I entered a train last weekend and on the LCD announcement panel was written a safety caption that says…
See it
Say it
Sort it.
It was followed by a security number to text if there were any security threats.
I read it and engaged my mind to a deeper understanding of it. I realized that there is a gap between knowing a right and exercising a right. Sometimes, we don’t exercise the rights we have, either out of ignorance or carelessness. To me, that inscription translates to “the things we see and ignore remain unsaid and by implication, unsorted”
Intrinsically, nobody has any “rights” except they’re “exercised” and by implication;
To have rights is to have duties and responsibilities to act on them.
A person who is ignorant of his rights is as good as one who has no rights.
And one who has no rights consciously or unconsciously;
Lives as a slave when he’s a master.
Acts like a beggar when he’s affluent.
Live hungry when food has been provided.
Walk in fear when courage is accessible and so on.
When opportunity calls, he fails to catch it, to own it, and to reach it.
Some victories we fight have been won and some freedoms we chase have been bought. The loophole is in the knowing and the acting.
The society is controlled by the minority who know their rights and act on it. Generations past have made that mistake and it’s affecting us today. We continued by making compromises when we should act.
It’s a stuffed rock that we live on and there seems to be no end to it.
Every child and young adult is implored to know their rights, access them, and express them. The application, the implications, and the consequences of a child’s right should be a core teaching of parents and teachers in schools and at home.
Exercising rights brings liberty, freedom of mind, emancipation from prejudices, and an alignment to justice for a better world. For a sustainable environment to be achieved, the young ones need to embrace activism by raising awareness, confronting their fears, challenging injustice, protecting their safety, and addressing any evasion of their rights.
✍️ Amara Ann Unachukwu
