protect the right of others. The Yorubas use to say , Ebi ki wo inu ki oro mi wo. ( That is a hungry man can never think of anything other than what to eat first.)
It’s a major challenge for rights defenders in this present Nigeria. Therefore poverty,hardship and hunger are hindrance to the defence of human rights. Every struggle requires finance in one form or the other yet our comrades protect and defend rights of others selflessly.
If not the availability of this hall which must have been paid for, it would not have been possible to talk to ourselves and brain storm together on the way forward for the human rights defenders in this present Nigeria that the economy does not smile at over 95% of Nigerians.
There is a word which though sounds differently but has very close or similar meaning to security. That is “welfare”..
The same dictionary gives meaning of welfare as as wellbeing , health , assistance or financial aid granted to the poor and unemployed..This confirms welfare and security are almost synonymous. Both have to do with assurance of people against danger .To the military , security mean freedom of people or state against threat. Anything that constitutes a danger to the security of a people or state is a threat.
With definitions of security and welfare ,insecurity can be said to lack of security and welfare for the People.That is the state of being open to danger, threat and lack of protection.Uncertainty or anxiety about oneself and lack of confidence
Economic Hardship is nothing other than poverty. As I mentioned earlier , a major hindrance to fighting for human rights or through instrumentality of our laws relying on the court of law .’ Courts stand…..as havens of refuge , for those who might otherwise suffer because they are helpless , weak, out numbered , or are victims of prejudice or public excitement “- Justice Hugo Black .
in Chambers v. Florida
309 US 227 at 241( 1940).
Poverty leads to insecurity. Hardship and insecurity form a vicious cycle. Poverty fuels crime, and insecurity worsens hardship.
Understanding how low income and inequality erode safety and social cohesion is crucial to breaking the cycle. There are many links between hardship and insecurity. Hardship/poverty reduction must be central to any public safety policy.
1. Hardship/Poverty and Crime:
Numerous studies demonstrate a clear, quantifiable relationship between poverty and crime. According to World Bank research, every 1 percent rise in poverty correlates with a 0.7 percent increase in crime rates, underscoring how economic hardship can push individuals towards unlawful activities. Similarly, in South Africa, a 10 percent uptick in unemployment (often a sign of poverty) is associated with a 1.6 percent rise in crime.
Poor educational attainment only aggravates the problem. High school dropouts are far more likely to engage in criminal behavior and when housing conditions are not standard, crime rates spike. How many Nigerians can afford to own a house. Our mortgage system is not working, Only very few people can afford the rent in metropolitan cities . This has driven many people to seek shelter in remotest areas of the rural areas. This hardship ,no doubt affect the rights defenders too.
2. Poverty’s Impact on Body and Mind
Poverty does not just undermine bank balances. Hardship hurts health. The World Health Organization WHO reports that individuals in the lowest income quantile are twice as likely to suffer poor health outcomes compared to those in the highest quantile.
This decline in physical well-being contributes directly to insecurity, both by limiting people’s ability to work and by exacerbating mental health issues that can lead to criminal behavior.
3. Divided by Wealth, United by Tension
Economic inequality often accompanies poverty, magnifying social tensions. Countries with the widest income gaps also endure the highest levels of unrest.
Within communities, stark disparities breed resentment and social exclusion. The EU’s Eurofound reports that excluded groups feel less secure and suffer lower life satisfaction. These feelings of marginalization can manifest in increased violence, from domestic abuse to gang activity.
4. The Plight of Children and Families
Children are among the most vulnerable victims of hardship driven insecurity. UNICEF data shows that youngsters growing up in poverty face higher risks of violence, exploitation, and maltreatment.
Financial stress in the home also elevates the likelihood of domestic violence. Research in the Journal of Family Violence links economic hardship directly to higher rates of spousal and child abuse.
5. Neglected Services, Rising Insecurity
Impoverished neighborhoods often lack robust public services, and homeless individuals are disproportionately targeted for violence. Moreover, limited access to legal assistance leaves low-income residents unable to protect themselves or seek justice effectively.
6. The Unequal Sense of Safety
Beyond objective measures of crime, harfship shapes how safe people feel. Residents of low-income neighborhoods report a markedly reduced sense of safety compared to those in wealthier areas, even when actual crime rates are similar.
This perception itself can deter investment, degrade community cohesion, and perpetuate a self-fulfilling cycle of decline.
How do we break the cycle?
Reducing poverty is not only about economic fairness; it is vital for improving public safety. Effective policies that increase household incomes, provide access to quality education and healthcare, ensure decent housing, and address service gaps in underserved communities work together to reduce crime and insecurity.
1999 CFRN in Section 216 says, Nigerians should be paid national minimum living wages. Instead government has been paying poor minimum wages that can’t sustain anyone for a week in this turbulent situations in Nigeria.
Reduction in income inequality and promoting social inclusion help ease the frustration and desperation that often lead to violence. Ultimately, fighting hardship must be central to any strategy for creating safer, more resilient communities.
Meeting basic needs lifts people out of hardship and builds a foundation for lasting peace and stability and will definitely make the rights defenders , Anti Corruption crusaders and development practitioners work harder and perform better.
In a turbulent situation as we are having in Nigeria ,there is special need to examine how our government has performed in the area of welfare . The government has no any other duty than to provide security and welfare for the people. Failure of our government to comply with this special
mandate of 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as altered without mincing word is a big set back in the struggle for human rights, liberation and political rights.
Participants at one of CASS Project Dissemination seminars unequivocally state , ” Remind Government of their duties: Welfare of the people”.
The continuing threat posed to people s security and national security exemplified by anomic violent social behaviour ; threat posed by Boko Haram and by mindless orgy of mob justice are epiphenomenal,being symptomatic of the tinderbox of the yawning deficit of this broader social security ,waiting to explode and which may consume the country if care is not taken.
A weak social security is a weak state capacity and the stronger social security ,the stronger the state capacity will be. Therefore, there is no doubt, a strong correlation exists between social security and state capacity. Social security provides an important constitutive foundational rock for the social trust so vital for engedering and sustaining state capacity ,properly understood as the buckle that holds the state together tightly on the basis of mutual , recognition and reciprocity.This was the message from the 1995 World Summit on Social Development , when it resolved that , “access to social security lays the foundation for sustainable development and is one of the prerequisite for eradicating poverty and or hardship “.
In this present so called democracy , fighters for People’s legal ,political and human rights , we can’t be discussing hardship and insecurity in isolation without making reference to o politics.
History has poignantly illustrates that democratic struggle is an unending one , anchored on the pursuit and the elaboration of public policy of social solidarity as the essence of political life , as the legitimate province of politics and governance as a public interest project . This was the point of the anchoring notion of fraternite, which galvanized the French Revolution : the refrain on , No Taxation without Representation, which provided the rallying point for the American Revolution , the condemation of the decline of Great Britain into two nations and the invocation of Fanon that Africa set afoot a new Man ,and of Cabral that Africa should return to the source .
Political insecurity as a result of hardship.
Few days ago, there was the rumour that certain elements were planning a coup to topple this civilian regime. Why would any one be it the military or civilians ever nurse the need to remove the government other than through the ballot boxes. While the action is condemnable, though there was a denial in some quarters that nothing of such happened. But truth must be told , when hardship becomes tougher, people may tend to think of any means to stop the hardship. This is the situation if elections are constantly rigged , there is likely to be apprehension in all quarters as determination to change a bad government through the ballot would seem to be impossible. The rights fighters and defenders are also human and do know bad government makes their work more difficult.
However,
regardless of the situation it’s the civil society that can make the positive change possible in every society.
For instance since the National Conference being put together by the Civil Society under the leadership of irrepressible Comrade Alao Aka-Bashorun as the then Chairman of Nigeria Bar Association was aborted by the ruling class,using one of their agencies of coercion,the police no government has been able to convene a national conference. The reason is not so far fetched . The ruling class does not have the capacity to convene one and would never support a genuine national conference , a conference put together by the Civil society that is sovereign, that it’s decisions are not subjected to any alteration or amendment by any authority ,executive , legislative or judiciary other than ratification by the people through a referendum. The point iam making here is that even in a turbulent situation ,it’s the civil society that can put an end to the suffering and hardship being faced by the People.
Fellow comrades and legal juggernauts and great minds , without ensuring our human rights are upheld, there can not be any way forward for the country.
It’s when we uphold human rights that we can fight Corruption and reduces it if it can not be eradicated completely.Duties of Anti Corruption groups, like HEDA, CACOBAG, CACOL, Zero Tolerance ,SERAP etc shall be easier if rights of people are not infringed upon.
Millennium Development goals failed due to lack of respect for People’s rights. Corruption is an infringement human rights as social amenities that people ought to have elude them.
My fellow defenders of the masses, ladies and gentlemen, we must not have an illusion that struggles would ever end and it’s in Turbulent situations as we have in Nigeria ,where there is hardship and insecurity , we have more sacrifices to make, more work to do and more actions to take in a non violent ways to change the system.
We must be involved in politics should we be determined to rescue our People from political and economic bondage of this turbulent period in the country.
Oratocracy ,according to Augustus Adebayo in his book “power in politics” is what we have presently in Nigeria.Oratocracy is the term he gave to government by speech making.The amount of time, energy and human resources expended by Nigerians public functionaries on addressing audiences. Showmanship appears to be a strong trait in our political leaders.There appears to be an irresistible urge to impress and show everyone around the power and authority vested in the office held. It’s talk talk without visible action. No doubt ,economic power of the people is being eroded and their human dignity eroded. We have to defile all odds to “fight for real democracy “as declared by Special edition of Socialist Democracy in 2007 ,published Democratic Socialist Movement DSM..it’s such real democracy that will ensure no one and no government trample on the right of Nigerians. February to June 2007 edition of Labour fact sheet was also supportive of the call by Socialist Democracy by declaring that we can not be slaves in our country.
Activism in us must not suffer any set back. The ruling class wants it evaporated completely, hence the bad system being forced on us, hardship forced on and insecurity over which they refused to take any serious actions. Are the perpetrators and promoters of insecurity more powerful than us. His lordship , Comrade Justice Kayode Eso, a retired Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, emphasized at the first Fawehinmiism lecture , in honour of Chief Gani Fawehinmi , how activism, though he said legal activism , can make one stand tall among contemporaries and have his or her name indellibly written in gold .
Comrades do not retreat or surrender because of hardship, it’s ephemeral, tough times never last,tough people do.Insecurity ,we shall overcome. We must be more active, stand “gidigba ” without shaken no matter the threat but non violently.
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Permit me to mention how non violent power means overcame oppression and authoritarian rule.
India
In India in the 1930s, after Gandhi had returned from South Africa, he and his followers adopted a strategy of refusing to cooperate with British rule. Through civil disobedience and boycotts, they successfully loosened their oppressors’ grip on power and set India on the path to freedom.
USA
In the 1960s, Gandhi’s nonviolent weapons were taken up by black college students in Nashville, Tennessee. Disciplined and strictly nonviolent, they successfully desegregated Nashville’s downtown lunch counters in five months, becoming a model for the entire civil rights movement.
South Africa
In 1985, a young South African named Mkhuseli Jack led a movement against the legalized discrimination known as apartheid. Their campaign of nonviolent mass action, and a powerful consumer boycott in the Eastern Cape province, awakened whites to black grievances and fatally weakened business support for apartheid.
Part 2:
Denmark
In April, 1940, German Deutsch military forces invaded Denmark. Danish leaders adopted a strategy of “resistance disguised as collaboration”—undermining German Deutsch objectives by negotiating, delaying, and obstructing Nazi demands. Underground resistance organized sabotage and strikes, and rescued all but a handful of Denmark’s seven thousand Jews.
Poland
In 1980, striking workers in Poland demanded independent unions. Using their leverage to negotiate unprecedented rights in a system where there was no power separate from the Communist Party, they created a union called “Solidarity”. Driven underground by a government crackdown in 1981, Solidarity re-emerged in 1989 as Poland’s governing political party.
Chile
In 1983, Chilean workers initiated a wave of nonviolent protests against the military dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet. Severe repression failed to stop the protests, and violent opposition failed to dislodge the dictatorship—until the democratic opposition organized to defeat Pinochet in a 1988 referendum.
Comrades and those that are lawyers ,we have a duty to fight for the people, I will therefore use this opportunity to call on everyone here , the lawyers, the unionists, activists to join in the struggle to remove Local government employees from the contributory pension scheme forced on them by government of some states. No government has the legitimate right to force an unpopular policy on the people. If the police agitated for their removal from the “, punitive” contributory pension scheme and it’s receiving urgent attention, NULGE of various states where they have been coerced to accept the scheme in one way of the other must stand firm , rescind the decision and withdraw their consent . It’s the right of Local government staff as well as other Nigerians to live meaningful life after their retirement.
We should be ready to support and collaborate with the local government employees to to fight this evil and to even approach the court of law to determine if Nigerians are not entitled to decent living after retirement.
In conclusion , our commitment to protect ,fight and defend the people must be total. Beko fought for the people till the end, Baba Omojola Oliwide fought till the end, Gani defended the oppressed till the end , AREMSON for People’s freedom till the end. This quote of AREMSON , ” We must struggle to be free” should remind us it’s in this turbulent situation that we must close all ranks ,come together as one and struggle ceaselessly in accordance with the rule of law to defeat all forms of oppressive tendencies which include hardship and insecurity. Civil society , the human right groups must be solid , and resilient in the pursuit of it’s goals and objectives. We have to be committed elastic and dogged. Civil society is being said to have gone into a deep slumber perhaps because of hardship and political apologists that have nothing in their minds other than making money through the bad system of bourgeoisie politicians. We must not allow any situation to deter us. ” As long as people use tactics to oppress or restrict other people from being free, there is work to be done”- Civil Right Activist Rose Parks
I thank you all.
Signed
Toyin Raheem.
