Guardian Ezekwesili, others urge resistance to child marriage law THURSDAY, 25 JULY 2013 00:00 FROM BERTRAM NWANNEKANMA, TUNDE AKINOLA (LAGOS), AND JOHN OKEKE, OMOTOLA OLORUNTOBI (ABUJA)NEWS - NATIONAL MORE aggrieved citizens and opinion moulders have given bite to the protests against the Senate’s support for child-marriage, with the former Minister of Education, Dr. Oby Ezekwesili, and wife of Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State, Bisi urging Nigerians to continuously engage the National Assembly until the “obnoxious” clause is deleted in the new constitution. Speaking in Lagos Thursday at a stakeholders’ meeting on the 1999 Constitution amendment as it relates to women and girl-child’s right, organised by Women Arise (WA), Ezekwesili said that citizens must come to the rescue of the Nigerian girl-child by lending their voices against any law that infringes on her fundamental human rights. Also speaking at the forum, the wife of Ekiti State Governor, Bisi Fayemi, emphasised the need for the constitution to domesticate international treaties, noting that the efforts to sign them would amount to nothing if they are not in the constitution. On her part, President of WA, Dr. Joe Okei-Odumakin, commended the constituents of Senator Ayo Akinyelure in Ondo Central for protesting against his support for the law. However, the Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Zainab Maina, has called on members of the National Assembly to expunge the provisions of Section 29, which guarantees that under-aged girls can renounce their citizenship, stating that it is discriminatory. She told journalists yesterday in Abuja that it contravenes all international conventions and protocols on the rights of the child, which Nigeria ratified. She added that from technical and legal advice, Section 29 4b contradicts 29(4), and can cause misrepresentation in law and practice. Meanwhile, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has petitioned the Senate to explain why it chose to waste time “undermining children’s internationally recognised human rights” rather than improving the living conditions of millions of Nigerians. In a letter to the Senate President, David Mark, signed by SERAP Executive Director, Adetokunbo Mumuni, the organisation stated its concern that discussions in the Senate have failed to entrench progressive Bill of Rights that would recognise citizens’ access to water, healthcare, education and electricity as fundamental rights. It added: “We see the Nigerian Constitution as a mirror that should show protection from shelters being demolished, from being chased out of school or hospital queues; guarantee economic and social rights, help to address the injustice and systemic marginalisation of millions of Nigerians, and denial of access to basic necessities of life.”
Posted on: Fri, 26 Jul 2013 08:05:13 +0000
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