Tuesday, October 16, 2012
DAILY SUN
41
WOMANoftheSUN By KATE HALIM
D
r. Joe Odumakin is not one known to stomach any form of injustice. Her consistent cry for good governance and for the rights of all Nigerians to be respected has kept her active for many years without cowering. In her characteristic manner, the founder of Women Arise has condemned the gruesome execution of four undergraduates who were accused of stealing in Port-Harcourt recently. She decried the snail-paced response of our security agencies to curb crimes and the inability of the present administration to tackle Nigeria’s prevailing security challenges. In a recent chat with Daily Sun, Odumakin warns that any country where crimes are not punished, iniquity rises. Excerpts: Government have continued to assure Nigerians of their security irrespective of where they reside, how far would you say the government has performed? Government has been long on assurance but short on delivery. People come under threats of agents of destruction, death and terror consistently, but government has always been found wanting, perpetually unable to rise to the occasion. How would you assess the performance of Nigerian police in recent times, has there been any significant improvement in their response to distress calls? Their performance has been so appalling. Armed robbers, assassins and terrorists are having a field day because the police cannot respond to emergency situations promptly and with the intent to curtail it. A comedian once jokingly said that a policeman was running on the street shouting “help! help!! help!!! armed robbers are at our police station”, that joke is close to reality of our police in the face of helplessness to our security challenges. What do you really think is lacking in our security system? Everything is lacking. It is a system that lacks focus, motivation, ability, professionalism and precision. In short, it is an exact opposite of what security should be in a decent clime. Yet, security continues to have the largest share in our budget. Would the creation of state police ameliorate the security situation in view of clear inadequacies of the present arrangement? It will help in some way but there are issues that go beyond gun and tanks. We have neglected social security for a long time, all we have been putting money on is gun and tanks, there is no way a country can have sixty million unemployed youths who have no hope and expect to have peace. Any society that cannot give hope and opportunity to many who are poor cannot protect the few who are rich. What do you have to say about the lack of response of our security agencies to the murder of four UNIPORT undergraduates recently? It has been the usual uncoordinated, unimpressed and a sickening response to needless loss of lives in our country. It is the same hallow ritual of giving the appearance of something is being done, whereas nothing is being done and this gives a strong impression that human lives mean nothing again in our clan. The gruesome, barbaric and painful
•Odumakin
‘With 60m unemployed youths, Nigeria’ll have no peace’ “Everything is lacking. It is a system that lacks focus, motivation, ability, professionalism and precision. In short, it is an exact opposite of what security should be in a decent clime. Yet, security continues to have the largest share in our budget” death of those four undergraduates was videotaped live and posted on the internet. Our security agents always abandon leprosy to always look for cure for eczema. This avoidable and needless
murder took almost two hours, the security agents abysmally failed us with their snail pace response. What punishment do you feel is proper for the perpetrators of the Portharcourt lynching? Our laws are clear on murder, the punishment for murder in our criminal code is death. The community did not investigate at all, the boys were murdered, and those who perpetuated the heinous act must be brought to book. How do you feel as a mother knowing that women witnessed the cold murder and even insisted on killing the young men? We have become a nation of beast across gender. As long as the society continues to commit crime with impunity, crime will no longer be gender based. What would you say about the performance of our legal system in relation to incidents of violent crimes in our tertiary institutions? Our law enforcement is weak and any country that crimes are not punished, iniquity rises. The Minister of Justice and Attorney Chief Bola Ige was killed in his home in Ibadan on December 23, 2001.
Did the Minister of Justice ever get justice? There are several high profile serial killings, yet no one has been punished or any of the cases pursued to its logical end. The inability to bring the previous perpetrators to book has emboldened the criminals and has become right in some sense. Is there any hope for significant improvement in our security situation under the Goodluck Jonathan administration? There is no flicker of hope for a President who for two years has been holding independence parade at the villa. A president who says Boko Haram has infiltrated his government cannot be expected to secure the country. This present administration must be focused on security issues in the real sense of the word and put an end to mindless killings, barbarism and unnecessary loss of lives and prosperity. What would you say to the parents, relatives and friends of the recently lynched undergraduates? God will grant them the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss. It is a shattering experience for anybody to lose a child, much more the barbaric circumstances in which they died. We demand that justice must be done to prevent others dying that way because nothing can bring them back. As a woman, how do you feel being addressed as die-hard activist? I have been in this struggle with men for a long time and I have never felt intimidated. I remain committed to the struggle and this resolve has kept me going even during tough times. Whatever I do, I do with all my strength, I don’t allow the fact that I am a woman hinder me from doing what I love doing. So, I don’t feel sad when I am addressed as a die-hard activist. How has Women Arise fared since its inception? Women Arise started in 2003 to break the women’s culture of silence and to help mentor women. All over the world, women speak the same language of silence, which sometimes relegates them to the background. In some cultures, women are not allowed to voice their opinions but are treated like acquisitions forgetting the fact that they are humans who have meaningful contributions to make in the society. Some of these women have never been mentored and they don’t even know what it is to have self-confidence or to aspire a greater height. What would you consider the toughest challenge you have faced as an activist? Because of our clime, getting more women involved in the struggle to be heard is a challenge on its own, except for a few women who feel committed. Getting resources to champion the cause of women who have been battered is also another challenge that is still impending our success. The general insecurity of lives and property in the country baffles me as a woman and a mother. Why do you think more women are not venturing into politics? Well, we are in a male-dominated society and the issue of god-fatherism is on the rise. Most of the women are not really favoured because most men see them as threats or stumbling blocks, believing that perhaps if women occupy prominent political positions, they won’t play ball.