According to
Vanguard Oba Rilwan Akiolu I, yesterday in Lagos, exploded, saying he would
shake the nation after the 2015 general elections. He threatened to reveal
roles played by some Yoruba Obas during the regime of late military dictator, General
Sani Abacha.
Oba Akiolu,
who was the father of the day at the public presentation of a 368-page book
titled, “Corruption and Human Rights Law in Africa”, authored by Dr Kolawole
Olaniyan, a renowned lawyer and legal adviser in Amnesty International, AI,
noted that no single person should be blamed for Nigeria’s woes.
His words: “I
will shake this nation after the election in February. The man who made the
statement that I lifted oil should cover his face in shame because I was still
a serving police officer and I wonder how I would have such time to be involved
in the lifting of oil. Those who collected Abacha’s money know themselves and I
will quote witnesses. Let us stop apportioning blames, forget the past and work
towards a better future for this country. Do not put 100 percent blame on
President Goodluck Jonathan because the person who caused the problem knows
himself.”
The Oba called on Nigerians
to see the battle against the scourge of Ebola Virus Disease, EVD, Boko Haram
insurgency, among other challenges confronting Nigeria as a collective
responsibility that must be battled by all.
Mr. Femi Falana, SAN, who
chaired the occasion on behalf of the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Mariam
Aloma Mukhtar, described the death of a Nigerian lady in Dubai for Ebola after
she was quarantined on arrival from Nigeria yesterday morning as a result of
deep corruption in the system.
Falana said: “Because of
massive corruption in the continent today, the fundamental human rights of the
people have been severely infringed upon. What the author has done in his book
is that he has challenged all of us to think about the effect of corruption in
the continent. The challenge of Ebola is not being tackled under the provisions
of the law.”
He also blamed corruption
for the failure of the Federal Government to allegedly care for Nigerian
soldiers fighting insurgency in Borno State, especially without adequate
weapons and welfare. This led to the protest by their wives, saying “this is a
manifestation of the collapse of the Nigerian state. So something must be
done.”
In her remarks, Deputy
Consul-General, United States, US Embassy in Nigeria, Dehab Ghebreab, said
there was a link between human rights violation and corruption in Africa.
According to her,
“corruption can breed militancy and insurgency, which we have been witnessing
in Africa.”
She stressed the
determination of the US government to support Africa in tacking the menace,
while commending steps taken by the author for the book on human rights and
corruption.
A senior advocate of
Nigeria, SAN, Mr. Tayo Oyetibo, applauded the author, saying it “will
definitely expand our scope and frontier of the human rights law in Nigeria and
Africa.”
Also in his remarks, Mr
Richard Akinnola, an activist said,
“Corruption is not just about looting the nation’s treasury, it is also
corruption when our value system is been infringed on.”
On his part, the author
said he wrote the book to expand the provisions of the law on human rights law
as well as expose the extent at which corruption had denied Africans their
natural fundamental rights.
Vanguard
Never seen a tribe who betrays one another like the yorubas.
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