Professor Toyin Ogundipe, former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Lagos, has urged Nigerian human rights activists to rise above personal biases, emotional sentiments and selective activism to promote national development.
Ogundipe made the call on Thursday while delivering the keynote address at a public lecture organised by the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR) in Lagos.
He said that despite Nigeria’s vibrant human rights community, the country continued to struggle with a weak culture of human rights protection, partly because some activists allowed personal interests and emotions to overshadow established principles.
According to him, human rights advocacy must be guided by objective principles rather than prevailing sentiments or personal preferences if it is to contribute meaningfully to national development.
He observed that the tendency to prioritise emotions over substance and fashion over principles had undermined the effectiveness of human rights protection in the country.
To address the challenge, the professor proposed a four-pillar framework focusing on security, human rights relationships, development and humanitarianism.
He said the framework would help depersonalise and remove excessive emotional considerations from human rights advocacy, encouraging a more objective and principled approach to protecting citizens’ rights.
Ogundipe’s position underscores the need for human rights advocates to adopt a balanced approach that recognises the relationship between security, human dignity, socioeconomic development and humanitarian concerns.
Earlier, CDHR President, Comrade Debo Adeniran, stressed the importance of grounding human rights advocacy in sound legal principles rather than subjective inclinations.
Adeniran urged members of the public and fellow activists to ensure that the defence of human rights remained anchored on objective legal and moral standards.
He emphasised that the protection of human dignity and the promotion of equality must apply to all citizens, irrespective of their political affiliations or social status.
The CDHR president’s remarks reinforced the need for consistency and impartiality in human rights advocacy, stressing that the defence of fundamental rights should not be influenced by personal interests or political considerations.
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