Constitutional Rights Awareness and Liberty Initiative

Our ‘Know Your Rights Nigeria’ human rights empowerment app used daily by approximately fifty thousand users with mere tap of buttons in the palm irrespective of users’ location, nationality and language, we believe, is a new knowledge deserving recognition and replication. The innovation fits into the scope of the Elevate Prize requirements and MITS’s core values.

If selected, the prize funding and support would be channeled to our’ Know Your Rights Africa’ project concept built on updating the technology, utility and advocacy behind the success of ‘Know Your Rights Nigeria’. It broadens the focus of the platform to encompass the facilitation of multi-dimensional public advocacy and civic engagement on human rights across African continent.

Know Your Right Africa rides upon the innovative mobile technological advancement and the efficacy of social media to launch a bottom-up popularisation of the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights and other human rights safeguards in force, using mobile app and social media effectively achieves its launching in 54 African countries. It enables civic engagement and pioneers the popularization of the simplified human rights safeguards across Africa in English, French and Pidgin (widely spoken in West and Central Africa) via web, Android and iPhones app.

As a human rights lawyer who has distinguished himself over a decade standing for peoples’ rights and offering pro-bono legal services to the poor, I pioneered new ideas and developed new methods for human rights empowerment to help prevent destabilization of societies for non-violent interrelation in Nigeria with global recognitions.

While I use legal expertise and mobile technology as tools of problem-solving in Nigeria, my vision is contributing immensely to expanding the frontiers of human rights globally. I founded Constitutional Rights Awareness and Liberty Initiative; an organization with renowned commitment dated back to year 2012, harnessing and bringing the benefits of human rights simplification, ICT and probono legal services to the ordinary people on the street.

My dedication to human rights can be surmised in my words below while receiving the 2018 International Bar Association Human Rights Lawyer of the Year Award for “outstanding contribution to human rights” in Rome;

“I have always believed in using my voice, energy and legal expertise as tools of social engineering and problem-solving. Being the voice for the voiceless, standing for what is right even if I am standing alone, I believe should not be for today’s gain but for the verdict of posterity.”

Nigeria’s fortunes as a country since her independence has followed an accelerating downward spiral from her envied status in the 1970’s as a potential world leader to its present status as country with poor human rights records. The impact of the precipitous decline on the nation is corrosive. It begs the question: What is the solution?

Given its global poor human rights indexes, its damaging effects on all aspects of society, peoples’ ignorance of their basic rights and non-availability of prompt legal aid, clearly new approaches to these old problems are necessary.

We introduced a newer approach using online social media tools, app and strategies to opens up a dynamic new front. We introduced rights empowerment app to all with advocacy and created a platform that promotes a crowd sourced, bottom-up and diverse engagement with the issues of human rights in Nigeria.

Our organization, Constitutional Rights Awareness and Liberty Initiative reserves the credibility, legitimacy to steadily unveil latest ICT tools to tackle the multifaceted developmental challenges by virtue of its expertise and registration in Nigeria.  Its renowned commitment dated back to year 2012, harnessing and bringing the benefits of the evolving ICT and law to ordinary people on the streets.

Know-Your-Rights-Nigeria; human rights empowerment app was unveiled to reach more people and break barriers posed by language and location. It covers all fundamental rights in force in Nigeria. Under each right, the empowerment app also tries to ask questions that address everyday challenges among people. For example, under “My right to Liberty”, one of the questions is: what are the rights of an accused person in the police station? Once a user taps this question, a detailed explanation pops up.

There is an option to chat with a team of 50 lawyers on the app on human rights issues daily. Users can report abuse of rights anonymously, and even choose to access the content in English or Pidgin (widely spoken in West and Central Africa), and in major local languages like Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba spoken by over 100 million Nigerians.

With mere tap of buttons in the palms, #KnowYourRightsNigeria gives people the legal knowledge to keep them fully abreast of the whole gamut of rights available to them, equips them with the information needed to stand and defends them against infraction.

For its free access, speedy dissemination of information and legal support, over 100 thousand people have being empowered.

Constitutional Rights Awareness and Liberty Initiative (CRALI) simplify basic human rights law and safeguards to the understanding of ordinary people on the streets with law and ICT experts managing its affairs.

It offers free mobile (Android and iOS) app of the Constitutional rights safeguards in Nigeria, thereby giving free access to it by smart phone users across the country including foreign nationals.

The social forum enabled around our ‘Know Your Rights Nigeria’ app creates a platform for exchange of ideas and content simplification from the league of 50 trained legal practitioners responding to questions on legal issues that arise daily.

Moreover, our organization employs its wealth of experience and skills into strengthening the capacity of CSOs working around human rights by facilitating intercutting synergy with other stakeholders, providing technology tools to aid them in accomplishing tasks.

Leveraging on CRALI’s robust relationship with over 700 CSOs nationwide, a long lasting and mutually benefitting synergy is achieved with pre-selected civil society organisations working within the specified thematic areas nationwide to ensure the management of our project efficiently benefits the public. The ownership arrangement has elements of communal process administration. This therefore enables the stakeholders, adapt to it, and seize opportunities it offers.

Considering users of our ‘Know Your Rights Nigeria’ android and iOS app, the web version, those who put regular calls to our dedicated line, and those sending us email or direct message on our social media platforms to seek justice and legal opinion on human rights issues in Nigeria, we have directly served over two hundred and forty thousand (240,000) people by responding to over three hundred thousand human rights related issues over the years..

In the next one year, we anticipate serving approximately Eight hundred thousand (800,000) people in total on all our platforms as we seek to expand our empowerment to covering more jurisdictions of other 53 African countries and the disadvantaged groups including underserved and vulnerable persons such as children, women, people living with disabilities and economic disadvantaged persons in Nigeria through the leverage of partners and supporters.

Our impact goals are giving over a billion African populations in 54 African countries the legal knowledge to keep them fully abreast of the whole gamut of rights available to them, equip them with the information needed to stand through mobile technology and defend them against infraction.

We plan to achieve these goals by unveiling ‘Know Your Rights Africa’ which rides upon the innovative mobile technological advancement and the efficacy of social media to launch a bottom-up popularization of the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights and other human rights safeguards in force, using the mobile app solution and social media effectively achieves its launching in 54 African countries. It enables civic engagement and pioneers the popularization of the simplified human rights safeguards across Africa in English, French and Pidgin (widely spoken in West and Central Africa) via web, Android and iPhones app.

Measuring progress:

• Ensure Africans access to information and protect fundamental freedoms, in accordance with national legislation and international agreements
• Promote the rule of law at the national and regional levels and ensure equal access to justice for all
• End abuse, exploitation, trafficking and all forms of violence against and torture of children.

Current barriers include friction between Coalition members due to institutional factors, technological know-how of users, limited access to data, and funding.

On coalition members; leveraging on our robust relationship with over 1,000 Civil Society Organizations (CSOS) across Africa, a long lasting and mutually benefitting synergy is achieved with pre-selected functional CSOs working within the specified thematic areas to ensure the management of the project efficiently benefits the public. The ownership arrangement has elements of communal process administration; enables the stakeholders adapt to it, and seize opportunities it offers.

On technical know-how of users; the project will select renowned African Role models to produce short promo videos on easy steps to use the solution via the project website, several blogspheres and other social media platforms.

On data affordability; just like we made 'Know Your Rights Nigeria' work offline, once ‘Know Your Rights Africa’ is installed, users will not need internet or data before they can access the app’s content irrespective of location across the continent.

While we have the technical know-how and expertise to developing and unveiling the continental solution, winning the Elevate Prize will equally go a long way in funding or expanding the project. 

Winning the Elevate Prize will not only provide me the needed opportunity to give public recognition to our work as social engineers and problem-solvers, I will also utilize it to amplify the impact of our innovation with courage rooted in universal values and global in implication.

I will leverage on the prize’s larger platform, brand recognition and fanbase to increase visibility for my organization, draw more users for our innovation, attract more members into our growing team, and expand the frontiers of our work and change the world.

I want to leverage on the robust mentorship the prize partners will offer in order to grow my organization.

I have always believed in connecting with a strong network and cohort experience. Beyond the brand equity of the Elevate Prize, its competent team of diverse group of people leading innovative organizations across the world is another valuable part to leverage and remain connected to. These experts most times serve as professional contacts a social engineer will need in order to flourish in the field. 

I have always believed that a diverse team of varying racial, ethnic and gender make-up produce better results. It gives a competitive edge when recruiting top talents and offers greater benefits for those they serve.

I have known that the acceptance of cultural, religious, gender and economic differences was essential to our core mission of empowering local communities of people in a heterogeneous country like Nigeria with over 300 ethnic groups.

Our ‘Know Your Rights Nigeria’ innovation simplifies rights safeguards in multiple languages with a platform on the app where users chat with me and my team of 50 lawyers on human rights issues daily and we respond to all inquiries and follow up on complaints. Users choose to access the app’s content in English or Pidgin, and in major local languages like Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba spoken by over 100million Nigerians. (51%of users access the platform outside English).

It was by assembling a team that reflected the inclusivity and diversity of hundreds of communities we serve that we were able to effectively address their needs by developing a solution that simplifies the scope of their rights to their understanding and making it accessible to them in languages of choice. 

Our organization reserves the credibility and legitimacy to steadily unveil latest ICT tools to tackle the multifaceted developmental challenges by virtue of its expertise and registration in Nigeria.  Its renowned commitment dated back to year 2012, harnessing and bringing the benefits of the evolving ICT and law expertise to ordinary people on the streets. My teams of over 50 lawyers are law experts of different branches of law that applies to people’s daily lives with cumulative of 10 years practice and experience.

As a human rights expert with over a decade pro-bono legal services, my experiences over the years with global recognitions has helped me to pioneer new ideas and developed new methods for human rights empowerment to help prevent destabilization of societies for non-violent interrelation.

 Interestingly, the content of our empowerment app are largely input from our users. Initially, we asked people what tools might be most helpful, while working with the ‘Know Your Rights Nigeria’ app to ensure we were incorporating the rights wants and needs of the people in a way that felt intuitive. We continue to innovate by tapping back into their feedback on the app and improve it over time, keeping it relevant.  

My most difficult experience as a leader was in area of developing managerial effectiveness to meet up with the citizens increasing demand when setting up a legal team to respond to everyday legal issues from our app users. Serving people from individual to local communities and foreign nationals appeared interesting but challenging. To us, it was a sign that our innovation and its impact were gaining ground.

However, the managerial effectiveness to deliver, meeting the increasing demands and needs of people and providing well-timed responsive services at the same time was a big challenge. I had to work on developing the relevant skills- such as time-management, prioritization, strategic thinking, decision making on some cases, and getting up to speed with the job-to be more effective.

I learned during this experience that irrespective of a leader’s scope of competence and strength, there would always be an area of limitation with challenges testing one’s leadership ability. However, such leader will need to overcome such challenge(s) where necessary before making a quantum leap to the next level. Today, I have a largely competent and dedicated team of over 50 lawyers who are sold into the vision and equally benefited from my acquired skills. 

2018 International Bar Association (IBA) Human Rights Lawyer of the Year Award presentation at Rome, Italy and Adeola Oyinlade's acceptance Speech

The Elevate Prize funding will help in achieving our goals of expanding the scope of our work to cover 54 African countries through our ‘Know Your Rights Africa’ project concept built on updating the technology, utility and advocacy behind the success of ‘Know Your Rights Nigeria’ and broaden the focus of the platform to encompass the facilitation of multi-dimensional public advocacy and civic engagement across the continent of Africa.

Winning the Elevate Prize will cover the cost of designing the technology architecture for the digitization and social media integration of the ‘Know Your Rights Africa’ for empowerment of people in 54 African countries, research of human rights law in force in African countries, multiple language translation, proofreading and multiple language functionality of the app in Android, iPhone and the web version, Public Inquiries Legal Team, cost of communication, logistics, administrative, publicity and maintenance of the app. It will also help us fund some of our sustainability activities of the project.

We shall leverage on this prize to improve communications among our huge listeners on our empowerment radio programme and network followers as a means to increase revenue generation in order for them (listeners and followers) to be committed financial members. 

We currently partner with Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), Media and Corporate Organizations as provided below:

Leveraging on our robust relationship with over 1000 CSOs across Africa, a long lasting and mutually benefitting synergy is achieved with pre-selected functional civil society organizations working within the specified thematic areas to ensure the management of our project efficiently benefits the public. The ownership arrangement has elements of communal process administration which therefore enables the stakeholders, adapt to it, and seize opportunities it offers.

Media houses partnership establishes the ability to demonstrate and communicate the impact of our project to leverage further resources using its mechanism for information dissemination.

Partnership with corporate organizations such as PEMORAD Digital Technologies Ltd, UNILAG Radio, Liberty TV, Lexis Nexis Rule of Law Foundation has earned us in-kind donations to expanding the frontiers of our work. 

PEMORAD Ltd has supported our content multiple language translation. While UNILAG FM being received loud and very clear by millions of radio listeners in Lagos has given us its radio airtime in the last 13 years to broadcast our ‘Know Your Rights Nigeria’ weekly human rights empowerment radio show, LexisNexis has just provided our project in-kind data storage/service space and data security.