Jean Lambert, London’s Green Party MEP, will join eminent campaigners in London tomorrow [Friday 29 May], including the Nobel laureate Professor Wole Soyinka, [1] for the State of the Nigerian Nation, a major symposium on democracy and corruption in Nigeria.
Jean will deliver the opening speech at the afternoon session of the symposium, organised by the Nigeria Liberty Forum and taking place at the Holloway Road campus of London Metropolitan University. She will speak on ‘Poverty and corruption in Nigeria: what can the European Union do?’
The summit has been organised to counter ‘Democracy Day’, organised by the Nigerian government to mark 10 years since the return of democracy, but controversial among anti-corruption campaigners who are deeply concerned about the political situation in Nigeria.
Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, the former Executive Chairman of the Economic Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in Nigeria, who was dismissed from his post on 22 December 2008 by the Nigerian Police Service Commission, will speak after Jean. [2] Many believe his dismissal was politically motivated.
Jean recently submitted a written question to the European Commission, raising her concerns for Nuhu Ribadu and asking what progress the Commission had made in fighting corruption in Nigeria. She hopes to be able to report the reply to the symposium on Friday.
Jean, an active supporter of Nigerian pro-democracy campaigns in London [3], said:
“I’m honoured to be a guest at this symposium, and to be sharing the platform with both Wole Soyinka, whose distinguished career as a writer is matched by decades of brave political campaigning, and Nuhu Ribadu, whose dedication to fighting corruption is an inspiration to all those seeking a fairer future.
“As Nuhu Ribadu’s experience has shown, it takes courage to stand up and act against corruption, and that is why it is vital that the international community unites to support campaigners for change, and recognises its responsibility to support democracy and challenge injustice.”
Separately, this week also sees the opening of a landmark court case in New York in which Royal Dutch Shell, the oil giant, stands accused of complicity in the execution of Ken Saro-Wiwa, the Nigerian environmental activist, in 1995. [4]
Jean said:
“We must welcome the fact that Shell’s role in the death of Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight others is to be reconsidered, and we can only hope that, after nearly 15 years, the truth will, at last, be heard. Since Ken Saro-Wiwa’s death in 1995 his predictions of ecological and humanitarian disaster in the Niger Delta have been proved right. The area, so rich in natural resources, is both a wasteland and a war zone.
“The international community must pay attention to this court case as it could shine a light on the human and environmental costs of western companies working with corrupt governments. We have a political and moral responsibility to the communities whose lives have been destroyed.”
ENDS
Notes
The State of the Nigerian Nation symposium is a day-long event taking place this Friday 29 May at Stapleton House, on the Holloway Road campus of London Metropolitan University. The summit begins at 9am, with the morning session, ‘Citizen Power and Democratic Change’, commencing at 9.30am. Jean Lambert MEP will introduce the afternoon session, from 1pm to 1.45pm.
For more information about the event visit http://www.nigerialibertyforum.org.uk/, or contact Mr Kayode Ogundamisi or Dr Abraham Dalang, nlibertyforum@googlemail.com or 07951 402986.
[1] Professor Wole Soyinka, the Nigerian writer, poet and playwright won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1986. He was the first African to be awarded the prize.
[2] Under Mallam Nuhu Ribadu’s leadership, the EFCC was seen as taking effective measures to tackle corruption, and his work was recognised with World Bank’s Jit Gill Memorial Award for Outstanding Public Service in 2008. Many believe his dismissal was politically motivated.
[3] Earlier this year, Jean met members of the New Nigeria Movement, a fast-growing organisation founded by Nigerians living in the UK and dedicated to combating corruption.
[4] A number of cases brought by torture victims in the oil-rich Niger Delta and by relatives of those killed at the same time as Mr Saro-Wiwa have been
brought together under the umbrella of Wiwa v Shell. See http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/shell-on-trial-1690616.html