Human Rights and Human Rights Education in Nigeria

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HUMAN RIGHTS AND HUMAN RIGHTS EDUCATION IN NIGERIA INTRODUCTION One of the inherent characteristics of human society across history is the unequal relationship among people. The differences in disposition cover a wide range of human activities and conditions. Some of the conditions are natural while others are caused by structural or functional imbalances. This contrasts with the biblical and philosophical ideas that all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. The basis of the conviction is that we are all God’s creature and that we are all endowed with reason and conscience and therefore should act toward others in a spirit of brotherhood. It is however obvious that social equality among individuals and groups has been elusive because of diversity of interest and needs. This is aggravated by the innate tendency to maintain the status quo or even further trample on the less privileged members of society by those in vantage positions. This has been a constant source of various dimensions and forms of social conflict. This, no doubt, informed the relevance of this chapter dealing with the meaning including the classification, actors and institutions involved in human rights advocacy in the international and domestic arenas. The second section examines the human rights situation in Nigeria while the third segment deals with human rights education in Nigeria. MEANING OF HUMAN RIGHTS Human rights are basic rights and freedoms to which all humans are entitled merely by reason of being humans (United Nations, 2010:1). They are international norms that help to protect all people everywhere from severe political, legal and social abuses (Stanford Encyclopedia of philosophy, 2006:1). They derive from the universal and egalitarian conception that individuals and aggregates of people are entitled and should be accorded shared norms of human
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