She said the move was in violation of Articles 15 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which recognizes the right to take part in cultural life and Article 22 of the African Charter which specifically mandates states to have due regard to the freedom of identity and common heritage of a people. The lawyer described as unfortunate the Governor’s serial violations of rights who she said continues to aggravate the people with his failure to manage diversity and equal participation in governance. In her words: “Kaduna state effectively has a Governor who delights in controversy and stoking dangerous embers. He is often in the news for the wrong reasons. If he is not demolishing houses of his opponents, or the masses, he is spewing hate speeches or throwing people out of jobs without recourse to due process. This recent arbitrary move to throw religion and culture into the mix is sensitive given the history of the state. No people or culture should be treated as dispensable and disposable. It is a matter of rights except there is a referendum by the indigenous people, an amendment of state Laws and public hearings to that effect no Governor or authority has the power to foist an identity on a people. Moreover section 21 of the 1999 Constitution mandates the Nigerian State to preserve and promote Nigerian culture and this provision becomes justifiable now that the move by Nasiru clearly impinges on section 34 and 42 of the Nigerian Constitution which guarantees the right to dignity and the right to freedom against discrimination. This is an attempt to disparage, de-culture and despise the people that must be resisted”, she argued. She called on the President to rein in the Governor from what she described as his habitual use of brute force, unrefined power and recalcitrance against the Rule of Law and the Constitution. ]]>
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