By Onyewuchi Ojinnaka
One of Nigeria’s foremost Civil Society/NGO leaders, Comrade Innocent Chukwuma passed away on Saturday evening in Lagos at the age of 55. He was died after he was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukaemia, a dangerous cancer of the blood.
Breaking the sad news of Innocent Chukwuma,s death, his very close friend and executive director of Lagos based rights group, Media Rights Agenda, Mr Edetaen Ojo said: “With profound shock and sadness, I regret to inform you that Innocent Chukwuma passed away a few hours ago, in the evening of April 3. May his soul rest in peace,”
His death is devastating to the civil society groups. Nigerians, civil groups, activists are mourning the sudden demise of Comrade Innocent Chukwuma.
A frontline activist, Mr Chukwuma founded the CLEEN Foundation, an NGO established to promote public safety, security, and accessible justice in West Africa.
CLEEN Foundation was the first non-governmental African organisation to receive the prestigious MacArthur Foundation Award for Creative and Effective Institutions.
He was appointed the Ford Foundation representative/director in West African subregion in 2012 as its lead in West Africa. He took up appointment in 2013 in its Lagos office and established a workable, decent and productive relationship with leading Civil Society groups and government agencies across the region.
While with the Ford Foundation, Innocent Chukwuma supervised and monitored all grants to groups in the region, supporting efforts to ensure that all people have equal access to economic and social opportunities.
Innocent Chukwuma was very supportive to the Civil Society coverage/reportage of TheNiche Newspapers as he facilitated the U S based Ford Foundation grant to Acclaim Communications Limited, publishers of TheNiche Online Newspaper for coverage of civil society activities across the nation.
He was a strong pillar of Project Alert, an NGO that championed the crusade on violence against women/girl child. His amiable wife and a civil society women leader, Mrs Josephine Effa-Chukwuma is the executive director of Project Alert.
Mr Chukwuma came to public life first as a student union activist at the University of Nigeria. He holds a master’s degree in criminal justice from the University of Leicester in the UK, and bachelor’s degree in religious studies at the University of Nigeria (UNN) in the early eighties.
He joined a group of young activists who formed the Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO), Nigeria’s foremost human rights organisation that mounted relentless campaigns and pressure against military regimes and autocracy in Nigeria.Innocent held various posts within the Civil Liberties Organization. He was also the chair of the Altus Global Alliance, a non-profit global network.
The Civil Liberties Organisation was then led by Dr Olisa Agbakoba, now a member of the inner bar of the legal profession called Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SAN).
Mr Chukwuma is a father of three daughters, one who graduated in law and was called to the bar last year.
At CLO, Mr Chukwuma met other activists like Chidi Odinkalu, a lawyer, academic and former chairman of the Nigeria Human Rights Commission (NHRC).
Reacting to Chukwuma’s death, Mr Odinkalu while remembering his departed comrade said; “I knew him for nearly 35 and I am grateful for the privilege,” adding that “In all things, as my late mum always said, we must learn to give thanks … he was a man of decency.”
He disclosed that Mr Chukwuma’s diagnosis only came through Friday night, and though he was booked to begin chemotherapy sessions Saturday night, but he “passed before the needle could be inserted.”
Also reacting to Chukwuma’s death, a Nollywood Star and Brand Ambassador of Project Alert, Kate Henshaw lamented that Chukwuma’s death is heart breaking.
“He is a great man of integrity, amazing, family friend and a credible character””It is truly very sad and heart breaking”, she said.
Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State, said, ‘’Still distraught from Yinka Odumakin’s demise, Bisi and I woke up to the most devastating shock of Innocent Chukwuma’s death. Inno was an outstanding colleague and friend from our days at the barricades. Our thoughts are with Josephine and the children. May he rest in peace.’’
Innocent is a globally renowned advocate for human rights and good governance. In carrying out his duties as a human rights advocate, he had addressed issues of democratic and accountable government, freedom of expression, sexuality and reproductive health and rights as well as promoting human rights activities. He left a broad mark of selflessness around the West African civic space after spending decades advancing the cause of a better society for the long-suffering population of the region.He championed the cause of the vulnerable society through his NGO and Ford Foundation .
Innocent Chukwuma served as member of the boards of many global nonprofits and initiatives against crime and violence including the International Centre for the Prevention of Crime (ICPC), African Policing Civilian Oversight Forum (APCOF), Open Society Global Criminal Justice Fund and the Africa Advisory Council of Human Rights Watch.
He received many honours, including the Reebok International Human Rights Award. He served as visiting lecturer at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, where he designed and taught a course on the management of nonprofits in the Global South. He was a worthy husband and caring father.