By IJEOMA UKAZU
Civil society organization known as Voice Nigeria Social Justice Community of Practice has launched a compendium of learning on social justice that will serve as a practice guide and contribute to the growth of individuals, teams, and organizations.
Evidence revealed during an online virtual event shows that national insecurity has vastly increased vulnerabilities to human brutality and violated victims while injustice prey upon marginalized opportunities and inequalities.
The evidence shared by several organizations with Voice Nigeria Social Justice Community of Practice further indicates that in most cases, victims are targeted because of social justice needs.
While addressing journalists during the official launch of the learning guide on social justice, the Chief Executive Officer, of Youth and Students Advocates for Development Initiative, YSAD, Obinna Nwagbara said “Despite the #EndSARS movement of 2020, violation of the rights of citizens is still on the increase, and it is important that more Nigerians are encouraged to move from bystanders to activists.
Nwagbara said this resource material is a compendium of experiences from grantees, especially those whose interventions centre on human rights abuses of Nigerians by law enforcement agencies.
He said each member organization has something to write from the experiences gathered in the process of project implementation which was followed by a three-day stakeholder validation workshop, organized in July, with individuals drawn from the National Human Rights Commission, the media, Nigeria bar association, law enforcement agencies, and other civil society organizations.
According to Nwagbara, “The document is divided into three parts. The first part titled Understanding Social Justice in Nigeria seeks to set a context for the social justice milieu in Nigeria and beyond. It shares a primer on the concept, background, and principles of social justice as well as the legal framework within which social justice operates.”
He further stated that the second part of the document on Tools and Tactics for Effective Social Justice Advocacy looks at ways in which key approaches can be employed to achieve results in social justice advocacy
The CEO said, “These tools and tactics include practical how-to tips on media advocacy, community organizing, advocacy in the most unlikely places as well as ensuring an effective feedback mechanism and citizen engagement.”
Nwagbara added that “The final part hinged on Advancing Social Justice in Nigeria. It considers issues such as how to bridge the confidence gap in social justice advocacy in Nigeria by addressing the problem of trust deficit between the Nigeria Police Force and citizens.
“Using the conflict-prone North East as a case study, another chapter shares guidelines on how to advance social justice advocacy in Nigeria.”
Earlier in her speech, the Program Coordinator, of Voice Nigeria Ijeoma Okwor, said her organization is training people to bring about peace and positive change to the country.
She said, “We work with different stakeholders to address the issue of social justice, from economic issues to religious instability to bring about positive development in the country. We need to ensure that we bring peace and development to the country.”
According to Okwor, the evidence shared by several organizations with Voice Nigeria Social Justice Community indicates that in most cases, victims are targeted because of social justice needs.
“Over the past couple of months, the organizations have shared their various learnings on social justice, which we all found highly informative and have served as a guide to advocating for social justice. These rich resources have been put together into a learning resource and we hope it will be as informative to the wider society as it has been to the Community of Practice”, she added.