Ladies and Gentlemen
It gives me great pleasure to welcome you to Ignatius Ajuru University of Education this morning at the orientation, sensitization and awareness creation on human rights amongst youths and high school students. It is timely indeed. I wish to congratulate each of you, first on having secured your admission in this great University and second, for having the good sense to choose to study here. your experience here and your success is important to the school and the society at large.Your arrival at this University marks a new chapter in the story of your life. But this chapter is a bit different. The preceding chapters were largely written by others which were your parents, guardians, families, teachers and the like. Now you will be the principal author of the next chapter, you have the opportunity to determine the direction, the plot and the tempo of your story. This can seem as daunting as it is exciting, as challenging as it is empowering. But the great thing is that you are doing something that you have chosen to do, not something that was chosen for you by others. And while you are here at Ignatius Ajuru University Of Education you will have the opportunity to learn new things, acquire new knowledge, develop new skills, and enhance your personal attributes in profound ways that will equip for life after University. At the same time you will make new friends who will become your friends for life, with whom you will share memories of your University days for many years to come. One of those new things you have come here learn is what Society for Women And Youth Affairs (SWAYA) and Youths and Environmental Advocacy Centre (YEAC) have come to share with you on human rights.
Stella Amanie presenting her Address
Ladies and gentlemen, human rights abuses and violations in our country Nigeria today is on the high side, according to Dr. Ifeanyi despite the universal declaration of human rights, abuses and violations of human rights in Nigeria and in the oil producing communities in particular cut across the entire spectrum of rights. The abuses come in different forms and could be direct or indirect. He further states that the inhabitants of the Niger Delta region are subjected to regular rights abuses and violations by the state security agents and the oil corporations and that the perpetrators of the rights violations are hardly or never held accountable or brought to justice due to the myriad of problems besetting the judicial system in Nigeria. These are burning and vexing issues that require that we all stand up together to ensure that human rights education is taken to every door steps in our society. The students are not an exception in this. We are here today to empower you with knowledge about basic facts about human rights to become human rights defenders and educators in the school environment and the society at large. As leaders of tomorrow leading yourselves today, there is no better time to be part of this than now. I see in you the enthusiasm; I see age on your side and all the strength you could think of that if putting into human rights education can change the narratives in Nigeria. The world is waiting for you, do not disappoint.
Lastly, ladies and gentlemen, I will like to leave this last word with you, University is a melting pot. You have come from different backgrounds and communities to pursue your ambitions as students. In a large institution it can be tempting to stick with the familiar and that is especially true with respect to the people with whom you associate. But it would be a lost opportunity to stick with your own all the time, embrace difference. Get to know people who are different to you. It could be someone from a different part of the country, or from another country, of a different ethnicity, a different religion, who has different views to you, or who has different interests and perspectives. You might or might not change as a person by embracing difference but you will get a better understanding both of yourself and of those who are different to you. Knowing others and understanding others will help you develop as tolerant individuals, it will also give you an opportunity to know more about human rights, be it cultural, ethnic, religious, political, economic etc.
The world is waiting for you in dear need of your contributions to make our society better. It is possible that we can change the narrative together.
Thank you for your patient attention.