Still on the the Anti-Gay Marriage Bill (2): THOSE WHO NEED TO SPEAK UP!

Olisa Agbakoba, SAN, Founder, HURILAWS
Does HURILAWS support Senate Bill 05?

"Also prominent among the NGOs, with influential connections, listed as signatories to the AI statement are: HURILAWS; Socio-Economic Rights & Accountability Project SERAP; The International Centre for Reproductive Health and Sexual Rights (INCRESE);  Centre for Law Enforcement Education (CLEEN Foundation); and Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO)."

As I said here last time, there are some influential Nigerians who can be seen, rightly or wrongly, as supporting the position, canvassed by Amnesty International (AI) that homosexuality is a human right that should be protected, not criminalised. These are men and women of impeccable public record, but who serve on the boards of or are otherwise associated, with NGOs listed as signatories to the AI petition against House Bill 150 otherwise known as “A Bill for an Act to Prohibit Marriage between Persons of Same Gender, Solemnization of Same and for other Matters related therewith” in 2009.

The bill, which never went beyond the public hearing stage, was sponsored by 49 members of the House including the current Deputy Speaker, Emeka Ihedioha. There is no knowing what led to its quiet death, but as I have pointed out here before, its fate was similar to that of Same Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Bill, 2006, presented by the Olusegun Obasanjo administration.   

Now here’s “An Act to Prohibit Same Sex Marriages” (Senate Bill 05), which just went through a public hearing. It must not be allowed to go the way of its predecessors. That means all hands must be on deck. We must utilise the patriotic and nationalistic instinct aroused in many members of AI’s traditional constituency by David Cameron’s gay-for-aid bully tactic to push through this new initiative. We must enlist every possible person; including the influential Nigerians whose silence may be wrongly seen as acquiesce.

Among these influential people are members of the Nigeria Bar Association, listed through its Human Rights Institute. As I said in closing last time, the institute was established “to promote and protect the rule of law, independence of the legal profession effectively and efficiently, and to advance human rights enforcement in Nigeria,” and its membership is “open to all legal practitioners and law firms in Nigeria interested in pursuing the objects of the institute…”

Although this membership clause suggests that a legal practitioner can belong to the NBA without being a member of the institute, the question that arises is does the institute speak for the NBA on human right matters? If it does, would it be right then to conclude that Nigerian lawyers, a preponderance of whom would claim to be Christians or Moslems, support the Al statement in support of gay marriage? Any which way, the NBA needs to speak up.

The last time I checked, Rev Father Matthew Hassan Kukah and Dr Mrs Obiageli Ezekwesili were on the board of the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD). The centre was "established in October 1997 in response to the need for an independent space for critical reflection and development of universally relevant and culturally sensitive responses to the challenges posed by the democracy and development agenda in the West African sub-region, CDD has become a major reference point for informed analysis and practical strategies on West African socio-political dynamics.”

Apart from the fact that support for same-sex marriage, even indirectly, would seem to run counter to the goal of seeking universally relevant and culturally sensitive responses to the democratic and development challenges (emphasise added), it would be interesting to hear the position of the highly respected Kukah now Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Sokoto and Ezekwesili, a World Bank vice-president, and a committed Christian married to a Pentecostal pastor.

Also prominent among the NGOs, with influential connections, listed as signatories to the AI statement are: HURILAWS; Socio-Economic Rights & Accountability Project SERAP; The International Centre for Reproductive Health and Sexual Rights (INCRESE);  Centre for Law Enforcement Education (CLEEN Foundation); and Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO).

HURILAWS was founded by none other than Olisa Agbakoba, a human rights activist, Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN)  and former President of the Nigerian Bar Association. It started in 1997 as, “an independent, non-profit service, dedicated to providing public interest and human rights law services to advance the legal protection of human rights and has “working relations with the Episcopal Commission for Justice, Development & Peace Commission of the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria…”.

Now, Agbakoba’s catholic credentials are incontrovertible and that might explain HURILAW’s working relationship with a commission of the Church. The position of the Catholic Church of Nigeria on homosexuality is too well-known to require a rehash here. So, how does he explain HURILAW’s place on AI’s list of signatories?

SERAP was established in 2004 to promote transparency and accountability in the public and private sectors through human rights. It’s National Advisory Board members are: Mr. Femi Falana, President West African Bar Association, Mr Tayo Oyetibo (SAN), Professor Oluwole Smith, Dean Faculty of Law, Lagos State University, and Mrs.Ayo Atsenuwa, Professor of Law at the University of Lagos. How opposition to HB 150 promotes “transparency and accountability in the public and private sectors through human rights” is beyond me. Makes you, wonder, doesn’t it, whether these influential Nigerians are privy to their NGO’s signature on Amnesty’s statement.

INCRESE touts itself as “the leading Nigerian NGO working for a favourable environment and expanding access to sexual health and rights information and services and has as its vision, “to be the preferred leading sexual health and right NGO.” With its so-called values as “Autonomy, Diversity, Integrity and Choice,” it is not inconceivable that “choice” might include abortion rights and perhaps a choice to marry within your gender. But does Dr Kayode Fayemi, Governor of Ekiti State, endorse this – being one of the Nigerians on INCRESE’s Board of Trustees?

Where do the following respected Nigerians stand of this issue: Mrs. Ayo Obe, human rights lawyer and former president of the Civil Liberties Organization; Josephine Effah Chukwuma, who pioneered the establishment of shelter for female victims of violence in Nigeria, and is currently the executive director of Project Alert on Violence Against Women and; retired Police Commissioner Frank Odita, former public relations chief of the Nigeria Police Force, and currently producer of Security Watch on television (all members of the Board of Trustees of CLEEN Foundation, also a signatory); Innocent Chukwuma, secretary of the foundation; and Festus Okoye, another icon of human rights struggles, whose NGO, Human Rights Monitor, was also on the list. 

Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, over to you.