Calabar, Nigeria—In a significant stride toward fortifying human rights education and advocacy, Amnesty International Nigeria has inaugurated a Human Rights Clinic at the University of Calabar. This initiative emerges as a countermeasure to the escalating human rights violations reported within Nigerian tertiary institutions.
The Genesis of a Movement: The newly established Clinic, succeeding the erstwhile Human Rights Club, is poised to be steered by an executive committee comprising student representatives. Ms. Helen Adah, the Human Rights Education Assistant at Amnesty International Nigeria, elucidated the Clinic’s role as a potent medium for students to collectively and effectively champion human rights causes. “When you come together as a group, association, or union, your voices are amplified. With the launch of this Clinic, the students can now advocate for and protect their human rights, and the rights of other persons. This is a platform that enables them to do that effectively and impactfully,” she articulated.
A Vision for Expansion: Amnesty International’s commitment to human rights advocacy is not confined to the University of Calabar alone. Clinics have been established across various institutions, including Benue State University and Obafemi Awolowo University, with plans for further expansion. “We hope to keep expanding to other universities because human rights concerns everybody. But for now, we are taking it one university at a time,” Adah revealed.
Collaborative Endeavors and Campaigns The collaboration between Amnesty International Nigeria and the University of Calabar has birthed several initiatives, notably the “Write For Rights” campaign, an annual endeavor advocating for the restoration of rights to those unjustly deprived. The training provided to the Clinic’s student operators equips them with the requisite knowledge to tackle human rights issues adeptly.
Educational Outreach and Advocacy: The Clinic’s ambitious goals include disseminating human rights education across the university’s departments and extending its reach to primary and secondary schools within Calabar. “Our target is that after 6 months, we should be able to educate a good number of persons in our individual departments. In one year, we should be able to go beyond the school environment,” Adah stated, emphasizing the importance of raising awareness through debates and other innovative activities.
Earlier, the Staff Adviser of the Club, Barr. Maxwell Eba thanked the organisers of the event affirming his commitment and availability to make the club to grow in strength and vigour. He charged the pioneer executive and other members to reflect the views of Amnesty International in all they will be doing going forward, adding that the message of putting an end to the various human rights violation will be best preached if the rebuttals deeds against such violations are expressed in them.
A Long-Awaited Initiative: Mr. Franklin Ubi, Coordinator of the Human Rights Clinic, lauded the launch as a long-overdue development, met with enthusiasm from the student body. “We are really happy it has come, and all the students are excited. That is what is most important to us. The students appreciate it and are willing to be part of it. We will ensure the Clinic works and continue to push on,” he affirmed.
Structuring Success: Miss Kosisochukwu Nwawube, President of the Human Rights Clinic, outlined the structural framework designed to fulfill the Clinic’s mission of safeguarding human rights. “We will ensure that we carry out proper investigation into cases of human rights abuse and violation. We’ve linkages to Amnesty International Nigeria, and we will take the cases to them, and then they will send their team to come investigate. They will make sure that justice is served,” she declared.
Partnerships and Community Engagement The Clinic’s strategy includes forging partnerships with NGOs and orchestrating debates, advocacy campaigns, and sensitization efforts to combat prevalent issues such as sexual abuse, discrimination, and tribalism within the university. “We believe by the time we round off our tenure, it will be reduced to the barest minimum,” Nwawube expressed optimistically.
Amnesty International’s Mission and Vision: Amnesty International operates with a vision of a world where every individual enjoys the human rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international standards. Its mission is to conduct research and take action to prevent and end grave abuses of these rights, promoting values of justice, fairness, freedom, and truth. This Human Rights Clinic at the University of Calabar stands as a testament to Amnesty International’s unwavering dedication to human rights education and advocacy, embodying the organization’s core values and global commitment.
