By Samuel Onyekwere
Injustice, plus lack of respect for human right have been identified as the major causes of the crises bedeviling Nigeria. This was the submission of a human rights activist, Achike Chudi, at a summit themed “Know your right, defend your right, pursue your right”, organized by the Justice, Development and Peace Commission of the St Mathew’s Catholic Church, Amukoko, Apapa Deanery, Lagos.
Chudi admitted that injustice is common in all strata of the society, including schools, corporate world, homes, political circle and streets. Nigeria, he said, is
unjust to herself and her people and because the country is weak, a lot of armed groups have mustarded the courage to operate unabated.
His words: “As citizens of this country, we have rights that should be protected, governments have rights also, and the government is also obligated to protect the rights of its citizens. This country is manifestly unjust to its citizens because we have no business with poverty. The problem is that when we know our right we are too fearful to asset it, but again, you should know where and how to asset your
right.”
The Parish Priest of St Mathew Catholic Church, Amukoko, Rev Father Emmanuel Likoko, who doubles as the Chaplain of JDPC of the Parish, expressed concern over the living condition of the residents of the area and that spurred him to enlighten them on the need to look beyond where they are and make something out of their lives instead of resigning to fate.
He said further: “I have felt that there is need in this community to have such forum where we can engage better with one another. We want to help people understand the best way to live. The environment alone speaks for itself, many people are born here and they are used to the way things are done here. It’s difficult for them to move to the next step.
“I want to make them understand that there is more to life that what
you see, they need to do something more to better with their lives. I
don’t like the way the live, the environment they live, and some of
them have resign to fate The number one challenge here is that many
people live in ignorance when you talk about their rights. When you
talk about the systems of life that they need to work on, you’ll find
that many of them are confused.”
The Kenyan priest, who has been in the Parish for the past five years, said the aim of the commission is to raise the awareness of the people in the area on the need to stand for their rights and demand for justice where necessary.
Another guest speaker, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Chioma Ajunwa
of the Anti-Human Trafficking Section, Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID), Lagos, warned that the rate of child abuse in the country is on the increase. She revealed that a lot child abuse, especially sexual abuse, have gone unreported to the police because the parents of the victim feel opening up may expose the child to unnecessary publicity. In addition, some parents, when the abuse involves a relative, believe that the matter is what could be handled
within the family circle.
Child abuse, she said, happens everywhere and most parents and guardians don’t even know that they are abusing their children with some of their actions. She listed some of the abuses on children as physical, emotional, psychological, sexual and neglect. Throwing more on neglect abuse, she explained that active neglect takes place when parents withhold the basic necessities from their children, while passive neglect is a situation where the parents cannot afford to provide for their children.
The Olympic gold medalist advised parents to be careful about what they do in the presence of their children and also who they leave their children with as care givers. Child abuse could earn the perpetrator from 5- 10 years in jail and as much as life imprisonment depending on the degree of the offence. She however praised the Lagos State government for putting the necessary structures at ensuring the perpetrators of this act are properly prosecuted.
The Mr. Justin Nwanze, Coordinator JDPC, Amukoko, revealed that the commission is concerned about the welfare of the people and is praying that
people who have been unlawfully detained should be released.
Emphasizing the need for people to know their rights and defend it, he
said, a time has come when the people of Amukoko and the society at
large should be able to pursue and defend their rights and so the
essence of the title of the summit, ‘know your right, defend your
right, pursue your right’. The job of the commission according to
Nwanze, is not limited to Catholic Church alone, as they have during
the first quarter of the year, reached out to members of other denominations to educate them on the importance of getting their permanent voters card.
The event, which took place at the St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church, Amukoko, had in attendance: Emmanuel Likoko- Parish Priest, Sylvester Onasanya – Assistant Parish Priest, ACP Chioma Ajunwa, Nkem Lawrence – Manager Programmes who represented the GM, NTA, Rev Father Livinus Onogwu –
St Patrick Priest working in Kenya and Special Apostle Prophet Elijah
Obanji Olasebikan- CAN Chairman, Amukoko.