NGOs reject move to legalise abortion, sexualisation of school pupils in Nigeria
By Jeffrey Agbo
The Foundation for African Cultural Heritage (FACH), a coalition of values-driven NGOs in Nigeria, has rejected the move by the federal government to legalise abortion.
In a press statement dated October 15 and made available to TheNiche on Monday, the organisations insisted that abortion is murder and should be left as illegal.
The statement said, “If the U.S Supreme Court has upturned ROE V WADE that hitherto legalized abortion in the U.S, the Tinubu government cannot be seen to be legalizing abortion in Nigeria. More importantly, the abortion issue is a very sensitive religious and moral issue. It is also a very divisive issue capable of destroying the trust and loyalty which is the people of Nigeria have in the President Tinubu government.
“Abortion is murder. If the West is experiencing demographic disaster owing to diminishing human capital, how can Nigeria be legalizing the killing of our babies?
“Abortion is completely illegal in Nigeria, without any exception under which abortion can be permitted. By virtue of the combined effects of sections 228, 229,230, 297, 309, 328, of the Criminal Code Act CAP C38 (and their equivalent provisions in the Penal Code); sections 3,4, and 17 of the Child Rights Act 2003; sections 17 and 33 of the 1999 Nigerian Constitution; Articles, 3, 4 and 5 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights; Preamble to the 1990 Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) (ratified and adopted by Nigeria) abortion is completely illegal in Nigeria.
“The Federal Ministry of Health, Abuja has no right to legalize abortion in Nigeria. Consequently, the National Guidelines on Safe Termination of Pregnancy and National Guideline on Self-Care For Sexual Reproductive and Maternal Health 2020 issued by the Federal Ministry of Health, Abuja legalizing abortion and sterilization in Nigeria are unconstitutional and illegal.”
On the bill at the National Assembly to regulate surrogacy in Nigeria, the foundation said: “Renting a girl’s womb to bear children thrives in Nigeria. It is the exploitation and objectification of women and girls’ bodies with the commercialization of childbirth. This practice diminishes the humanity of the women and girls who bear the child.
“Surrogacy seeks to legitimize the manipulation and renting of women’s wombs, as well as the manipulation of embryos and zygotes, the import and export of human embryos, and the splitting and harvesting of human eggs and sperm.
“Establishing and preserving identity of products of surrogacy can be difficult or impossible for children born through surrogacy. Articles 7 and 8 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) (Nigerian has ratified and domesticated this Convention) protect a child’s right to be registered at birth and to preserve their identity, but surrogacy can negatively impact these rights.
“Surrogacy is illegal in Nigeria under sections 17(3)(h), 21, 33, 37, and 38 of the 1999 Constitution; section 30 of the Child Rights Act; Sections 13, 21, 82, Trafficking In Persons (Prohibition) Enforcement And Administration Act (TIPPEA Act).
“Surrogacy is banned in the European Union, as Article 3 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union states: ‘In the fields of medicine and biology, the following must be respected in particular: […] (c) the prohibition on making the human body and its parts as such a source of financial gain.’
READ ALSO:
“Therefore, if surrogacy is illegal in Nigeria, government cannot regulate surrogacy. Government cannot regulate illegality. You cannot regulate or amend a snake because it will still bite you. We cannot regulate surrogacy. Surrogacy requires outright ban.”
Also, the foundation addressed the Samoa Agreement, saying: “If Nigeria has outlawed LGBT by virtue of the Same-Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Act 2014, why should Nigeria turn round to sign and embrace the SAMOA AGREEMENT containing LGBT provisions?
“Articles of the Samoa Agreement especially Articles 2.5,29.5, 36.2, 88, 97 clearly endorse LGBT, abortion, sexualization of children and consequently violate Nigeria’s laws, Nigeria’s sovereignty and African Charter on People’s and Human Rights
“The African Bar Association (AfBA) has recently issued a Report on SAMOA AGREEMENT highlighting deceptive LGBT Provisions in the SAMOA AGREEMENT.
“Therefore Nigeria is advised to enter a RESERVATION in the Samoa Agreement or seek for outright amendment to remove the LGBT, abortion, sexualization of children.”
The group further called for a review of the sexuality education curriculum which it said sexualises school pupils by teaching them how to do abortion, masturbate among others.
It said, “The National Sexuality Education Curriculum developed by the National Council on Education is modelled after the book – Guidelines for Comprehensive Sexuality Education in Nigeria- published by Action Health Incorporated (AHI), a Lagos-based NGO and this AHI book is an adaptation of the 1991 Guidelines for Compressive Sexuality Education New York produced by Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States (SIECUS).
“In this Curriculum, school pupils are taught different techniques of masturbation, dating, how to wear condoms, how to do an abortion, kissing, caressing, erection, ejaculation, sterilization procedure is damaging to the character and morals of Nigerian school pupils and are in violation of sections 17(3)(f) (g), 21 (a),23, 37, 38,42 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and Articles 2, 8, 18, 28, 29 of the African Charter on Human & Peoples’ Rights (Ratification Enforcement) Act, CAP 10 and therefore illegal and unconstitutional.
“Shockingly, some textbooks and novels used in Nigerian primary and secondary schools such as Tears of a Pride- By Oyekunle Oyedeji; The Precious Child – By Queen O. Okweshine; Precious Little Darlings – By Oladosu Ayodeji; Classic Basic and Technology 3 (For Junior Secondary Schools) By M. Abdussalam, D E Akintelure, F. A Ibekwe and B.B Akintele contain techniques of doing abortion, explicit sexual, masturbation, breast enlargement, sterilization, abortion injection, erotic and lewd materials aimed at luring the school pupils into early sex, dating, pornography are damaging to the character and morals of Nigerian school pupils and are in violation of sections 17(3)(f) (g), 21 (a),23, 37, 38,42 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and Articles 2, 8, 18, 28, 29 of the African Charter on Human & Peoples’ Rights (Ratification Enforcement) Act, CAP 10
“A people without identity are a people without existence. Europe and America are now defined by LGTBQ1+ and marriage and between a woman and a woman (lesbianism) and marriage between a man and a man (homosexuality), or, marriage between a man and animal (bestiality), surrogacy, abortion, sexualization of school children. Are these what we want to import into Nigeria? Certainly No. We are a different people. We cannot be copying hook line and sinker abrasive foreign lifestyles and imposing them on our people. Gay practices and gay marriage are illegal in Nigeria by virtue of the Same Sex (Marriage) Prohibition Act 2014.
“The consensus reached at the various United Nations Conferences, is that the law passed in every developing country including Nigeria must reflect the diverse social, economic and environmental conditions of that country, with full respect for their religious, cultural backgrounds and philosophical convictions. LGTBQ1+, surrogacy, abortion, sexualization of school children have no respect for the religious and philosophical convictions of the Nigerian people and therefore cannot be imported into Nigeria.
“Laws are made in consonance with the values of a people. Every country is interested in protecting what it holds dear or its cherished values. LGTBQ1+, surrogacy, abortion, sexualization of school children are a complete break with African civilization. We must stick to our own values and traditions. It is suicidal to import practices and lifestyles which are alien to Nigeria and seek to impose them as laws all in the name of observing international obligations.
“The value of democracy stands or falls with the fundamental values that it embodies and promotes. A democratic government ought to conduct its activities in line with the will, aspirations and cultural values of the people. Any democracy that violates the inalienable human rights of citizens and their cultural values is despotism par excellence, even though it externally wears the toga of democracy.”
The statement was signed by Mrs. Haleemah Alli-Bankole Advocacy for Moral Sex Education (AMOSED)); Barr. Aham Njoku, Director, ConstitutionalWatch (CONWATCH); Mr. Yusuf Ayuba, Director, AyubsonLife Foundation; Mrs Chinwe Eze, Association of Concerned Mothers; Barr. Mary Ekemezie, Legal Consultant, Foundation for African Cultural Heritage (FACH); Dr. Nkechi Asogwa, Director, Foundation for African Cultural Heritage (FACH); Ms Naomi Ojugbeli, Program Officer, Doctors Health Initiatives; and Dr. Regina Akosa, Director, Happy Home Foundation.
NGOs which make up FACH are Family Action Africa, Project for Human Development (PHD), Global Pro-life Alliance (GPA), Doctors Health Initiative, Happy Home Foundation, Association of Concerned Mothers, Nigerian Life League, Islamic Education Trust, Association of Catholic Medical Practitioners of Nigeria, Islamic Medical Association of Nigeria, Knights of St. Mulumba, Blissful Life for Youth Empowerment, Nigerian Association for Women Advancement, National Association of Catholic Lawyers, Sympathy Worldwide Organization, Life Choice International Initiative, Good Parenting and Youth Empowerment Initiative, Social Inclusion of the Voiceless and Neglected (SIVON), Foundation for Marriage and Family, Centre for Corrections and Human Development, Islamic Platform of Nigeria, Advocacy for moral sex Education, AyubsonLife Foundation, ConstitutionalWatch (CONSWATCH), Voters Awareness Initiatives.