WEBVTT Kind: captions Language: en 00:00:11.900 --> 00:00:21.600 What being a humanist means to me is taking a stand with humanity, 00:00:21.600 --> 00:00:27.400 taking a stand inspired by human rights and human values. 00:00:27.400 --> 00:00:34.670 Being a humanist means campaigning for the betterment of 00:00:34.670 --> 00:00:37.200 humanity, for human emancipation. 00:00:42.180 --> 00:00:50.280 As a child growing up in a village in southeastern Nigeria, I was appalled by 00:00:50.290 --> 00:00:56.140 some of the cultural practices going on in my community, like: the Osu caste system; 00:00:56.140 --> 00:01:03.400 ritual killing; witchcraft accusations. Occasionally we had cases where elderly 00:01:03.400 --> 00:01:10.030 women who should be cared for, who should be tended to, who should - actually - people 00:01:10.030 --> 00:01:15.340 should act towards them with compassion. I witnessed them being beaten up and 00:01:15.340 --> 00:01:20.240 oppressed in the name that they were witches. 00:01:20.240 --> 00:01:25.920 I couldn't take this. I was asking myself: What kind of value system, 00:01:25.930 --> 00:01:32.770 what kind of outlook, could I use to express solidarity with people whom I 00:01:32.770 --> 00:01:39.640 knew were suffering innocently? And I searched for value systems, principles 00:01:39.640 --> 00:01:44.979 that could help me make a strong case against these practices, and I found 00:01:44.980 --> 00:01:47.060 that within the humanist framework. 00:01:50.720 --> 00:01:55.880 So when I was growing up, we used to have these cases where people were beheaded 00:01:55.890 --> 00:02:01.060 people had their hands and limbs and private parts chopped off, and they, we were 00:02:01.060 --> 00:02:06.340 told that they wanted to use those parts for rituals, and which was for what? 00:02:06.340 --> 00:02:09.880 They said they wanted to make money; they wanted to succeed in the election; they 00:02:09.880 --> 00:02:14.800 wanted to be saved; they wanted to spiritually fortify themselves; and there 00:02:14.800 --> 00:02:19.780 were so many other claims, and as I was growing up I found that 00:02:19.780 --> 00:02:23.860 these claims were not compatible with reality. They were not adding up because 00:02:23.860 --> 00:02:29.110 people I see very poor; people I see dying; people are still suffering so many 00:02:29.110 --> 00:02:34.870 misfortunes and all that. So, I mean, I was shocked therefore the time I said 'look, 00:02:34.870 --> 00:02:42.459 these people are being killed just for nothing.' So I was, like, I said 'okay, 00:02:42.459 --> 00:02:45.700 I needed to put in place a campaign to educate people 00:02:45.700 --> 00:02:51.550 and highlight the fact that ritual fortune, fortune via ritual or human 00:02:51.550 --> 00:02:57.010 sacrifice, is just criminal behaviour - atrocious - is a form of atrocity 00:02:57.010 --> 00:02:59.420 and has no basis in reality. 00:03:02.940 --> 00:03:09.320 In Nigeria, we have a history, we have a mixed history in terms of religion, and 00:03:09.320 --> 00:03:14.790 we have Christianity, Islam, and the traditional religion as the dominant 00:03:14.790 --> 00:03:22.860 religions. Now these religions are not just beliefs, they are also the basis of 00:03:22.860 --> 00:03:30.600 power, rulership, and control. And when you challenge, when you express 00:03:30.600 --> 00:03:38.220 sceptical views, those views threaten the power base of religion because religion 00:03:38.220 --> 00:03:46.520 wants to still maintain control over the people. So sceptical views are seen as - 00:03:46.520 --> 00:03:54.220 sceptics are seen as rebels - they're seen as deviants, the sinners, people who betray the society. 00:03:54.220 --> 00:03:57.900 This is how Europe got its enlightenment, it didn't get its 00:03:57.900 --> 00:04:02.880 enlightenment on just a platter of gold and all that, no. They got it through 00:04:02.880 --> 00:04:07.590 struggle, through efforts, and all that, and this is the way I think that we will 00:04:07.590 --> 00:04:12.209 succeed in spite of the challenges we are facing in getting rid of caste 00:04:12.209 --> 00:04:17.600 system; in getting rid of ritual killing of albinos and people with hunchback; 00:04:17.600 --> 00:04:21.320 in getting rid of religious extremism; and building a society 00:04:21.320 --> 00:04:29.780 characterised by tolerance, freedom to embrace religion and freedom to renounce religion without fear. 00:04:33.380 --> 00:04:38.480 There are so many people that this campaign has made differences in their 00:04:38.490 --> 00:04:44.009 lives, and that gives me also some kind of fulfillment, and it 00:04:44.009 --> 00:04:49.439 motivates me to continue. So when I remember this, that there are some people 00:04:49.439 --> 00:04:54.119 who otherwise would have been dead today but who have benefited from our campaign, 00:04:54.119 --> 00:05:02.360 I get motivated. When I receive feedback from people, victims in so many ways 00:05:02.360 --> 00:05:07.860 who benefited from our campaign, I feel motivated, and I still think that 00:05:07.860 --> 00:05:13.709 even though we have a long way to go, we have actually left, we have departed, you 00:05:13.709 --> 00:05:19.240 know, from a point and we're making progress and, I hope that the progress will continue.