Falana deplores clampdown on protesters
Onyebiuchi Ezeigbo and Gboyega Akinsanmi
The Senator representing Lagos East senatorial
district in the National Assembly, Senator
Oluremi Tinubu, Tuesday advised President
Goodluck Jonathan to resign for failing to
ensure security of lives and property, in the
country, which she said, was the main reason the
government exists.
According to the senator, the president had
failed in securing an unconditional release of the
girls abducted in Chibok Borno State, on April
14.
But the senator’s husband and former Governor
of Lagos State, Senator Bola Tinubu, who was
equally speaking on the abduction of the Chibok
schoolgirls called for the involvement of more
women in the country’s affairs.
Governor Tinubu, who spoke when members of
the National Association of Women Journalists
(NAWOJ) paid him a visit ahead of their
triennial delegates conference holding in Lagos
from May 16 to 18, said several women through
their courage and commitment had being able to
bring about development.
“We need courageous women in our body
politics I hold a lot of gratitude to womanhood.
Women are a unique species. We must not leave
any girl behind, hence the now global campaign
to bring our abducted girls back and avail them
good education. I salute Mitchell Obama’s
solidarity with the Nigerian women, mothers,
girls and people in this ongoing campaign.”
Tinubu praised NAWOJ and urged them to
continue to be professional in their work as
journalists.
He said NAWOJ had become an important
organisation protecting and promoting the
interest of female journalists.
“You are key players. See what we did in Lagos
to empower and enhance the role of women
politically and of course in the judiciary.
NAWOJ used the occasion to announce that at a
dinner slated for Thursday, Tinubu would be
awarded, the ‘Man of Substance Award’.
Meanwhile, human rights lawyer, Mr. Femi
Falana, has expressed worry over the attempt by
law enforcement agencies to stop civil society
activists from protesting against the non-release
of the girls of Government Secondary School in
Chibok, Borno State, by Boko Haram
insurgents.
Falana, who addressed the National Conference
Committee on Civil Society, Labour and Sports
yesterday in Abuja, urged the labour movement
not to allow itself to be intimidated by
government or its agencies in seeking the good
of the workers of the country.
He said the more dehumanising aspect of the
whole abduction saga was the doubt being cast
on the incident by some influential personalities
in the country.
“The most embarrassing thing about it all is for
the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) woman
leader to come out and express doubt if the
School girls were actually missing. Imagine
parents hearing important people in
government expressing doubts if their children
were missing, “ Falana said.
Falana commended the civil society groups in
the country who through protests and
sensitisation had successfully attracted the
attention of the international community to
intervene.
He said it was never true that civil society
organisations had gone to sleep since the advent
of civilian administration, adding that genuine
civil society bodies are still at work fighting the
menace of injustice and human right abuses by
government.
On the issue of minimum wage law, he urged
Nigerian workers not relent in fighting for their
welfare and not leaving their faith in the hands
of ill-minded government officials.
The human right activitest took time to share
with the committee tales of financial abuses
committed by high-ranking government officials
who at the end, come to tell workers that
government was cash-strapped and cannot pay
salaries.
“Let the provisions of chapter two of the
constitution be made justiceable and any worker
who is paid the minimum should be able to go to
court and get justice,” he said.
He appealed to the committee on civil society
and labour to seek synergy with others
committees to ensure that the conference is able
to push through things that will serve the
interest and wellbeing of the people.
No comments:
Post a Comment