As one of his subjects, I have come
to know this scholar and human rights activists as my spiritual father and an
eminent intellectual guardian so much so that in the last five years that Human
Rights Writers' Association of Nigeria has existed as a registered non-partisan
platform that champions the protection and promotion of the fundamental human
rights of all Nigerians, the Archbishop gentleman has always attended all our
national human rights lectures.
Importantly, Cardinal Onaiyekan has provided the needed moral fabric and the much needed formidable spiritual background to our common fight and advocacy for the rights of all oppressed Nigerians to be respected and observed strictly.
Few years back, we bestowed on him
the national award of human rights excellence and also enrolled him into our
national human rights hall of fame.
Long before we collectively gave him
this award, we have always believed that His Holiness Pope Benedict the
Sixteenth will surely reward this hardworking missionary of God with higher
calling and we are in no way shocked that our prediction was quick in becoming
a reality when recently the Church raised him to one of the highest offices in
the Worldwide Catholic Church as a Cardinal, making him eligible to participate
in any future conclave to elect a new Pope whenever the need arises.
At that award ceremony of our
organization, Cardinal Onaiyekan provided serious food for thought regarding
how best human rights can be protected and promoted but never shied away from
the controversial same gender sexual orientation of a section of the developed
western world that is gradually finding its way into Africa and Nigeria
particularly. He criticized this unnatural sexual orientation and called on
Africans not to allow it to permeate our clime.
I hereby take the liberty of his recent elevation to the prestigious office of a cardinal of the Church to reproduce salient aspects of his thoughts on human rights to show how he may pilot his new global office especially in this age and time that even some gay persons have ceased the church by the jugular. His disposition towards gay marriage just like most Christians, will surely bring him into collusion and ideological confrontation with supporters of Gay sexual orientation Worldwide.
Cardinal Onaiyekan had stated thus; ''In general, what strikes me is the painful gap between words and deeds, between policies and realities as regards the protection of Human Rights of Nigeria''.
In his words, despite some obvious
lacunae and even outright contradictions within the texts of the
Nigerian Constitution, the general spirit within our present deficient
constitution declares and prescribes the basic norms for a proper protection of
the Human Rights of Nigerians.
Cardinal Onaiyekan who was the only
black African to be so appointed among the six new Cardinals had proffered solution
to the myriads of Nigeria's constitutional problems made worst by the complete
disregard by government officials and important business leaders of the concept
of human rights and the need to mainstream the respect of the human rights of
Nigerians as a necessary weltanschauung [worldview] of Nigeria as a political
entity.
He stated thus; ''The problem therefore is not really with regard to our Laws and our Constitution. Furthermore, our country is also a signatory to the major International Human Rights Declarations and Conventions. The problem we have is clearly that of implementation, matching deeds with words and ensuring that the realities on the ground coincide with the policies that we claim to hold''.
''All this is in my opinion due to
bad or weak government. Often there is no political will to do the right thing
and even where there is the political will, there are no clear and efficient
structures on ground to ensure that the right thing actually gets done. A
typical example is in the whole area of access to redress in the law courts.
Access to justice at the law courts which should be a right of every citizen
has now become the privilege of the few who are rich and powerful'', so says
Cardinal Onaiyejkan.
On poverty in Nigeria which is
widespread, he called for quick surgical operation to end this evil trend.
In his words; ''Over and above,
there is the tyranny of poverty, rampant and abject poverty which has rendered
many people powerless and voiceless, incapable of resisting injustice, less
still fighting for their rights. This practically makes whatever we may say
about human rights in Nigeria a dead letter''.
On gay marriage he said thus; ''In particular, I have serious concerns on three points: First, there is the right to life which is clearly spelt out in our Constitution and in the Fundamental Human Rights to which we are signatories. Yet there is so much wanton killing going on and killings with impunity. Extra-judicial killing by security agents is a regular occurrence. Then there are the frequent outbursts of murderous sectarian violence. As I am writing this text, we are hearing of over 500 villagers slaughtered in the middle of the night by marauding armed groups that seem to have dissolved into thin air. Besides, people are left to die through criminal neglect. And poverty is the greatest of these killers. We might take the example of pensioners who are left to spend the last part of their lives in misery. Many have died hanging around offices waiting for their meager pensions to be paid. The low value which our society and by extension, our government gives to the life of a Nigerian is very shameful. Otherwise, how can we take so lightly the fact that so many of our country men and women are dying day in day out, either through riots or conflicts or outright poverty and sickness?''
Onaiyekan stated another of the tripod concern he has thus; ''The second aspect of concern has to do with the freedom of religion, which comes next in importance to the right to life itself. Our constitution spells this out very clearly. It even goes further to insist that the government of the Federation and of the States shall never adopt any religion as State Religion''.
He continued thus; ''Most of us take this formulation to mean that every religion is free and equal before the law of the land. And freedom in this matter is not only in respect of the individual but also of groups. It includes the freedom and the right to proclaim, to practice, to propagate and even to change ones religion just as it gives freedom for any Nigerian to claim to have no religion at all''.
He claimed thus; ''As a Christian who has many contacts with fellow Christians in many parts of Northern Nigeria where Islam has practically been made into the official religion of the State, I see here a lamentable gulf between what the law says and what is on ground. It is well known that in many parts of Northern Nigeria, the State and the government refuses as a matter of policy to give approval for land for Christians to build churches while in the same State, Mosques spring out everywhere, everyday with no restriction. Similarly, public funds are spent training Islamic Religious Leaders and no provisions are made for the training of the religious leaders of Christianity. The frequent instances of attack on churches and religious symbols in the North are clearly connected with this basic injustice and disregards for the fundamental human religious rights of many of the citizens in the North. Until we sort this out, I am afraid; we shall continue to hear bad news in many of these Northern States''. These are factual but worrying concern to all right thinking persons including moderate muslims who are liberal in their political orientation.
For him, the third and finally, I am
very much concerned about the so called “new Human Rights” that we keep hearing
about now especially from strong lobby groups that seem to have taken control
of the United Nations and its agencies, largely with their bases in the Western
Countries of Europe and America. Many of these so called Human Rights actually
contradict the basic rights that we have all already agreed upon in the
classical fundamental human rights of humanity''.
Condemning abortion and showing his
support for the right to life of the unborn, Cardinal Onaiyekan said in
summary; ''The first and obvious example is where abortion is being presented
as a right of the woman which the state must fund from public resources. The
eyes are deliberately closed to the fact that every abortion entails the
killing of an innocent human being''.
''Every law that permits abortion
simply means that your human life is sacred only when you can fight for
yourself. For as long as the modern world tolerates abortion as a right, we are
simply denying with one hand what we are proclaiming with the other''.
Onaiyekan said pointblank that;
''Similarly, issues of sexuality for example, homosexuality and same sex
marriage are all now being proposed as “rights”. This has never been so until
recent years. The responsibility for this lies with a small but powerful lobby
doing all it can to impose these things on the whole of humanity. The criminal
aspect of this exercise is that some of the rich nations are pressurizing poor
countries to adopt these inhuman positions as a condition for help and
assistance''.
''Nigeria has no business giving in to these pressures because we have enough resources to feed our people. But I am not sure that there is an adequate clear vision in these matters. I suspect that many of those who attend big International meetings on our behalf are often very much unaware of the agenda behind many programmes that appear on the surface very positive and good'', Onaiyekan stated.
Onaiyekan said also that; ''The tendency to use ambiguous terminology is often a way to deceive people into accepting things that they would not have accepted when presented bluntly. Thus expressions like “family planning”, “reproductive rights”, “safe motherhood” which are valid and wonderful on their own, often hide the gruesome crime of abortion, which is nothing less than the killing of innocent but defenseless human beings''.
What is discernable from the above is that we now have a Cardinal in the Christian community of the World that can unequivocally stand up to challenge the antics of the big money spenders who support the spread of the same gender sexual orientation including Gay marriage. He has a tough battle and ideological war ahead with these forces that are powerful and rich in the western world.
Emmanuel Onwubiko, Head, Human
Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, blogs @www.huriwa.blogspot.com.
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