By Chibuike Nwabuko
Abuja (Sundiata Post) – As Nigerians join the rest of the world to celebrate the 2023 Human Rights day, the Executive Secretary of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Dr. Tony Ojukwu SAN, has urged Nigerians to remain steadfast and vigilant in the defence of their fundamental rights as enshrined in the Constitution and other national and international human rights instruments to which Nigeria has enacted or is obligated under international law.
Ojukwu who made the call in his message to mark the 2023 Human Rights Day, tasked Nigerians to always stand for and demand for their rights from the government and other duty bearers.
The NHRC Scribe reminded Nigerians that “human rights are not only fundamental, they are also God-given natural endowments that cannot be taken away by the authorities or non-state actors without recourse to the law.”
According to the Senior Advocate of Nigeria, the 2023 Human Rights Day is also the commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, described by the NHRC helms man as “a unique document which proclaimed dignity, equality and justice as common standards for all people and all nations” and whose 30 articles “constitute a promise and a set of gifts for humanity which guarantee dignity, life, security, access to education, healthcare, employment, fair pay, voting rights, gender equality, the values of free speech, privacy, and mutual respect irrespective of gender, race, ethnicity, or religion.”
He also used the occasion to call on governments at national, state and local levels to prioritise the fulfilment of human rights through “budgetary, policy, legislative and programmatic” investments that will implement the “Fundamental Objectives and Directive Principles of State Policy enshrined in Chapter 2 of the Constition, by placing the security and welfare of Nigerians above personal, partisan, ethnic and religious interests and considerations.”
