A civil organization, Voice Nigeria Social Justice Community of Practice, has just released a new compendium of learning on social justice. The compendium is intended to serve as a guide as well as contribute to the development, learning, teams, and organizations that are present within the space. The compendium demonstrates that the widespread insecurity that continues to grow has significantly heightened the victims’ susceptibility to human cruelty while injustice preys upon underprivileged individuals’ prospects and disparities.
The compendium, which incorporates pieces of evidence revealed by numerous groups, further underlined that victims are being targeted owing to their demand for social justice. Speaking at a virtual event to formally release the social justice document, the Chief Executive Officer of Youth and Students Advocates for Development Initiative (YSAD), Obinna Nwagbara, maintains that despite the #EndSARS campaign in 2020, citizens’ rights violation is still on the rise. He contended that more individuals are needed to rise as activists against such transgression.
This resource is a vibrant CoP on social justice backed by Voice Nigeria.
Nwagbara added that the resources are a collection of grantees’ experiences, particularly those whose work focuses on addressing human rights violations committed by law enforcement against Nigerians. Following a three-day stakeholder validation workshop, each member organization presented its experiences throughout the course of the project’s execution. The workshop was held in July, with participants from the National Human Rights Commission, the media, the Nigeria Bar Association, law enforcement agencies, as well as other civil society organizations.
In a similar vein, several businesses voiced their concerns during CoP’s national stakeholder engagement session in July 2022. This event brought together people from all over the country, including law enforcement, government MDAs, legal experts, and representatives from a wide variety of CSOs. This resource is a vibrant community of practice (CoP) on social justice backed by Voice Nigeria, and it captures the perspectives of many different groups working to advance the cause of social justice.
Compiled and documented sections of the compendium.
Throughout Nigeria, organizations working on a variety of issues related to social justice have compiled and documented their on-field and off-field experiences and shared their acquired knowledge in this comprehensive resource. The first part of the collection, “Understanding Social Justice in Nigeria,” provides background information on the social justice landscape in Nigeria and abroad. It provides an overview of social justice, including its definition, history, and guiding principles, as well as the institutional and regulatory framework through which such ideas might be implemented.
In addition, the second section of the paper, which is headed “Tools and Tactics for Effective Social Justice Advocacy,” advocates for the establishment of a system that would enable the most significant outreach strategies to be accepted and used. Some examples include providing guidance on how to advocate in the media, form a community, spread the word in unexpected regions, stimulate public engagement and input, and build a community. Lastly, the third segment is focused on the promotion of social justice in Nigeria.
Police brutality is a cause for the third resource section.
The latter part of the paper focuses on fixing the widespread skepticism in the Nigerian police force, which is a significant obstacle to promoting social justice therein. Most of the country’s citizens, particularly the youth in the country, have voiced strong condemnation of police violence and brutality, which has led to these phenomena. Using Nigeria’s conflicted North East as an example, Nwagbara noted that another chapter provides recommendations on how to promote social justice activism in the country.
Related Link
Wikipedia: Website
