Human Rights Abuse and Violation in Africa: An Immortal Carnage -By Ifeanyi John Nwokeabia

Every humans are blessed with life evenly, but, rights are unevenly distributed. This no doubt has made animal kingdoms more habitable than human kingdom.

The world has been plunged into the quagmire of inequality for so many decades. The struggle for survival as posited by Darwin has been a case of who is fitter. In man’s attempt to add more to his means of livelihood brought out the discovery of the later days countries which where subjected to be ruled by stronger countries. ‘A child who defeated another rarely allows him breath to life’, so those subjected countries were treated badly by the colonising countries.

Anywhere a person is born, he has become a citizen of that place. Then, a person’s parents’ country of origin determines the origin of the person. Originality of individuals has constituted great problem in the abuse of rights of such individuals. Human rights abuse according to Merriam’s Webster dictionary is violation of the basic rights of people by treating them wrongly.

As a citizen of a particular country, you are entitled to some certain privileges, but once those things are denied of you, then you are purely less a human. If we are to take a look at Biblical account of creation, there’s never a place that it’s stipulated that God created ‘White’ or ‘Black’, rather we are told that He created a man (human). Furthermore, Bible always refers humans to their country of origin like; ‘Samaritan Woman’, ‘Ethiopian Eunuch,’etc. And that is why I keep wondering where or how humans learnt that they are ‘White’ or ‘Black’? These two colours have caused humans unbearable torture over a long period of time.

‘Black Boy’ by Richard Wright and ‘Sizwe Bansi is Dead’ by Athol Fugard et al are two powerful books amongst many written to expose the evils of human rights abuse and violation just on the basis of individual’s skin colour. The former which is a novel records the life of Richard in his American society (South). The persona exposes how Blacks are denied rights to education, business ownership, employment etc. To sum it all, the life of a dog is more precious than that of humans – this is seen when the protagonist was bitten by a dog belonging to a ‘Whiteman’, he(Whiteman) laughed it over that a dog bite can do nothing to a Black. So, last year 2020, a black American, George Floyed, was murdered by a police who supposed to protect him. It sparked off protests in America, with many taken to the streets to speak against the canker. According to CNN, April 2014 witnessed a racist abuse on Dani Alves who was then Barcelona player on their crucial match against Villarreal. He was stoned a banana ( monkey share so much relationship with banana). In a tweet by a teammate, Neymar, after the match; “Dani Alves owned him,” tweeted the Brazilian’s teammate Neymar. “Take That bunch of Racists. We are all Monkeys So What.”

On other hand, Athol Fugard’s ‘Sizwe Bansi is Dead’ exposes the abuse and violation of rights and privileges of the ‘Blacks’ by the settlers’ ‘Whites’. Apartheid reigned so supreme in South Africa that a man is denied right to travel to some parts of his country except if he had obtained permit to. Those who served diligently their country are retired with a gold wrist watch. They are denied opportunities to participate in decision making of their country. This is a case of one becoming a stranger in your land of origin, thereby soliciting direction from a stranger.

The opening sentence of Rousseau’s in ‘The Social Contract’, “Man is born free and everywhere he is in chains,” comes handy in this discussion. They will always tell you that you are free, but when you check from what you enjoy, you will discover that prison is such a beautiful place to be in. Africa has become in the recent times ‘a den of human abusers’. This may be looked at as an overgeneralization, but a keen look will open our eyes to the horrifying news trailing our daily radios, televisions and social media.

Nigeria in recent times are battling with an unending case of banditry.Banditry is a type of organized crime committed by outlaws typically involving the threat or use of violence. A person who engages in banditry is known as a bandit and primarily commits crimes such as extortion, robbery, and murder, either as an individual or in groups(Wikipedia). In some parts of Northern Nigeria, motorists no longer ply some roads because of the fear of bandits. Citizens are denied the freedom of movement because of some wicked individuals who wouldn’t live to see others live in peace.

An Islamic sect led by Shekarau called Boko Haram had priorily terrorised the entire country. They specialised in bombing and killing innocent citizens who are either in church or mosque worshipping God. They visited schools (Chibok) to abduct school children, thereby, trampling on human rights to life. Citizens live in fear. Everyone deserves to live a protected life, but in this case, life is no longer golden.

The citizens last year 2020 took to the streets to protest on the act of a certain police unit (SARS) for always infringing on the rights of people they are supposed to protect. When an individual is pushed to the wall, he can only but retaliate. The police popular statement, “Police is your friend’, became a serious protests’ ironical mimicry as many joked with it. People agitated for disbanding of SARS unit of police because of how they killed citizens without allowing them fair hearing in a reputable court of law. When a body saddled with the responsibility of protecting you turned out to be your killer; where will you run for salvation?

Life cannot be perfectly defined, but we always rely on different societal definitions to model our lives. Who actually told people that homosexuals and lesbians are satanic? It’s a case of one deriving joy in bitter leave soup, while another seeking to enjoy the delightful taste of Okra soup. So, will you now say that one should be killed for his or her choice?

Abusing or violating the rights of humans on the basis of their chosen sexual life shouldn’t be allowed to hold water. Everyone is bound to live by the choice he or she has made. Moreso, the bisexual humans are mostly seen as unfit to be members of the society. The social stigma these individuals go through on daily basis is dehumanizing, and some of them ended up committing suicide. This is how humans ended up in killing another human through their actions.

In conclusion, humans are meant to live life as free as they can, because God created life to be enjoyed freely. There’s no hindrance to the air we breathe; the rich, Black, White and poor, enjoy the same piece of air without any discrimination. How can humans created by God now decided to go against another? Let’s do away with abuse and all forms of violation of human rights, so that, we can enjoy a new freer world.

Nwokeabia, Ifeanyi John is a poet and teacher. He has Nigeria Certificate in Education and Bachelor of Arts in Education, both in English Language.