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By Mohammed Ismail
Let me open my discourse by asking some rhetorical questions for which I believe many Nigerians, home and abroad have ready made answers.
Is Nigeria facing an infernal social insecurity? Are Nigerians going through an unprecedented economic turmoil including poverty, deprivations and hunger? Are Nigerians one of the most resilient people going by their measured perseverance in the face of some scotched-earth policies by the federal government which further exercerbate their existential crises? To all these questions and many more that are on the lips of Nigerians, the answer is a resounding yes.
Since the answer is in the affirmative, do I support the oncoming national protests? To this I will say no. I will regale you with my reasons in due course.
But before then, let me put a caveat. I’m an unabashed democrat. I believe in the spirit and letters of democracy based on the conviction that democracy is a system that accords and guarantees fundamental and inalienable rights to individuals, such as right to life, freedom of association, freedom of speech, and the right of persons for peaceful assembly.
It is pertinent for me to state here that
Nigeria is a state party to the 1966 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). In the covenant article 21 expressly give citizens the right of peaceful assembly.
At regional level, Nigeria is a state party to the 1981 African charter on Human and peoples’ rights. Article 11 of the charter also empowers individuals with the rights to assemble peacefully. Again, Nigeria is a party to the 1998 protocol on the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights which also confer on citizens the right to peaceful assembly.
Muhammad Tukur
