Falana raises alarm: Don’t allow Buhari take us back to 1984

Femi Falana and President Buhari

By Ayodele Adedigba 

HUMAN Rights activist,  Femi Falana, SAN, has urged Nigerians not to allow President Muhammadu Buhari take the country back to the 1984 era, saying that any attempt to do that should be resisted by Nigerians. 

Falana, who stated this at the 13th Wole Soyinka Media Centre Lecture Series to commemorate the 87th birthday of the Nobel Laureate, Professor Oluwole Soyinka, saying the treatment given to Nnamdi Kanu and Sunday Igboho similar to what happened in 1984, when a Nigerian politician, Alhaji Umaru Dikko was kidnapped.

He said: “We should not allow the Buhari government to take us back to 1984, when an attempt was made to kidnap Umaru Diko in London. He had been kidnapped and on the way to the airport, when a neighbour saw them and raised the alarm, after inhuman treatment he was subjected to. 

“In the case of Kanu, the Kenyan government cannot admit that in their soil, a Nigerian was taken out of the country without going through the law process. It’s likely they drugged him and brought him back to Nigeria. That is against the anti-torture act and Nigeria’s constitution. Therefore, those who said they brought Kanu back through some international collaboration are not saying the truth. Interpol cannot deport without due process.

“It is sad that Buhari forgets quickly. In 2003, the Obasanjo administration disbanded a rally in Kano which was attended by Buhari, we went to court and won the case. The court declared that police permit for rally was illegal and unconstitutional. Free people do not need permit to enjoy their freedom.  

“Based on that, we mobilized the National Assembly and they made a law in 2015 that if you are going to have rally in Nigeria, all you need to do is to inform the police to provide adequate security. The people in Abuja need to understand that we are not a conquered people, so, they should learn to treat us with dignity."   

“We are not surprised that the bill to criminalize protest has been withdrawn because it is not possible in a democracy.  

Speaking on the theme: ‘Remaking Nigeria: Towards a secure and viable union’, Falana called on media practitioners to self regulate.

He said: “The media pundits like the Guild of Editors and the NUJ need to met urgently and bring out some new code of conducts because we have a situation whereby one or two people can set up online media and dish out stories some with intentions of blackmailing. That needs to be corrected, we must not wait for government to do that.”

In his remarks, the Board Secretary for the WSCIJ, Mr. Jiti Ogunye said that the call for self-determination from different parts of the country was as a result of prevalent injustice.

Ogunye said: “Not that people want to go there various ways but due to prevalent injustice people think that the best solution is for everyone to go separate ways. But I am optimistic that once there is justice in every aspect of our lives, nobody will want to run away or call for secession. Once our nation can guarantee justice, unity will naturally come and we will collectively move forward.” 

On his part, the Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer, WSCIJ, Motunrayo Alaka, said: “The vision of a just, inclusive, transparent and accountable Nigeria drives the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism. To achieve this goal, WSCIJ promotes ethics and sustainability in the media by using the tool of investigative and accountability journalism to expose corruption, regulatory failures and human right violation.”