Group advocates creation of institute to protect ethnic minorities in Nigeria

A group of religious and conscious Nigerians have advocated for the creation of the minority institute to oversee the protection of ethnic minorities and other small groups within the socio-religious space in Nigeria.

This was disclosed in a communiqué issued at the end of the Apostolic Round Table (ART) convened by Bolaji O. Akinyemi, and signed by Gbenga Adekola, director, strategic communication and partnerships,

ART 2025 was chaired by Victor Okhai and moderated by Regina Chris Ogbodo, which was held at the Jesus Evangelical Assembly, Ikeja Lagos, and hosted by David Esosa Ize-Iyamu.

The coalition consists of the collegiate interest groups which include The Friends of Refugees and Displaced Persons Initiative (The FORD Initiative), Homeland Development Association, Movement for National Reformation, The Rebirth Group, Civic Consciousness Global Initiative and Indigenous Group for Restructuring, among others.

The collegiate team mutually agreed to strengthen the democratic system of Nigeria by establishing The Minority Institute; and to reach out to similar interest groups such as The Muslim Democrat, headed by Alhaji Suleiman Olatunji Are.

The group plans to engage other groups with similar sentiments in democratic practices in Nigeria.

The Minority Institute will seek to protect minority groups; especially the genre that is faith based or of ethnic groups as a way to douse the tension associated with their neglect, which often feeds into the crisis of democratic practice in Nigeria.

According to the group, the concept of ‘Minority’ emerged from the doctrine of ‘freedom and sovereignty (or liberty)’ as a tenet of the Treaty of Westphalia dated 24.10.1648.

John Calvin and Martin Luther together with their adherents, as epitome of non-Catholic Christian proponents, were considered as “minority” within the dominant Christian faith of Catholicism during the imperial era of the reigns of Popes and Emperors as spiritual and political leaders over Kingdoms.

The word minority, from being used within the Christian faith, has found expression in comparing demographics of ethnic groups as well as in diverse fields of human endeavours to contemporary time.

According to the group, the application of the word to democratic practices is endeared to the understanding and respect for the rights of minority groups in creating a sense of inclusion in democratic traditions.

It stated further that the healthiness of any democratic institution is predicated upon the protection of the rights of the Minority groups within it with the catch phrase of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI).

“It therefore behooves us to reach out to the Minority Groups of the National Assembly to lead the way at raising an Institute that will further entrench and sustain the rights of the Minority Ethnic Groups in the ethos of democracy in Nigeria.”

A major deliverable of ART 2025, leading to the need to form The Minority Institute, is to champion the resuscitation of the federalist soul of the 1963 Republican Constitution and to rehabilitate it in line with current realities in response to the cries of Nigerians for a bottom-top process that delivers a constitution that satisfies the basic requirement of “We the People”.

In light of the above, and in pursuit of the ideals of the ART 2025 collegiate team, we believe that members of the National Assembly that are of the Minority Ethnic Groups of Nigeria will find this proposal worthy of their support and advocacy.

The rights, in terms of freedom and liberty of the Minority Ethnic Groups, were well envisioned in the democratic process of Nigeria by the establishments of R.S. Hudson Commission in 1956 in the defunct Northern region of Nigeria and Henry Willink Commission of 1957 by the Federal Government.

This is well documented in the annals of the democratic history of Nigeria by the reports submitted by both commissions in 1958. However, the federal elections scheduled for 1959 in preparation for independence in 1960 distracted the implementation of the Reports of the aforesaid commissions.

…………………