Prominent human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, SAN, on Wednesday called for urgent security action to protect children and citizens in Northern Nigeria.
Falana made the call in his keynote address at the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), Human Rights Institute event commemorating 2025 International Human Rights Day in Abuja.
The event, held under the chairmanship of Justice Muhammad Dattijo JSC (RTD), carried the theme: “Human Rights: Our Everyday Essential” with the sub-theme “Security, a Necessity for the Growth of Our Nation, Nigeria.”
Falana stressed that current efforts to combat terrorism in the North were insufficient, adding that additional funding and strategic action were necessary.
“Schools, both primary and secondary, are being shut down in the North. Terrorists and bandits are celebrating this, yet we claim we are ‘winning the war.’ We need real action,” Falana maintained.
He highlighted the need to create job opportunities for young people in the North, citing that out of about 20 million out-of-school children in Nigeria, 80 percent were in Northern states.
“If we do not take care of the children of the poor, they will make life unbearable for our own children. This is the reality we face in the North,” he said.
Falana also raised concerns over the misuse of funds, referencing an allocation that lacks clear accountability while urging the NBA to monitor the recovery of the funds and called on state governments to provide security for schools before reopening.
To protect students, Falana suggested temporarily relocating some schools to state capitals where security is adequate.
For schools that must remain in rural areas, he emphasised the need for stronger community security structures.
He noted the logistical challenges of Northern terrains, with some communities located over 200 kilometers from effective security coverage.
Falana further highlighted technological gaps, mentioning efforts in Niger State to monitor children through guidance systems that were hindered by inadequate space technology.
He welcomed the federal government’s recent approval of ₦20 billion to acquire satellite facilities as a positive step toward improved security monitoring.
He called on the federal government, military, and law enforcement agencies to fully support the acquisition of necessary equipment to combat terrorism.
Falana underscored the NBA’s role in defending citizens’ rights and cited Section 14(2)(b) of the Constitution, which states that the security and welfare of the people is the primary purpose of government.
He urged the relevant stakeholders to act on resolutions from previous conferences by engaging the Inspector-General of Police, the Director-General of the DSS, and service chiefs, and to review relevant constitutional provisions relating to human rights.
Falana called on the NBA to compile and circulate existing court decisions protecting citizens’ rights, citing previous court rulings.
This, he said, included a 2021 case challenging the Chief of Army Staff’s directive requiring Nigerians to show identity cards at checkpoints.
“And also, a judgment declaring unlawful a regulation restricting female police officers from marrying without permission after three years of service.
“NBA should circulate these judgments widely so that Nigerians know their rights and security agencies comply with them. The NBA will need substantial support to carry out this work effectively,” he said.
In his welcome address, the NBA 1st Vice President, Sabastine Anyia, also called for urgent national attention on security as the foundation for human rights, emphasising that safety is essential for the growth and development of Nigeria.
Anyia, who doubled as the Chairman of the NBA Human Rights Institute said human rights are “not luxuries reserved for the privileged” but “indispensable breath of our shared humanity.”
He described human rights as “invisible threads that stitch dignity to existence” and stressed that they should not remain abstract principles in textbooks or courtrooms.
“They are the everyday assurances that every Nigerian be it child, woman, man should carry with them the assurance that they matter.
“They should know that their voices count, that their lives must never be reduced to a statistic or sacrificed to negligence, corruption, nonchalance or violence.
“Security is crucial for the realisation of human rights.”
According to him, without safety in our homes, on our roads, in our farms, in our schools, in the Churches, Mosques, and in the everyday routines that define our survival, the promises of human rights grow thin.
He warned that insecurity stalled national progress, saying, “without security, dreams are postponed, businesses collapse, children learn to fear and withdraw before they learn to read.
“Also, our communities become shadows of the vibrant possibilities they carry. Without security, justice becomes a mere chant far away from reality and human rights, our everyday essential, lose their ground,”he said.
