WORLD HUMAN RIGHTS DAY: Aregbesola Urges Citizens To Be Rights Conscious

Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun on Tuesday said, there is the need for every Nigerian to know their rights so that they will be in a better position to guard against people trampling on their rights.
Aregbesola stated this while speaking on World Human Right Day (WHRD), organized by the Osun Civil Society Coalition (OCSC) in Osogbo.
Aregbesola said, ‘’ it is the responsibility of everyone to know their rights and fight for it, rather than being abused by extremists. There is need to see ourselves as an entity of change that can bring about change in our country. People of the country must be educated enough to know their right, process and the system in which their right will not be trampled upon’’ he said.
The governor who was represented by the Chairman of O’ School, Alhaji Layi Abdulkareem Oyeduntan said the present administration has really made great impact in the state with regards to its various developmental activities, especially in the education sector.
Abdulkareem said, ‘’the people must stand up to support an activist, who chose to fight for the course of the people of Osun, by ensuring that all their needs are met towards his developmental agenda.
Professor Olorunyomi Oju, who spoke on behalf of the Chairman Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Nasir Faggie said, ‘’ education is a human right which everybody must have access to and not a privilege, adding that it is a legacy that must be given to everybody’’.
Oju urged the Federal Government to comply with the agreement reached with ASUU, in order to help save the education sector from the total collapse.
Delivering lecture titled: “The Economic and Social Rights of Nigerians, the Need for Conscious Revival” Barrister Yinka Muyiwa said government has a legal obligation to respect, protect and fulfill economic, social and cultural rights.
According to him, ” there is need for human rights advocates to educate and challenge any form of human right abuse so as to make the government more committed to the respect, protection and fulfillment of these rights.
He noted that the governments at all level have the primary responsibility for making economic and social right of the people a reality.
Muyiwa, however, urged comrades to jettison any action capable of causing misunderstanding among themselves, just as he charged them to resolve if there is any disagreement among them.
He, therefore, called on the civil and human right activists to be politically active, saying that they must play important part in the political evolution of the society so as to be able to put the right people in the right positions.
The Chairman, Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders (CACOL), Comrade Debo Adeniran said there is need to develop courage and conviction to fight for ones right.
Adeniran explained that every individual should be conscious of his or her right and be ready to fight for it because, we live in an egalitarian society where the mind is being subsided”.
He lamented that Nigeria leaders are not ready to assist the less privilege to accomplish their dreams, adding that they only want the children of the common people to continue living in penury.
While explaining why Nigerians have to say no to injustice, the CACOL chairman said, it is better for a man to die than to be alive with his right being infringed upon by another human being.
Adediran encouraged members of the public to summon courage and stand against anti-masses policy of federal government in the education sector.
He charged the youths to strive hard to acquire knowledge and skills in order to be able to compete with in a very competitive environment with few jobs available.
Earlier, Comrade Abiodun Agboola, Chairman, Osun Civil Society Coalition (OCSC) said the programme is organized to celebrate the importance of human rights.
Agboola stressed that every December 10 is set aside to not only mark human rights day but to sensitize the citizens on their rights in the state.
He observed that it is the responsibility of every citizen to know their rights and when ever such is being abused, they should stand up and fight for their right.
Agboola who described Aregbesola as a comrade Governor urged him not to relent in his efforts to ensure that the rights of the people of the state are protected.
While speaking on the roles parents have to play in human right crusade, OCSC Chairman appealed to the parents to always teach their children about their rights and how to fight for it.
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