According to Odinkalu, who compared Deborah’s murder to “pre-Neanderthal killings of Nigerians,” going for the conference of SPIDEL, an organ of NBA, which was set up to defend the meaning of human life in Nigeria, in such circumstance will be counterproductive.
By Emma Ogbuehi
The gruesome murder of Miss Deborah Samuel, a student of Shehu Shagari College of Education, Sokoto, on Thursday by fellow students, who are Muslim fundamentalists continued to reverberate globally as condemnations continued to pour in.
But beyond the condemnations, the dastardly act is beginning to impact negatively on the socio-economic wellbeing of the Sokoto State as some angry Nigerians have vowed to keep their distance from the beleaguered state.
On Friday, human rights activist and lawyer, Professor Chidi Odinkalu, said he will not be part of the Section on Public Interest and Development Law (SPIDEL) conference in Sokoto State because of the murder of, and more importantly the reaction of the SPIDEL leadership to the sad incident.
SPIDEL was scheduled to hold conference in Sokoto from May 22 to 26 on the theme “Rule of Law and Democratic Evolution in Nigeria.”
But according to Odinkalu, who compared Deborah’s murder to “pre-Neanderthal killings of Nigerians,” going for the conference of SPIDEL, an organ of NBA, which was set up to defend the meaning of human life in Nigeria, in such circumstance will be counterproductive.
Deborah was stoned to death and then her body burnt by her raving colleagues, who claimed she blasphemed Islam.
Since the tragedy on Thursday, there have been calls for the cancellation of the SPIDEL conference, a call that has been resisted by the SPIDEL leadership.
Odinkalu’s decision to pull out of the event is the latest in the global outcry against the murder of Deborah.
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The former Chairman of National Human Rights Commission said the “killings of Nigerians anywhere in Nigeria,” is condemnable.
But his withdrawal from the conference is also more of an expression of displeasure over the reaction of the SPIDEL leadership to the murder.
The statement titled, “Personal Statement by Chidi Anselm Odinkalu Concerning the Proposed SPIDEL Conference in Sokoto,” which he sent to TheNiche on WhatsApp, read:
“I am gratified that the Chairman of SPIDEL, my brother, Monday Ubani, MoU, has responded to this horrific incident in Sokoto. Sadly, much of the contents of his statement is beside the point at best. Other parts are gratuitously insulting. It seems clear his statement is more focused on saving a conference, which can take place anywhere, or on NBA politics, which is unending rather than on valorising human life and responsible government. The issues here are clear and his statement fails to reckon with any of them at all. That is why I consider it necessary to respond.
“To begin with, if his comparison with Owerri and Imo State was meant to make any point, it fails. I would oppose the scheduling of any such conference by the NBA or any of its organs in Imo State right now without thinking twice about it and with a clear conscience. That part of his statement I found both cheap and self defeating.
“So, MoU sent an SMS to the state governor – who, by the way, was characteristically out of the state when this happened and did not see fit to return immediately. And he says that the state government did not do the killing, as if anyone said it did. That is worse than setting up a proverbial straw-man in order to demolish it.
“If all that MoU has done is send SMS to the state governor and HAG (Honourable Attorney General), he sadly fails to get the point about this. You mean, all that bloviating evident on the face of his statement was done in order to convey the point that he has sent a mere SMS to the state governor?! And on the back of that he accuses colleagues of lacking “locus” whatever that means.
“The reality is life has lost meaning in Nigeria. SPIDEL was set up to defend the meaning of human life in Nigeria. I know because I did. In case my brother does not recall, the guarantor of life under our constitution is not the state governor. It is the president. I may have missed it but I am yet to see what the President or Federal Government has said about this incident. Nor has MoU said that he sent an SMS to the President or to Abubakar Malami, since, in his view, an SMS is all that this incident requires. But an SMS addressed to the wrong recipient is not an SMS at all.
“We do not need to be lawyers going to a conference in Sokoto to care about pre-Neanderthal killings of Nigerians anywhere in Nigeria. His line about people lacking locus is a gratuitous insult to a traumatised people.
“I was prepared to suspend final decision on participating in Sokoto until I heard from the leadership of SPIDEL. Having now heard from them, it is clear to me that they do not get the significance of this issue. I am now convinced that I will be unable to accept an invite to participate in the SPIDEL conference.
“So, I, Chidi Anselm Odinkalu, am cancelling my participation. I will, in addition, actively campaign against the meeting. Everyone has to take their own decision. The SPIDEL leadership has taken its decision. I have taken mine. This is a matter of conscience.
“I am City-Zen Chidi. This is my stand.”
