New Telegraph

Human rights lawyer backs self-determination, rejects secession

An Ibadan-based human rights activist, Femi Aborisade, is backing self-determination agitators in the country “provided they do not adopt violence in their agitations”. Aborisade said this on Monday at a seminar organised by the Young Lawyers Forum of the Ibadan branch of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) at Are Afe Babalola Bar Centre, Iyaganku, Ibadan.

The seminar lecture which was themed: Prosecuting our convictions with courage”, was delivered by Chief Yomi Alliyu (SAN), who is lawyer for Yoruba Nation agitator, Chief Sunday Adeyemo aka Sunday Igboho. Igboho is facing trial for the immigration offences in Benin Republic where he fled to after his Ibadan home was attacked by security forces who reportedly killed two of his associates, arrested 13 and destroyed property.

He was accused of stockpiling arms, an allegation Igboho denied. Alliyu, who said that he had in the past been dubbed “armed robbers lawyer” over his representation in the various courts of persons charged with armed robbery offences, stressed that he was convinced that everybody had the right to legal representation. According to him, it is the reason he has also taken up the case of Igboho. Aborisade, a very close ally of late Chief Gani Fawehinmi (SAN) and then-gubernatori-al candidate of the National Conscience Party (NCP) in Oyo State, said: “The travails of Chief Aliyu” were in line with “the inevitable travails of Chief Fawehinmi or whoever dares to challenge the status quo”. While expressing his support for Igboho that Yoruba should determine their existence, the lawyer, however, said he was not in support of secession.

He said: “I identify with the Learned Silk. While I do not support secession, I defend the rights of those calling for secession and/or restructuring, provided they do not adopt violence in their agitations. I do not advocate secession simply because I know it is not an automatic solution to the problems the masses confront in Nigeria.

“I am convinced that even if Nigeria is broken into 1,000 republics today, without a paradigm shift in the philosophy of governance, from pro-rich philosophy of governance to pro-poor philosophy of governance in which there is a programme of income redistribution and inequality reducing measures, the problems of poverty and physical insecurity would be replicated in each of the emerging republics.

To the extent that self-determination is a universally recognised right, those agitating for secession should not be repressed or suppressed.” He added: “The NBA, nationally, or the NBA Ibadan branch, should advocate the repeal of the recently passed Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).

The PIA is a neoliberal piece of legislation which has merely established the ground and the procedure to facilitate the privatization of the NNPC. If actualized, privatization of the NNPC pursuant to the PIA, would deepen poverty, widen inequality and heighten physical insecurity in the land. I have analysed the PIA to show how it provides for privatization of the NNPC and the core negative implications of the PIA.”

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