Why Alaafin stool cannot be desecrated (1)
By Bode Durojaiye.
According to Eleanor Roosevelt, “where, after all, do universal human rights begin? In small places, close to home — so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any maps of the world. Unless these rights have meaning there, they have little meaning anywhere. Without concerted peoples’ action to uphold them close to home, we shall look in vain for progress in the larger world.”
The Chinese proverb also has it that , “If you want to know about water, don’t ask a fish”.
This means that when something is very common, we sometimes do not even see it.
Injustice permeates every sector of our societies, from the education system that is tilted to benefit the wealthy, to traditions. Injustice is so common and widespread that we sometimes fail to see it.
Taken in its broader sense, justice is action in accordance with the requirements of some law.
Some maintain that justice stems from God’s will or command, while others believe that justice is inherent in nature itself.
Still others believe that justice consists of rules common to all humanity that emerge out of some sort of consensus.
This sort of justice is often thought of as something higher than a society’s legal system. It is in those cases where an action seems to violate some universal rule of conduct that we are likely to call it “unjust.”
In its narrower sense, justice is fairness. It is action that pays due regard to the proper interests, property, and safety of one’s fellows.
While justice in the broader sense is often thought of as transcendental, justice as fairness is more context-bound.
Parties concerned with fairness typically strive to work out something comfortable and adopt procedures that resemble rules of a game.
They work to ensure that people receive their “fair share” of benefits and burdens and adhere to a system of “fair play.”
The principles of justice and fairness can be thought of as rules of “fair play” for issues of social justice.
Whether they turn out to be grounded in universal laws or ones that are more context-bound, these principles determine the way in which the various types of justice are carried out.
Social justice requires both that the rules be fair, and also that people play by the rules.
People often frame justice issues in terms of fairness and invoke principles of justice and fairness to explain their satisfaction or dissatisfaction with the competition they are part of, as well as the authorities concerned.
They want authorities concerned to treat them fairly and to operate according to fair rules.
To be continued……..
