Why Sterling Centre targets students to promote peace – Coordinator

What are the functions of the Sterling Centre for Law and Development?Sterling Centre for Law and Development is a non-profit, voluntary assembly of young lawyers in Nigeria, founded in January 2011 as Sterling Law Centre and formally incorporated in November 2014 as Sterling Centre for Law and Development. The core of SCLD’s work is broadly […]

What are the functions of the Sterling Centre for Law and Development?
Sterling Centre for Law and Development is a non-profit, voluntary assembly of young lawyers in Nigeria, founded in January 2011 as Sterling Law Centre and formally incorporated in November 2014 as Sterling Centre for Law and Development. The core of SCLD’s work is broadly the promotion of respect for, and protection of human rights, good governance, democratic values; rule of law, global education and peace in Nigeria.
How do you intend to achieve the objectives of the organisation which include, among other things, protection of human rights and promoting of education and good governance in Nigeria?
Education is a “live and let’s live” approach to achieving greater respect for human rights. We also engage in advocacy, we offer pro bono legal services to victims. We investigate and report incidences, amongst other activities.
Your organisation is set to host the maiden edition of the Annual Secondary Schools Human Rights Summit, why did you target secondary schools’ students?
The project is aimed at exposing youth to human rights, and to inspire them to become advocates for tolerance and peace. Children are the future. They need to know their human rights and know that they must take responsibility to protect themselves and their peers. As they become aware and active in this cause, the message travels far and wide, we believe that with this approach, universal human rights will soon be a fact, not just an ideal. It is also in recognition of this fact that the United Nations General Assembly in 1948 proposed that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights “be disseminated, displayed, read and expounded principally in schools and other education institutions, without distinction, based on the political status of countries or territories.” We also hope to use the event to open a forum for advocacy for the domestication of the Child Rights Act by all the states of the federation and ensure comprehensive implementation of its provisions.
Is the organisation into counselling of young generation to develop interest in the law profession?
In some ways, it is correct to say our activities tend to encourage younger ones to venture into the legal profession. Most importantly, however, is that we are more into stimulating the interest of students and youth in the area of human rights, whether they are prospective lawyers or not.
Peace is one of the objectives of the centre, how do you intend to achieve that?
Respect for and protection of human rights is a necessary condition for peace. Where a person or people feel that their rights have been, or are being, trampled upon, there is likely to be discontent which may eventually escalate into chaos and violence. The centre identifies the imperative to tackle the problem from its roots. To “catch them young.” If you carefully check the history of most conflicts today, the root causes of such conflicts are usually a feeling of exclusion or deprivation of some sorts.
What specific roles can secondary schools students play in achieving peace and good governance in Nigeria?
We believe that with proper knowledge and practice of human rights, there will be increased tolerance and sense of civic responsibility which will effectively bring about the desired peaceful society. This is why we do not only encourage the knowledge of human rights, but also the practice of human rights amongst the students. Imagine that these activities are spread to a greater majority of the youth today and they catch the message, naturally, we would breed a new generation of adult citizens with a higher capacity for tolerance and unity.