Liberty! (2)
I HAVE AN ANNOUNCEMENT!
Before that,Happy New Year!
I’m so happy you’re still here with me in this new year, it’s so amazing!
I pray this new year brings you happiness, peace and joy. Amen
Now onto my announcement….
I want to thank you guys so much for your support and actually reading the posts, I truly appreciate you.
I’d love to announce that from now, posts on Knowledge Tent would be organized( truly wish I was able to add that cute hug emoji here)
Therefore, posts on Knowledge Tent would be…..
“Twice a month!(imagine the blushing emoji here)
The aim of doing this is for organization. It is expected that all things be done decently and in order.
Thank you for your time, now onto the main business of the dayyyyy
Liberty!
It’s an amazing thing to know you’re free to move about as you like but it’s even better to know where it is guaranteed by the law and where it can be deprived - such that when someone stops you abruptly on your way to see a film at the cinema and asks why you’re going to see it, you can just reply with two words “Section 35!”
Section 35 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, contains all you need to know about your special right and in this blog post, I would continue from where we stopped in our last discussion.
In our last discussion,we learnt that everyone is entitled to be free, to move about as they like, explore the world and do many things and also, we briefly looked at the exceptions to the general rule on the right to personal liberty.
Today, we’d be resuming on the Exceptions to the right to liberty.
In Nigeria, minors are individuals who haven’t attaned the age of 18, and for the purpose of their welfare or education, their personal liberty can be deprived.
In the case of an individual suffering from an infectious or contagious disease, their personal liberty can be deprived in order to curb the spread and prevent harm to others.
For instance, during the widespread of the Coronavirus (Covid -19), there were various isolation centers for individuals who had been infected with the virus.
Their personal liberty was deprived of them, their frundamental human right was breached!
But, can they enforce their right to personal liberty?
Nope.
They can’t enforce their right to personal liberty because such deprivation is not only an exception provided in the constitution, the deprivation is also needed in order to curb the widespread of the disease, for the protection of lives and properties.
Also to avoid stigmatization on the part of the victim too.
How would you react if you found out the person sitting next to you has the virus? I’m not even going to answer this pretty straightforward question
Now you see the reason why they’d be deprived of their liberty- so that they can be properly taken care of and in turn curbing the spread of the disease.
Also, for persons of unsound mind, drug or alcohol addicts, their personal liberty would be denied. This is not only done to protect the society but to also protect them.
If they are left to move freely, they could endanger themselves and it most likely would lead to the end of their lives or the lives of others.
So which is better; losing a life or depriving them of their personal liberty temporarily?
In order to prevent unlawful entry of any individual into Nigeria(e.g a criminal) or to carry out a lawful removal of any individual from Nigeria, the personal liberty of the individual involved would be deprived.
I believe that at this juncture, it’s safe to say we’ve learnt quite a lot and we can take a pause.
See you next time for the Finale of the Liberty series!
In the meantime, don’t forget to follow in order to get instant updates on my blog posts.
And, as always……
Thank you for reading this article, I know you found this really helpful so do well to share to lots, lots of people.
The goal is to ensure that Nigerian citizens are aware of these rights
Let’s make that happen together!
Original image credit: https//kasartofficial.com/right-to-liberty
Author: Esther Ude.
