WHY SHOULDN’T WE ALL BE HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVISTS?
I am no lawyer or human rights activist. Heck, I can’t even remember all the human rights there are in existence. What are those rights again? There should be more than twenty of them, but for the life of me, I can’t remember them all, maybe five or six but definitely not all. One right still stood out though:
THE RIGHT TO LIFE!
That’s really the one right I still remember; maybe it’s because as a Nigerian, we all just really, really want to survive however way we can, whichever way we can, or maybe I just never really paid much attention in Social Studies class. Whatever the case, that one basic right stuck.
Yes, I’m no lawyer or activist, but shouldn’t we all be? The Human Right activist part, not the lawyer. As regular Nigerians, shouldn’t we be the ones constantly calling for human rights for all? The politicians won’t do it for us, the Pastor won’t do the same and neither would the Imam. Look at the world we live in now, the endless violence, reports of war and rumours of war, the refugee crises the world over, and the all-round unbearable suffering. These things happen as a result of one person or group of persons believing they are better than others and this leads to the chaos we see.
Here in Nigeria, it’s a whole different kettle of fish, almost impossible to uphold if you ask some people. We can at least begin to try on individual levels, so here is how I suggest we start:
KNOW YOUR RIGHTS. It’s almost that simple for when you know what your rights are. When the policeman wants to harass you just for taking a stroll around your neighbourhood, you can intimidate him by acting as the learned one.
DEMAND FOR YOUR RIGHTS. Now this is tricky because we as Nigerians always ask what the point is, we always believe we’ll never get justice, so we cower and accept our part as the oppressed party. This should not be so. Speak out, scream out, type it, tweet it, just keep demanding. When you hold Government accountable to their duties, you demand your right.
UNDERSTAND THE NEXT PERSON HAS RIGHTS. As Nigerians, this is another hard thing to do. It’s why one pastor believes he is better than the next pastor, or Boko Haram believes we all must convert to their brand of extremism or die. When you learn that the gateman employed by you has the right to get paid and promptly too, then you treat him right and pay it forward.
LIVE YOUR RIGHTS. Live everyday knowing that everybody you interact with has the same right to life as you. The moment you act in a way to devalue that life, you are essentially trampling on their rights. Doesn’t matter if that person is of different faith than you, doesn’t matter if they ‘sin’ differently than you, doesn’t matter if they act differently than you, what matters is that they have their right to Live, work, sleep, feed, get paid, associate and much more, so long as those their rights don’t trample on yours.
It’s a tricky subject but simple.
Here is what I want us all to do. Actually, I didn’t suggest this, a lawyer/human rights activist did, so he must be on to something. #InternationalHumanRightsDay #FreeAndEqualNaija is what we want to get trending. Use the hashtags on all social media platforms.
Yes, that’s what we want trending, a free and equal Nigeria, Human Rights for every Nigerian, no exceptions.
Is that impossible?
No it’s not, maybe not 100% free and equal.
But 99%? Surely!
By Pink Panther
About author
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46 Comments
Maximus
December 10, 07:05“Demand for your rights”- This is the part where many people fail(mostly). That’s why when you fight for something and eventually win it here, they’ll believe you used bribery or some other means.
Nice post. ?
Dennis Macaulay
December 10, 07:05Now looking at PP One kain! Who wrote this and what have you done with my friend?
*dials SSS* I think aliens are in Nigeria and they have invaded my friend’s body
Pink Panther
December 10, 07:07Oh shurrup and go fight for some human rights, my friend. 🙂
Dennis Macaulay
December 10, 07:22I mean we need to fight for rights to fuck as we please! Tyrants like Maximus need to stop tramping on our rights!
We wee not take it
*in orubebe voice*
Brian Collins
December 10, 09:48No Dennis, we wee not!!!
Delle
December 10, 08:20Exactly PP, u said it all.
I actually saw this hashtag trending since last night and in a friend of mine’s post, where he wrote on this also, someone said, ‘I am all up for human rights promotion and enforcement, but your write-up speaks also on right to love whoever. This shouldn’t be absolute but subject to existing laws in the society because of some anomalies as homosexuality, bestiality etc’
I was about to include, ‘Funny how u’d say ‘anomalies’ when the word should be extensively avoided by you seeing as you’re one anomalous being’ but I didn’t because on a second thought, it isn’t my post.
The people of Nigeria have homophobia seated comfortably in their deepest recesses and now they want to associate it with the environment? From that overly dramatic and scarily superstitious woman in the bus who wanted to swallow a girl up for using what she felt were ‘gayic’ on her child to this guy, Nigerians have gone past the level of redemption. It’s saddening that even in a post of like minds such as that of my friend’s (yes, he’s a member), one ugly croc would rear its head and talk about my sexuality being an anomaly. Issorait.
Many people know about today being the International Human Rights Day, but are they willing to realise that the Right to Love, irrespective of gender, is also a part of it? That’s the question.
bruno
December 10, 09:05?? awesome post, pp. each of your four suggestion should be drilled into every human being. happy human rights day and hope we get the big one we want sooner than later.
Chizzie
December 10, 09:35Kk
Brian Collins
December 10, 09:49Thank you PP, wake up call for me too.
Tiercel de Claron
December 10, 12:38“KNOW YOUR RIGHTS .It’s almost that simple for when you know what your rights are.When the policeman wants to harass you just for taking a stroll around your neighbourhood,you can intimidate him by acting as the learned one.”
Some rights afforded you under the CFRN,1999 as amended:
Chapter IV
Fundamental Rights
33. (1) Every person has a right to
life,and no one shall be deprived
intentionally of his life,save in execution of the sentence of a court
in respect of a criminal offence of
which he has been found guilty in
Nigeria.
(2) A person shall not be regarded as having been deprived of his life in
contravention of this section,if
he dies as a result of the use,to
such extent and in such circumstances as are permitted
by law, of such force as is reasonably necessary –
(a) for the defence of any person from unlawful violence or for the defence of property:
(b) in order to effect a lawful
arrest or to prevent the escape of a person lawfully detained; or
(c) for the purpose of suppressing a riot,insurrection or mutiny.
Tiercel de Claron
December 10, 12:4934. (1) Every individual is entitled to respect for the dignity of his person,and accordingly –
(a) no person shall be subject
to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment;
(b) no person shall he held in slavery or servitude;and
(c) no person shall be required to perform forced or compulsory labour.
(2) for the purposes of subsection (1) (c) of this section,”forced or compulsory labour” does not include –
(a) any labour required in consequence of the sentence or order of a court;
(b) any labour required of members of the armed forces of the Federation or the Nigeria Police Force in pursuance of their duties as
such;
(c) in the case of persons who have conscientious objections to service in the armed forces of the Federation,any labour required instead of such service;
(d) any labour required which is reasonably necessary in the event of any emergency or calamity threatening the life or well-being of the community; or
(e) any labour or service that
forms part of –
(i) normal communal or other
civic obligations of the well-being of the community.
(ii) such compulsory national service in the armed forces of the Federation as may be prescribed by an Act of the National Assembly, or
(iii) such compulsory national service which forms part of the education and training of citizens of Nigeria as may be prescribed by an Act of the
National Assembly.
Tiercel de Claron
December 10, 12:57Sections 35 & 36,quite lengthy,deal with right to liberty,lawfully circumscription of it and what legal recourse one has in case of an illegal breach.
Of particular interest and one to be noted is S.37,to wit:
of a law.
37. The privacy of citizens,their
homes,correspondence,telephone
conversations and telegraphic communications is hereby guaranteed and protected.
The Police do not have any right to go through your phone.No caveat,no circumscription.
Tiercel de Claron
December 10, 13:06For those interested in knowing,Sections 33 thru 46 capture all the rights afforded you under Decree 24,1999.Heavily circumscribed by S.45(1)a,but still enough to live with.
Pink Panther
December 10, 13:45Wow. Mighty thanks for this, TDC
Delle
December 10, 13:27Blood of Jesus, TDC!!! Did you just dig into the Nigerian constitutional archive?! Na wa o, I carry yansh for u
Maximus
December 10, 17:19Actually, the constitution can be found everywhere including the public state libraries, people just don’t bother to open it. There’s a copy of it in my house, it has a green cover with Nigerian coat of arms on it.
Bret Hart
December 10, 20:10I don’t mind coming over to read and study it with you. ……maybe we can have a chit chat , a cup of tea and well some other stuffs could happen too
Tiercel de Claron
December 10, 20:35Do you also have a copy of the Biafran Charter?.That one guarantees you all your rights,no abridgment whatsoever,better than the Nigerian own ever could.
That is,if the Biafran state ever gets achieved
Maximus
December 10, 21:04Biko I don’t support their biafran agenda. Biafra is not going to solve any problem.
Tiercel de Claron
December 10, 23:14Nobody is asking you to support any agenda.I simply asked if you’ve read the Biafran Bill of Rights.You were the one who made yourself appear all-knowing about constitutions.
Btw,not supporting an agenda doesn’t mean you should be ignorant of what it’s about and entail.Just saying.
Sinnex
December 10, 13:29What about the right to comment?
Freedom of speech?
Freedom of expression?
I guess on this blog, all fingers are equal, but some fingers are more equal than the other.
Teffy, was barred from commenting on this blog by HRH PP. Teffy did not do anything that hasn’t been done before..Chizzie do worse than he did on a daily basis and guess what? He was rewarded with a weekly series on music, which is actually quite pathetic.
What about Max?
ArabianPrincess?
Dickadvocate?
Keredim?
Posh666?
I think we are just hypocritical. If you don’t respect the rights of others, how do you expect others to respect your rights?
It is okay for some people to reveal the identity of others but when one reciprocates in kind, the person would be termed a villain.
If Teffy was barred from commenting, I wonder who else was barred. I begin to wonder, what happened to Gad? What about Lord? Who is going to be next? I guess maybe me!
Why has Chizzie not been barred?
What is Max still doing here?
it is okay for Keredim to insult others and he is still here.
Flyonthewall nko?
What exactly is happening here?
Some weeks ago, I raised alarm that PP and his goons have been making fun of Teffy on Twitter and I have screenshots of the conversation. My comments were deleted and PP thereafter deleted the conversation on Twitter.
This blog is supposed to any anonymous but our privacy has been breached. If anything happens to anyone here, the blame should be put on HRH Ogbeni PinkPanther because he done a very shoddy job of protecting the image and identity of those who comments here.
If I have done anything wrong, just know that PP and his goons started it in the first instance.
Pink Panther
December 10, 13:51Oh good. Glad you got that animosity off your chest. Do you have more to say or should I take this as everything? I see you and your friend have had a long bitter talk about me. Perhaps bemoaning your fates about how unfair I am, how biased my actions are. Turn right round, and kindly go back to him and ask him what I said exactly is my issue with him before you come here and run your mouth off.
Not like I care what you have to say. I think by now you should know that your opinion of me means about as little as a speck of dust to me.
Bryce
December 10, 14:54Really,if he said is true or partly true,esp the part about barring someone from commenting,then I think he’s right in calling you out Pink Panther.
Though a relatively new commenter,I’ve read this blog long enough to know some animals seem more equal than others.Examples,rabid dogs Max & Chizzie.Flyonthewall seem to be covered by immunity too.
The twitter conversation he alluded to,I did come across it.Follow most of you on twitter,both your main and alternate accounts.
Pink Panther
December 10, 15:18Until someone says something pertaining to this that shows he knows what he’s talking about, this will be my last comment on this matter.
But by all means, carry on. #InternationalHumanRightsDay #RightToCallPinkPantherOut
Mandy
December 10, 14:22Sinnex, you’re so way off base it’s a wonder you can find your way back. Before you level accusations borne out of nothing but sheer antagonism, investigate first. Be certain what you know is fact before coming to KD to tar people left and right. But I suppose you dislike PP too much to afford him the courtesy of finding out what may or may not have happened. Which is sad really. The amount of time you spend gathering uninformed weapon against someone who doesn’t acknowledge on any other medium but here.
Mandy
December 10, 14:25By the way, you said you have screengrabs showing Twitter conversations where the Lipstick Gang maligned you people with your names. You said this that other day. And I remember Chuck asked you to email them to him. Surely if you have screengrabs, then PP deleting anything won’t affect your ‘evidence’, would it? So did u pass them along to Chuck? Does anyone else know about this evidence of Twitter foul play?
Or are we simply to take your word for it?
Pink Panther
December 10, 14:31I too would like to view that evidence. Sinnex, when you’re done being pissed at me, could u shoot me an email with the screengrabs?
Stranger
December 10, 15:36I saw the tweets too; which I regarded as puerile but unharmful. Idk why it’s being recanted.
Let the offending parties just admit it was a joke and apologize so the hatchet can be buried.
Keredim
December 10, 14:47And I asked you (politely) where it was promulgated that we were not allowed to talk about other KDians outside KD.
You never responded…
Mandy
December 10, 15:24Yes, exactly Keredim. Where is it a bylaw that KDians can’t talk about KDians on twitter. Where? I’ve come across several tweets where blunders committed here are rehashed on twitter. Chizzie is constantly ragging on posh and DM. One other guy I follow that follows chizzie is always pulling PP into his mentions on tweets about KD’s goings-on. In fact, in the very beginning, Trystham n Chizzie would always carry over their fights from here to Twitter.
And in all these interactions, only KD pseudonyms are used. So unless real boundaries were violated, then I don’t see why there should be any persecution.
ambivalentone
December 10, 18:31Biko, point of correction, Chizzie, not I, always carried the fights off KD to twitter. I’d just see one totally random mention from some unknown. The dude was obsessed (is obsessed still) and has taught a lot of ppl on here the meaning of obsession. Like why the fuck do I care about ur existence off this blog? Going all PI on ppl who u meet on here? Really? Mandy, be guided abeg
Maximus
December 10, 17:36Ogbeni Sinnex, your rant is just usual form of bickering usually associated with underachievers (losers). You and your silly air head friends can go ahead and say whatever you like, it doesnt lift a hair on my ass.
People like you and your underdog cohorts deserve to keep quiet for once, sit down, think and educate yourselves on what it means to be gay, because I don’t think you people have figured out that part yet.
Your cheap and attention seeking antics and stupid comments on recent posts has shown how shallow and bitter you actually are. You actually think people sit down to discuss you????.
You give yourself too much credit my friend… Nobody cares about you or your friends or your comments, you people merely carry out your duty of being a comic relief here weekly, that’s all. Nobody takes you people seriously, because you’ve not displayed any admirable qualities.
If you want that attention you’ve been seeking, go and develop yourself mentally so that people can start noticing you, and please stop causing discord here.
Sinnex
December 10, 17:59Are you done?
Now, tell me how your epistle negates the allegations against PP.
You just succeeded in diverting attention from my claims. You did not even counter any of them.
Do you know what ‘Argumentum Ad Hominem’ means? That’s what you just succeeded in doing.
Being gay is not a job that I need to get trained on. I am not here for validation or popularity. This is not a competition. Someone did something wrong and you are here ranting like a pregnant virgin.
Nobody, not even one person countered any of my points. Not even one. All you guys succeeded in doing is just to attack the messenger and not the message. You can’t silence me…well, maybe by barring me from commenting sha because that’s the only thing PP is good at doing. Barring people from commenting and deleting comments from people who do not kiss his ass.
Nonsense.
Keredim
December 10, 18:47ok you have said (y)our privacy is being breached by PP.
How so? No one here identifies themselves by their true identity. If you have a Twitter and/or Facebook ID, similar to your KD ID and have your real picture attached to the ID, how is PP responsible for breaching (y)our privacy? ?
And if my albeit failing memory serves me right, you and Teflondon have at least on one occasion named someone by their real name on here.
Another thing you must remember, kitodiaries is not a PLC or a government parastatal, it is owned and run by one person and him alone. It is not a democracy by any stretch of the word. He giveth and he taketh away and usually after warning the individual. ?
Tiercel de Claron
December 11, 10:20You’re wrong on that score,Kere.
Kitodiaries is now a public forum,albeit administered by one person.It’s not a dictatorship.Wouldn’t have gone far without the contribution of all,good and bad.
Day we start thinking of it as a one-man affair will signal its end
Maximus
December 10, 21:07*sigh*
Dennis Macaulay
December 10, 15:13White hat darling!
White hat!
*Wears chanel riding habit and rides off into the sunset*
Maximus
December 10, 17:21Omg bloodshed ????
Just what I’ve been expecting. Now lemme go and read ??
ambivalentone
December 10, 18:35please, where did this fight happen jare? I’d love to wade also
ambivalentone
December 10, 18:52Sinnex, if Tef has been complaining about ppl monitoring him all over twitter, he has been the most vocal support of Grand Investigator Chizzie. That guy can hound someone across all social media platforms for Africa. I feel it is justice that the embodiment of what he supports has come to bite him in the arse. Karma IS a bitch. He had better live with the results of his actions. Hound away, ppl.
And quit yapping. You and Sinnex are pals, no. I bet ur time cometh soon
Dubem
December 10, 19:43All this is just unnecessary rable rousing designed to take away from the import of the post. Sometimes you people should resolve issues privately and away from this place. Haba. Every Tom, Dick and Harry with a grief must not always bring his business to KD.
wytem
December 10, 23:28I think the aim of this blog should be revisited. It is beginning to derail
Groot
December 11, 00:57Max the celebrity. It’s very obvious you think too highly of yourself in these parts. Might score you points with your kd friends, but not much else. You should pipe down your arrogance, you’re quite rude yourself.
Brian Collins
December 11, 11:46I thought the only thing Groot said was and I quote “grrooooooot”
Groot
December 11, 13:45I am groot.☺
Chizzie
December 11, 13:53I can’t believe I missed all of this drama yst.
I don’t think its a crime to tweet about stuff that goes on here. But I am not a fan of deleting comments, mine or anyone else’s regardless of how vitriolic they might seem. Actually I was surprised and glad PP didn’t go on a comment deleting spree on Wednesday’s Rantings of a Gay Nigerian, and you see how fun that was for every one?
People are allowed to tweet about who ever they want to and whatever. Tweet about me all day long. I don’t mind. And no one truly gets barred from commenting, well I was, but in the technical sense PP can’t actually stop you from commenting. You only stay away from commenting if you want to.