Human Rights, Language Use and Societal Abuse in Cross River State, Nigeria

Abstract

This paper focuses on human rights violation ,societal abuse and the language used in perpetrating these vices in Cross River State, Nigeria. Human rights in the state are particularly violated through child-trafficking, child-abuse, spousal rights and rights in the work-place. Child-trafficking is rampant in certain Local Government Areas (LGA) of the state, such as Yakurr and Calabar South. Although this is also a form of child-abuse it was discovered that the latter is highlighted in the home where children are used for labour and invariably denied access to education. Spousal rights are also reflected in the home where the wife is subjected to a ‘policy’ of lack of freedom to a job, further education etc by her husband. It was also observed that corruption was a harbinger of human rights violation, particularly in the civil service. Language use in persuasion and coercion play an important role in how successful these violations are carried out. However, government through its agencies, such as the National Agency for the Prohibition of Traffic in Persons and Other Related Matters (NAPTIP) has been active to some extent in curbing these violations. It is hoped that this paper, will help to galvanize further action and interactions on the subject of human rights in Cross River State in particular and Nigeria in general. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2015.v6n1s1p210