Human rights knowledge and assertion among Nigerian University undergraduates

KIKELOMO A. MBADA, IDOWU SUNDAY ANTHONY, OLUSOLA BABATUNDE ADEGBITE, CHIDOZIE E. MBADA

Abstract

Ongoing human rights (HR) violations question the effectiveness of school-based HR education in empowering individuals. This study investigated how well Nigerian undergraduates understand HR, their knowledge sources, rights assertion, and the socio-demographic correlates. 381 students from the Law, Social Sciences, and Health Sciences faculties at Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria, participated in the study. A structured questionnaire was used to obtain data. Descriptive statistics of mean and percentages, and inferential statistics of Chi-square was used to determine the correlations of HR. Overall, HR knowledge levels were 16.0% below average, 19.2% average, and 64.8% above average. HR knowledge was mostly obtained through peers (79.8%), classroom education (79.8%), and electronic media (78.2%). Newspapers (52.7%) and constitution handbooks (61.4%) were the least reported sources. HR assertion levels were 13.1% low, 14.7% moderate, and 72.2% high. Course (χ²=9.744; p=0.045) and level (χ²=13.625; p=0.009) of study significantly influenced HR knowledge. Course of study (χ²=10.771; p=0.029) alone significantly influenced HR assertion. In conclusion, about 40% had below-average to average HR knowledge, and 30% had high HR assertion. Peer learning was the most effective source of HR knowledge, while handbooks were the least. The course of study significantly influenced both HR knowledge and assertion.

Keywords

Human Rights Education, assertion, curriculum, university, Nigeria

Full Text:

PDF

References

Adeakin, I. (2016). The Military and Human Rights violations in post-1999 Nigeria: Assessing the problems and prospects of effective internal enforcement in an era of insecurity. Africa Security Review, 25(2), 129-145.

Adegbite, O. B., Oduniyi, O. O., & Aluko, A. O. (2020). International Human Rights Law and the victimisation of women by the Boko Haram Sect. Nnamdi Azikiwe University Journal of International Law and Jurisprudence, 11(2), 44-60.

Adenuga, A. O., & Oyekenmi, A. A. (2023). Empirical investigation of Police Harassment of Private University Students in Ogun state, Nigeria. Wukari International Studies Journal, 7(3), 365-384.

Amnesty International. (2019). Nigeria: Human Rights Agenda. https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/afr44/0431/2019/en/.

Amnesty International. (2022). Amnesty International Human Rights Education 2021. https://www.amnesty.org/es/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/POL3257062022ENGLISH.pdf.

Amnesty International. (2025). The state of the world’s Human Rights. https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/pol10/8515/2025/en/.

Banks, D. N. (2001). What is the state of Human Rights Education in K-12 Schools in the United States in 2000? A preliminary look at the National Survey of Human Rights Education. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED454134.pdf.

Blanchard, R. A. (2016). Mainstreaming Human Rights Education: What’s radical about that? Radical Teacher, 104, 4-12.

Brander, P. (2012). Compass: Manual for Human Rights Education with young people. Council of Europe.

Brown, G. (2016). The Universal Declaration of Human Rights in the 21st Century. Open Book Publishers.

Burridge, N., Chodkiewicz, A. K., Payne, A., Oguro, S. G., & Varnham, S. (2013). Human Rights Education in the School Curriculum. Report compiled for the Attorney General’s Department. https://www.uts.edu.au/sites/default/files/HREReportFinal22July.pdf.

Carraro, V. (2019). Promoting compliance with Human Rights: The performance of the United Nations’ Universal Periodic Review and Treaty Bodies. International Studies Quarterly, 63(4), 1079-1093.

Check Market (2020). https://www.checkmarket.com/sample-size-calculator/.

Council of Europe, Committee of Ministers. (2010). Council of Europe Charter on Education for Democratic Citizenship and Human Rights Education: Recommendation Cm/Rec (2010) 7. Council of Europe.

Danieli, Y., Stamatopoulou, E., & Dias, C. (2018). The Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Fifty Years and Beyond. Routledge.

Edge, M. (2019). Are UK newspapers really dying? A financial analysis of newspaper publishing companies. Journal of Media Business Studies, 16(1), 19-39.

Federal Republic of Nigeria. (1999). Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Nigeria.

Flowers, N. (2003). What is human rights education? In A survey of human rights education (pp. 107-118). Gütersloh, DE: Bertelsmann Verlag.

Flowers, N. (2020). Human Rights here and now: Celebrating the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. An introduction to human rights education. http://hrlibrary.umn.edu/edumat/hreduseries/hereandnow/Part-2/HRE-intro.htm.

Gearon, L. (2011). From Universal Declaration to World Programme 1948-2008: 60Years of Human Rights Education. In UNESCO, Contemporary Issues in Human Rights Education (pp. 39-103). Paris, France.

Gerber, P. (2011). Education about Human Rights: Strengths and weaknesses of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Education and Training. Alternative Law Journal, 36(4), 245-249.

Hammarberg, T., Mijatovic, D., White, A., Olsson, A. R., Haraszti, M., Boev, B., Bukovska, B., Korff, D., & Brown, I. (2011). Human rights and a changing media landscape. Council of Europe Publishing.

Hoover, J. (2013). Rereading the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Plurality and contestations, not consensus. Journal of Human Rights, 12, 217-241.

Humtsoe, A., & Kapoor, K. C. (2019). A study of Human Rights awareness among the post graduate students in relation to various non-cognitive variables. International Journal for Research in Engineering Application and Management, 4(10), 349-353.

Ifesinachi, K., & Tarabinah, W. M. (2009). Universal Declaration of Human Rights Education and citizens rights enforcement in Bayelsa State, Nigeria. Journal of International Politics and Development, 5(1), 26-37.

Kaur, S. (2006). A comparison of senior secondary students on awareness about Human Rights in relations to sex, locality and stream of study. M.Phil., Dissertation, HPU, Shimla.

Landman, T. (2005). The political science of human rights. British Journal of Political Science, 35(3), 549-572.

Lukose, L. P., & Mathur, A. (2019): Human Right and Social Media. In Human Rights and Digital Age (pp. 31-39). Bangladesh: ELCOP.

Nossek, H., Adoni, H., & Nimrod, G. (2015). Media Audiences is print really dying? The state of print Media use in Europe. International Journal of Communication, 9, 365-385.

Nwachukwu, S., Aghamelo, A., & Stanley, N. (2014). An account of Human Right violations in Nigeria (Pre-British, British and Post-Independence). European Scientific Journal, 10(10). https://doi.org/10.19044/esj.2014.v10n10p%p.

Obiagu, A., & Nwaubani, O. (2020). The challenges of teaching for human rights in Nigeria: knowledge, pedagogy and activism. Human Rights Education Review, 3(2), 5-26.

Odion-Akhaine, S. (2009). The σtudent μovement in Nigeria: Antinomies and transformation. Review of African Political Economy, 121, 427-450.

Onuh, P. A. (2021). Nigeria’s response to COVID-19: Lockdown policy and Human Rights violations. Africa Security, 14(4), 439-459.

Osler, A., & Starkey, H. (2017). Teacher education and human rights. Routledge.

Padmarathy, R. D., & Pallai, P. (2015). Human Rights awareness of University students: An investigation. International Journal of Humanities and Social Science Invention, 4(4), 46-50.

Pandey, S. (2005). Human Rights education in schools: The Indian experience. Human Rights Education in Asian Schools, 8, 95-107

Ramirez, F. O., Suárez, D., & Meyer, J. W. (2007). The worldwide rise of human rights education. In School knowledge in comparative and historical perspective: Changing curricula in primary and secondary education (pp. 35-52). Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands.

Reardon, B. (2010). Educating for Human Dignity: Learning about rights and responsibilities. University of Pennsylvania Press.

Sarate, B. (2011). A study of Human Rights awareness among senior secondary students in relation to gender area academic streamì and personality make up. Phd Thesis, Himachal Pradesh University, Shimla.

Sharma, C., & Saini, R. (2019). Newspaper reading habit among the students of University College Kurukshetra: A case study. Library Philosophy and Practice, 2241. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/libphilprac/2241.

Smith, R. K. (2016). Textbook on international Human Rights. Oxford University Press.

Steiner, H. J., Alston, P., & Goodman, R. (2008). International human rights in context: Law, politics, morals: text and materials. Oxford University Press, USA.

UniRank (2020). Obafemi Awolowo University. https://www.4icu.org/reviews/3456.htm

United Nations. (2025). Fifth phase (2025-2029) of the World Programme for Human Rights Education. Fifth phase (2025-2029) of the World Programme for Human Rights Education OHCHR. https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/4065275?v=pdf.

United Nations Human Rights. (2012). Human Rights Education in Primary and Secondary School Systems: A Self-assessment Guide for Governments. https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/Documents/Publications/SelfAssessmentGuideforGovernments.pdf

United Nations General Assembly. (1948). Universal Declaration of Human Rights. UN General Assembly, 302,2. https://www.multiculturalaustralia.edu.au/doc/unhrights_1.pdf.

United Nations General Assembly. (1949). Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Vol. 3381), Department of State, United States of America.

United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Education and Training (UNDHRET). (2011). Adopted by the General Assembly, Resolution 66/137, A/RES/66/137, 19 December 2011. https://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Education/Training/Compilation/Pages/

UnitedNationsDeclarationonHumanRightsEducationandTraining(2011).aspx.

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). (2013). Human rights education. Document code: ED/ADG/2013/07. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000222123.

Waltz, S. (2001). Universalizing Human Rights: The role of small states in the construction of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Human Rights Quarterly, 23(1), 44-72.

Wilson, R. A., & Mitchell, J. P. (Eds). (2003). Human Rights in global perspective: Anthropological studies of rights, claims and entitlements. Taylor & Francis. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203506271.

Yagboyaju, D. A., & Akinola, A. O. (2019). Nigerian State and the crisis of governance: A critical exposition. SAGE Open, 9(3). https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244019865810.

Zanzoun, M. (2017). The use of social media in promoting human rights among speakers of English in Morocco: The Case of Facebook. International Journal of Education and Research, 5(9), 169-184.


DOI: https://doi.org/10.26220/mje.5296

View Counter: Abstract | 0 | times, and PDF | 0 | times

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Mediterranean Journal of Education | ISSN: 2732-6489 |  Department of Educational Sciences and Early Childhood Education - University of Patras.

Pasithee | Library & Information Center | University of Patras