A WELCOME ADDRESS PRESENTED BY SABASTINE ANYIA, ESQ, NBA 1ST VICE PRESIDENT AND CHAIRMAN NBA HUMAN RIGHTS INSTITUTE ON THE OCCASION OF THE INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS DAY CELEBRATION THIS 10TH DAY OF DECEMBER, 2025.
PROTOCOL
1. The President of the NBA – Mazi Afam Osigwe SAN
2. The Hon. Attorney-General of the Federation & Minister of Justice – Prince Lateef Fagbemi SAN
3. The Chairman of the Occasion- Hon Justice Muhammad Dattijo, JSC, RTD
4. The Keynote Speaker – Femi Falana SAN
5. The Distinguished Panelists – M.A Ebute SAN
Dr. Abike Dabiri Erewa
Sen. Dino Melaye
Chief Mrs Ene Obi
Dr.Yahuza Getso
Inibehe Effiong
6. The Seasoned Moderator – Emeka Obegolu SAN
7. Hardworking National Officers
8. Distinguished Senior Advocates of Nigeria
9. Chairmen of NBA Branches
10. Vice Chairmen of NBA Branches
11. Distinguished Colleagues
12. The Media
13. Invited Guests
14. Ladies & Gentlemen
Today, on International Human Rights Day, we gather to remind ourselves of the kind of nation we are striving to become. As Chairman of the Nigeria Bar Association, Human Rights Institute and the 1st Vice President I stand before you with gratitude, humility, and an unwavering conviction that human rights are not luxuries reserved for the privileged, they are indispensable breath of our shared humanity. our everyday essential.
Human rights are the invisible threads that stitch dignity to existence. They should not be abstract principles preserved in textbooks, nor distant ideals discussed only in courtrooms and conferences. They are the everyday assurances that every Nigerian -child, woman, man should carry with them the assurance that they matter, that their voices count, that their lives must never be reduced to a statistic or sacrificed to negligence, corruption, nonchalance or violence.
Yet, in our pursuit of a society where human rights are upheld, we must confront truth. We more often whisper than proclaim: security is the foundation upon which every right stands. Without safety in our homes, on our roads, in our farms, in our schools, in our churches, mosques, and in the everyday routines that define our survival, the promises of human rights grow thin. Our local theme; Security: A Necessity for the Growth of Our Nation, Nigeria is a national heartbeat. When citizens are unsafe as we have been for the longest time, a nation struggles to breathe.
Without security, dreams are postponed, businesses collapse, children learn to fear and withdraw before they learn to read and our communities become shadows of the vibrant possibilities they carry. Without security, justice becomes a mere chant far away from reality and without security, human rights, our everyday essential lose their ground. This is why we gather today to celebrate and to commit ourselves anew to creating a Nigeria where human rights are actual.
Security is a shared responsibility. It requires leadership with integrity and empathy, institutions with conscience and discipline, law enforcement with competence, communities with unity and citizens with courage. It requires us, members of the Bar, defenders of the Constitution and Custodians of justice to speak when silence becomes the order of the day, to act when action becomes dreaded and to stand firm when standing becomes lonely.
Today, I challenge each of us to imagine a Nigeria where every child can walk freely without fear, where young men and women can stroll in the streets without fear of harassment, where every farmer can work without looking over their shoulder, where drivers can move from North to South, East and West without having to set aside “ransom money”, where dead bodies are not piled up in illegal morgues, where every citizen can sleep without trembling at the sounds of the night, where the law truly protects the weak and restrains the powerful. That Nigeria is possible. But it demands unyielding, unwavering, unapologetic commitment. Are we as a unit ready for that?
As we mark International Human Rights Day, let this gathering become for us a renewal of duty, a reminder that justice delayed is humanity denied, that every right violated diminishes us all and that our nation’s growth depends on the strength of our economy as well as on the strength of our compassion, our empathy, our institutions, and our resolve to defend the dignity of all.
May we leave here today with purpose burning in our hearts. May we commit to building a Nigeria where human rights are protected in our laws, practiced in our streets, and preserved in our hearts. A Nigeria where security is a guarantee for all.
May our collective courage shape the Nigeria we deserve.
Thank you
