[Peace-discuss] Fwd: Nigeria: Defending Democracy

Thu Dec 12 09:17:19 CST 2002

Some of you may be interested in this follow-up on Nigeria.  The last 
article concerns more protests of the women on the Niger Delta 
against the oil policies of the govt and corporations.  The 2nd 
article concerns the Miss World Pageant.

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>Date: Sat, 7 Dec 2002 09:45:27 -0500
>Subject: Nigeria: Defending Democracy
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>Nigeria: Defending Democracy
>Date distributed (ymd): 021207
>Document reposted by Africa Action
>
>Africa Policy Electronic Distribution List: an information
>service provided by AFRICA ACTION (incorporating the Africa
>Policy Information Center, The Africa Fund, and the American
>Committee on Africa). Find more information for action for
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>
>+++++++++++++++++++++Document Profile+++++++++++++++++++++
>
>Region: West Africa
>Issue Areas: +political/rights+  +gender/women+
>
>SUMMARY CONTENTS:
>
>This posting contains several documents related to democracy and
>human rights in Nigeria, reflecting both the threats to the still
>incomplete democratization process and the actions by Nigerians
>campaigning for full democratic rights. The most recent is a
>press release calling for protest against the action of Nigeria's
>State Security Service in withdrawing the passport of Dr.
>Tajudeen Abdul Raheem, a Nigerian citizen who is the chairperson
>of the Centre for Democracy & Development, as well as
>secretary-general of the Pan African Movement, based in Uganda. 
>
>Africa Action executive director Salih Booker -- who met with Dr.
>Abdul Raheem at CDD's Lagos offices earlier this year -- said,
>"This outrageous incident is a prime example of the Nigerian
>government's lack of commitment to democratic rights and the
>persistence of its authoritarian impulses.  Instead of trying to
>intimidate civil society activists with such harassment, the
>Nigerian government should be drawing on the rich human resources
>of pro-democracy groups to work together with government in
>addressing the country's urgent problems." 
>
>Today's posting also contains several other brief recent
>documents and links on current challenges to democratization in
>Nigeria, provided by Pambazuka-News and allAfrica.com.
>
>+++++++++++++++++end profile++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
>
>Centre for Democracy & Development
>
>Press Release, 6 Dec 2002
>
>For more information: Otive Igbuzor, Programme Co-ordinator, CDD
>Tel: 234 8033039797; e-mail igbuzor at cddnig.org
>
>CDD CHAIRPERSON ARRESTED AND INTERNATIONAL PASSPORT SEIZED BY
>NIGERIA'S STATE SECURITY SERVICE
>
>The Chairperson of the International Governing Council of the
>Centre for Democracy & Development (CDD), Dr. Tajudeen Abdul
>Raheem was arrested at the Murtala Mohammed Airport on his way to
>London on Tuesday 3rd December 2002. CDD is an independent
>research, information and training institution dedicated to
>policy-oriented scholarship on questions of democratic
>development and peace building in the West African sub-region.
>Dr. Abdul Raheem, a Nigerian was in Nigeria to attend the 5th
>Anniversary Celebrations and Endowment Fund Launch of the CDD.
>
>Although he was released on Wednesday 4th December 2002, his
>international passport was seized. According to the State
>Security Service (SSS) officials, he was arrested and his
>passport seized because his name is on their security watch list.
>Up till today (Friday), Dr. Abdul Raheem has not been able to
>travel out of the country. The State Security Service has asked
>him to be reporting to their office.
>
>It would be recalled that Dr. Abdul Raheem was arrested in the
>same airport in November 1993 on account of his involvement in
>the pro-democracy movement in exile. However, in the last two
>weeks, he has passed through the same airport six times on trips
>from Uganda, Ethiopia and the United Kingdom. We are therefore at
>a loss as to the reasons for this latest arrest and seizure of
>passport.
>
>Apart from being the Chair of CDD, Dr. Abdul Raheem is the
>Secretary General of Pan African Movement based in Uganda. He is
>a well known Pan-African Human Rights Activist, international
>Scholar and syndicated columnist for several Newspapers in Africa
>including Weekly Trust in Nigeria. This arrest and passport
>seizure no doubt cast serious doubts on the human rights record
>of this government and clearly shows that the military hangover
>is still very much with us.
>
>We therefore demand that the State Security Service Should
>release his passport without further delay.
>
>-end-
>
>****************************************
>
>Pambazuka-News, December 6, 2002
>http://lists.kabissa.org/lists/archives/public/pambazuka-news/.
>
>[The weekly Pambazuka-News is available by e-mail To subscribe
>send an e-mail to <pambazuka-news- request at pambazuka.org> with
>only the word 'subscribe' in the subject or body. Submissions for
>inclusion in Pambazuka News can be sent to editor at pambazuka.org ]
>
>1.EDITORIAL
>
>FATWAS AND DEMOCRATIC RIGHTS: THE TIME TO INTERVENE IS NOW 
>Rotimi Sankore
>
>The fatwa issued a fortnight ago against the ThisDay Journalist
>Isioma Daniel by the Deputy Governor of Zamfara State in Northern
>Nigeria has far-reaching implications beyond the immediate threat
>to her life, press freedom, and the controversy surrounding
>Nigeria's hosting of the Miss World beauty pageant. Before going
>further, it is important to declare an interest in the matter. I
>am a journalist by training, and have campaigned for press
>freedom, freedom of expression and human rights in general all my
>adult life. I have also lived and worked in Nigeria, campaigned
>against military dictatorship, and in the past wrote a column and
>features on current affairs for ThisDay Newspaper. This
>'admission' does not in anyway disqualify me from commenting on
>this issue, quite the contrary. I may also add, that although my
>professional judgement is that portions of Isioma's article were
>controversial, the fatwa against her is completely out of order.
>
>What are the implications and significance of the fatwa beyond
>the immediate  issues?
>
>Firstly, it is important to recognise that the issuing of a fatwa
>by an elected politician represents a dangerous political
>phenomenon. That is, one of a nascent dictatorship based on a
>fusion of religion and the state (in a section of a secular
>country). This phenomenon began with the passing of death
>sentences by stoning against allegedly 'adulterous' women in the
>name of religious law. In all cases, not a single man responsible
>for the pregnancies or babies used as evidence against the women
>was indicted. The failure of the Nigerian government to intervene
>decisively to halt these blatant miscarriages of justice
>permitted the phenomenon to expand its jurisdiction to cover
>press freedom, freedom of expression and the arbitrary and
>extra-judicial imposition of death sentences on other citizens.
>
>Secondly, by first concentrating its initial attacks on the
>alleged promiscuity of women, e.g. unwed mothers and beauty
>contestants in a largely chauvinist society, this phenomenon was
>able to employ a divide and conquer tactic, and also cloak the
>potential danger of its spiked fist with a glove of dubious
>morality. We have not heard that the Zamfara State government (or
>for that matter the Nigerian government) is opposed to the giving
>away of teenage girls into marriage. This in turn, highlights the
>inequalities in Nigerian society in general and the country's
>constitution in particular. For instance, the present Nigerian
>constitution written by the last military regime, and accepted by
>the incumbent civilian government, denies women many rights
>including the right to confer citizenship on their non-Nigerian
>husbands through marriage, a right taken for granted by Nigerian
>men. A senior government official once justified this on the
>logic-defying basis that women are 'easily carried away by
>emotion' and may end up conferring Nigerian citizenship on
>foreigners in exchange for love.
>
>Thirdly, by advocating a legal and institutional framework which
>aims to  restrict the movement and activities of women, and deny
>them their economic,  social and political rights, Zamfara and
>other states advocating similar laws will by default literally
>'bury' half the problems of their states in relation to
>unemployment, provision of education and so forth in one stroke.
>The other side of this of course, is that society is denied the
>benefit of half of its skills, talent and productive forces. It
>is significant that high unemployment and deepening poverty in
>some states have provided armies of unemployed and desperate
>youth easily converted into raging mobs by cynical manipulation
>of some religious and political leaders.
>
>Fourthly, the violent protests orchestrated by political and
>religious  opportunists and the issuing of the country's first
>ever political fatwa could be interpreted as a testing of the
>waters, and a show of strength by potential demagogues to see how
>far they can go without being challenged by secular and
>democratic forces, or even other Islamic leaders.
>
>It is necessary to point out here that the problem is not with
>Islam. Christian fundamentalists in the United States for
>instance have regularly attacked and even killed doctors running
>family planning clinics and women attending them. Despite
>carrying out these acts of violence with thinly veiled and tacit
>support of right wing religious and political leaders, no one in
>their right mind can allege that the problem is with
>Christianity. To further emphasise this point, women in
>predominantly Muslim countries such as President Megawati
>Sukarnoputri in Indonesia, Benazir Bhutto in Pakistan, Tansu
>Ciller in Turkey, and Begum Khaleda Zia in Bangladesh have
>emerged as democratically elected leaders. In 'conservative'
>countries such as Saudi Arabia or Afghanistan under the Taliban
>where democratic rights are suppressed, elections are not held -
>never mind the emergence of women leaders.
>
>Within this context, the problem of invoking religion and narrow
>interpretations of religious morality to suppress democratic
>rights can be seen more as a device by members of ruling elites
>or opposition groups to build social and political support for
>their political agendas, rather than as a strictly religious
>problem. This problem is only religious to the extent that at
>best, it reflects the undemocratic interpretation of a religious
>school of thought. In order to stop such undemocratic schools of
>thought from gaining political ground and suppressing democratic
>rights, the time to intervene is now.
>
>Individuals, whether public officials or private citizens, cannot
>be allowed to commit crimes with impunity in the name of religion
>which otherwise would not go unpunished. Calling for the
>arbitrary murder, execution or assassination of anyone is a crime
>regardless of if it is done in the name of religion.
>
>If the Nigerian government is not to create a dangerous
>precedent, the  Inspector General of Police must at the very
>minimum commence investigations  into the statements and actions
>of the Zamfara State Deputy Governor Mamuda  Aliyu Shinkafi.
>
>Nigeria's President Olusegun Obasanjo and all democratic and
>judicial  institutions of the Nigerian government must also go
>beyond opposing the Fatwa, and reaffirm unequivocally the
>supremacy of all constitutional and democratic rights over any
>pronouncements by any person, whether public office holder or
>private citizen. These rights include media freedom, and the
>fundamental rights to opinion, free expression, association and
>life.
>
>In addition, the Nigerian government must recognise and affirm
>that it is not the place of the government or private individuals
>to punish the media for errors or the content of news reports,
>features or opinion articles. Any redress sought must be through
>the judiciary, or through an independent ethics or complaints
>body not appointed by or dominated by the government. The media
>cannot play its vital role of sustaining democracy through
>holding the government and powerful individuals to account if the
>government or private citizens can arbitrarily arrogate to
>themselves power to punish the media.
>
>To fully appreciate the consequence of not acting now, we must
>ask the  question: What would have been the consequence for
>democracy and the unity of Nigeria if Isioma Daniel and the
>publisher of ThisDay Nduka Obaigbena had been murdered by zealots
>carrying out the exaltations of the Zamfara State Deputy
>Governor? What would have been the consequences for the West
>African Sub Region of a chain of events which could have led to
>widespread religious and ethnic conflict in a country of one
>hundred and twenty million people? Without a shadow of doubt,
>failure to halt 'politically' motivated rights violations at the
>starting blocks, often have devastating consequences for society.
>
>* Rotimi Sankore is Coordinator of CREDO for Freedom of
>Expression and  Associated Rights, 73-75 Newington Causeway,   
>London SE1 6BD, UK; Tel: + 44 20 77875501; Fax:+ 44 20 77875502;
>E-mail: Media - media at credonet.org, General - info at credonet.org
>
>Background Information (from Pambazuka-News):  On the 16th of
>November 2002, Isioma Daniel wrote an article on the Miss World
>beauty pageant published in ThisDay, a Nigerian national
>newspaper. In the article, which addressed the controversy over
>Nigeria's hosting of the pageant, she suggested that the prophet
>Mohammed would have probably chosen a wife from the participants.
>The article attracted complaints from Muslims and protesting
>youth torched the Kaduna offices of ThisDay in Northern Nigeria.
>Over two hundred lives were lost in the protests, and churches,
>mosques and other property were destroyed in attacks and counter
>attacks by Muslims and Christian youth. The federal government
>had to deploy the police and army to restore peace, and imposed a
>curfew for some days.
>
>The Newspaper publicly apologised for the article, and explained
>that the  Editor had tried to remove the offending sentences, but
>failed to do so due to technological difficulties. The
>publication emphasised that it is not anti- Muslim and has
>several Muslims in top management positions. Some Muslim leaders
>accepted the apology and called on fellow Muslims to do the same.
>But some other Muslim leaders refused to accept the apology, and
>supported the Fatwa issued by the Zamfara State Deputy Governor
>Mamuda Aliyu Shinkafi. The potency of the fatwa was undermined by
>the fact that it was opposed by the country's leading Islamic
>body the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs and some prominent
>Muslim scholars on the grounds that the writer and the
>publication had apologised, and that the Deputy Governor does not
>have the authority to issue fatwa's. The Nigerian federal
>government also opposed the fatwa and press freedom groups in
>particular condemned it. However, the Zamfara State government,
>which was the first Nigerian State to introduce Islamic Sharia
>law, has not withdrawn the fatwa.
>
>Isioma Daniel has fled the country.
>
>Related Links:
>* Nigerian Sharia state holds firm on fatwa
>http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L0222812
>* What would Mohammed do?
>http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=14688
>* Soyinka blames federal government
>http://allafrica.com/stories/200212020458.html
>* Fed Govt Nullifies Fatwa
>http://allafrica.com/stories/200211300099.html
>* The truth behind the Miss World riots
>http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/
>0,3604,850959,00.html [type URL on one line]
>* Sultan Wants Perpetrators of Kaduna Riots Punished
>http://www.thisdayonline.com/
>
>NIGERIA: REGISTRATION OF POLITICAL PARTIES WELCOMED
>
>CREDO, an organisation supporting freedom of expression and
>associated rights, has welcomed with caution the registration of
>22 political parties in Nigeria this week. However, CREDO said in
>a statement that it was not the role of government to screen and
>register parties. "Rather an Independent Electoral Commission
>should merely recognise the existence of parties that notify it
>of their intention to participate in electoral processes, once
>they fulfil basic administrative procedure," CREDO said. Further
>details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=11994
>
>NIGERIA: PROBE 'UNDERMINED BY PARLIAMENT'
>http://www.transparency.org/cgi-bin/dcn-read.pl?citID=50903
>The judge leading government anti-corruption efforts in Nigeria
>has accused  parliament of attempting to undermine a probe into
>alleged financial wrongdoing by senators.
>
>NIGERIA: DEATH SENTENCE ON JOURNALIST ATTRACTS OPPOSITION
>Strong opposition has trailed the FATWA (death sentence) passed
>on THIS DAY  newspaper reporter, Isioma Daniel, by the Deputy
>Governor of Zamfara State,  North-western Nigeria, over an
>allegedly blasphemous article which allegedly  triggered riots in
>Kaduna and Abuja two weeks ago. Among the prominent voices
>opposed to the sentence is Nobel Laureate Professor Wole Soyinka,
>who called for the immediate prosecution of Zamfara Deputy
>Governor Aliyu Shinkafi. Further details:
>http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=11955
>
>***************************************
>
>On-Shore/Off-Shore: Fresh Tension in Niger Delta
>Vanguard (Lagos) Editorial, December 1, 2002
>By Blessyn Okpowo Deputy Editor
>http://allafrica.com/stories/200212040504.html
>
>[excerpts only; for full story see link. For other recent news
>see http://allafrica.com/nigeria]
>
>The fragile peace currently being experienced in the Niger-Delta
>is threatened by the continued delay in the signing into law of
>the On-shore/Off-shore abrogation bill by President Olusegun
>Obasanjo, Sunday Vanguard can reveal. Already, fresh tension
>is building up in the area over the Bill that was unanimously
>passed by the two chambers of the National Assembly almost three
>months ago. From Ondo through Edo, Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers to
>Akwa-Ibom, and Cross-Rivers States the feeling of anger and
>frustration among indigenes of the area is palpable. Speaker
>after speaker that spoke to Weekend Vanguard wondered why Mr.
>President has refused to sign the bill into law.
>
>Also in these states, high-level consultation is on over how best
>to approach the perceived opposition of Mr. President to the bill
>as passed by the National Assembly. Opinion leaders in the region
>have gone back to their trenches to map out strategies on how
>best to 'persuade' President Obasanjo to sign the bill on time
>before the gathering storm crystallises into another round of
>violence.
>
>This not withstanding, various groups in the area are warming up
>for a showdown. In Delta, Rivers, Ondo and Bayelsa states for
>instance, Ijaw, Ilaje and Itsekiri women are being mobilised to
>start another round of protest akin to the one witnessed last
>August when women from the three ethnic groups almost paralysed
>operations of the oil companies in the Niger Delta over what they
>called the criminal negligence of the area by both the federal,
>states governments and the oil companies.
>
>"We have watched events in Abuja and it would appear somebody
>wants to take us for a ride. We are going to show them that we
>are not going to be fooled a second time. We shall fight them to
>with everything at our disposal and this time we will not
>   listen to anybody until our demands are met", Mrs Oritsegbemi
>Koloko one of the women leaders told Weekend Vanguard in Warri.
>..
>
>************************************************************
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-- 

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