As Nigeria joined other Nations of the world to celebrate International Human Rights Day, Miss Face of Humanity (MFOH) Nigeria; Amb. Rita Chika Ezenwa has expressed worries over the massive infringement on human rights, especially by the wave of insurgency, perpetrating havoc and willful displacement of communities that have infringed on peace and cultural integration.
Queen Ezenwa made this known when she addressed Journalists at a Media Round Table organized by the prominent civil rights advocacy group; the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) in Abuja on Saturday, to commemorate the 2022 International Human Rights Day with the theme: World’s Human Rights Day Commemoration:- Reflection on Situation of the IDPs in FCT.
Reflecting on the significance of the day, Queen Nerita as she is fondly called stated that should be to remind the people of the world, including Nigeria of the complementarities between peace and human rights in advancing humanity as a whole
“It seems clear that human rights and peace are ‘intrinsically’ interwoven in that the latter cannot be achieved without respect for the former and human rights cannot be enforced and observed without sustainable peace and good governance.
“Even though there seems to be no single model of peace, the claim is that human rights stipulations empower individuals to live in dignity, they strengthen good governance frameworks.
“Besides, human rights stipulations ‘promote checks and balances between formal and informal institutions of governance. They affect necessary social changes, generating political will and public participation and awareness; and responding to key challenges on human rights and sustainable peace”, Miss Ezenwa opined.
Continuing, the beauty queen, who was a special guest of honour at the event noted that there is no better time to talk about peace and human rights other than now the Country is moving towards its general elections in 2023.
According to her; “adherence to human rights principles and best practices require that political parties and politicians in all their dealings must respect human and democratic rights, so that lives can be better lived and properties saved. Violence and torture in the electoral process must be avoided”.
While adding that government must begin to open access to better environment with good sanitation, the ardent humanitarian remarked that Internal and inter State war must be avoided to reduce killings and reduce the establishment of IDP Camps in nearly all the states of the country.
“This is because internal displacements subject the people to degrading conditions and poverty, which decrease on daily basis the quality of lives”, she explained.
Furthermore, Queen Nerita, as she is fondly called urged Nigeria and the world to reaffirm their commitment to promoting human rights by ensuring that these fundamental rights are no more infringed upon.
“Thuggery, which breeds violence must be taken out of our elections, rigging must be aborted in the electoral processes, while vote buying and selling must be discouraged for all times”, she added.
Finally, Amb. Rita Chika Ezenwa stated that for human rights to be meaningful, all Nigerians and world citizens must come together to re-write the genuine principles of human rights in their conscience to make the creation of human rights on 10 December 1948 and its yearly celebration meaningful.
She, therefore, called on all with a conscience to rise to arrest the situation of human rights abuses and put an end to bad practices so as to bring back peace into the country and the world at large
Generally, Human Rights Day as observed every year on 10th December is the anniversary of the day the United Nations General Assembly adopted, 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
On that day the United Nations adopted a list of Human Rights for the protection of humanity and has since then been celebrating the day as Human Rights Day.
Read Also: Humanity is Covered by Human Rights; – Rita Chika Ezenwa
This year, the theme has been set as ‘Dignity, Freedom, and Justice for All,’ in celebration of the 75th anniversary of the adoption of the UDHR on December 10, 2023. The year-long campaign will focus on the universality of the UDHR and how activism associated with it can help people.
- By Ken Gbados
