Archbishop of Canterbury replies SERAP – TheNigerialawyer

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Most Revd Justin Portal Welby has
responded to an open letter by Socio-Economic Rights and
Accountability Project, (SERAP) urging him to use his good offices
and leadership and his “friendship with President Muhammadu Buhari
to prevail on him to obey court orders most recently involving
activists Omoyele Sowore and Olawale Bakare who remain in arbitrary
detention despite a court order for their release.”

This development was disclosed today by SERAP deputy director
Kolawole Oluwadare.

SERAP had in the letter to Archbishop Welby expressed “serious
concerns about the disturbing trends by state governments and
federal government to use the court as a tool to suppress citizens’
human rights.”

Responding on behalf of the Archbishop through an email last
night, Dominic Goodall, the Chief Correspondence Officer at the
Lambeth Palace, said: “Thank you for your recent letter. Much as he
would like to, the Archbishop is unable to respond personally in
detail, so I have been asked to reply to you on his behalf.”

Goodall’s email read in part: “Thank you for taking the time to
share your comments and concerns on this matter, which have been
noted. Please be assured that I will communicate your concerns to
the Archbishop and his staff team, so that they are aware of your
concerns. Thank you again for taking the time to write.”

Kolawole Oluwadare said: “We are very delighted that our letter
and the concerns that it raises have caught the attention of the
Archbishop. Given his public record for justice and human rights,
we have absolutely no doubt that he will prevail on President
Buhari to obey not just the court order for the release of Sowore
and Bakare but all court orders.”

“But it should never have reached this level, as the government
ought to have obeyed court orders as a matter of routine”

Earlier, SERAP had letter dated 11 November 2019, said: “We
believe you can use your leadership position and influence to
persuade President Buhari to promote the rule of law in words and
in action by obeying all court orders including the order for the
releasing of Mr Sowore and Mr Bakare from arbitrary detention.”

SERAP also said, “As the senior bishop and principal leader of
the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican
Communion, we believe you can reaffirm your belief in justice, rule
of law and the basic human rights of all people by speaking out
with a strong voice against the repeated disobedience of court
orders and the implicitly lack of respect by the government for the
integrity and authority of the Nigerian judiciary.”

The letter read in part: “Taking a stance on the issues of the
rule of law and respect for court orders in Nigeria will also
contribute to ensuring respect for human rights and the rule of law
by the 36 state governments in Nigeria, as these governments seem
to be taking their cue from the federal authorities regarding
disobedience of court orders.”

“Journalist and activist Omoyele Sowore and Olawale Bakare are
facing trial on seven counts of treasonable felony, fraud,
cyber-stalking and insulting President Muhammadu Buhari, simply for
exercising their human rights. Mr Sowore, was arrested on August 3
by Nigeria’s State Security Service (SSS) for planning a
protest.”

“Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu granted Sowore and Bakare bail but the
security agents have continued to refuse to release them despite
being served with the court orders. This refusal implicitly
violates the defendants’ constitutional rights to presumption of
innocence.”

“We therefore respectfully call on you to speak out on the
repeated disobedience of court orders by the government of
President Muhammadu Buhari and urge him to obey all court orders
including the orders for the release of Mr Sowore and Mr Bakare
from arbitrary detention.”

Aisha Buhari announces new women radio station while
receiving Woman of the Year award

First Lady, Federal Republic of Nigeria, Dr. Mrs. Aisha
Muhammadu Buhari has been honoured as Woman of the Year 2019 at the
4th Edition of Voice of Women (VOW) Conference on Tuesday 19th
November, 2019 at the NAF Conference Center, Abuja. The event was
organized by Women Radio in conjunction with the Voice of Women
Foundation.

In her acceptance speech, Mrs. Buhari said the award will spur
her to do more to protect, advocate for and defend Nigerian women
and girls at all levels.

Earlier, while declaring the conference open, Mrs. Buhari noted
that Nigerian women are still far from where they want to be, but
are also not where they used to be. She informed the conference
that, Nigerian women and girls have more access to education
opportunities as shown by the increase in enrolments of young girls
in schools across the country.

She drew attention to the rampant cases of abuse especially in
institutions of learning as exposed by a recent BBC documentary,
and called for a thorough investigation of all reported cases and
overhauling of codes of conduct in Nigerian Institutions to
accommodate stiffer consequences on offenders.

She noted the importance of advocacy and commended the founder
of Women Radio, Lagos, for giving women a voice, promising to
support the advocacy by announcing the establishment of a new
women-focused radio station in Abuja that will focus on
developmental issues as a whole, the new radio is expected to
commence test transmission in a few weeks.

Convener of VOW 2019 and founder of Women Radio, Toun
Okewale-Sonaiya, in her welcome address said the conference has
become an annual cornerstone event where key stakeholders
congregate to reflect, deliberate and re-strategize a comprehensive
action plan to advance the women agenda in Nigeria.

She noted that 2019 will be remembered “as the year Nigeria
women and girls collectively started speaking above whispers
challenging the culture of silence and the institutionalized
commodification of our body as a means to an end throughout our
lives” and hoped that conversations from the event will set the
collective agenda for socio-economic and political advancement of
Nigerian women moving forward.

Wife of the Vice President, Mrs. Dolapo Osinbajo in her remarks
called on women to elevate their thoughts, words, ideas and actions
in order to elevate Nigeria.

An award was also presented to the Governor of Kwara state
Alhaji Adulrahman Abdulrazaq for his support in elevating women in
his State.

The event was attended by wife of the Vice President, wife of
the Senate President and wife of the Speaker, House of
Representatives. Also at the event were wives of present and former
governors.

Aliyu Abdullahi
Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity