17 Jun 2008 |
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| I would like to make a humble request that Nigerian Bloggers Worldwide set aside 4 days, June 27-30 2008, as special days for one line of publication. Can we all dedicate these 3-4 days in June to Osamuyia Aikpitanhi? That young man was murdered on June 9 2007 by the Spanish Police while being cruelly deported on a notorious Iberia Flight.
The story was featured prominently on the Nigeria Village Square and Concerned Nigerians worldwide (CNW) organized a global demonstration to protest the brutal killing of Osamuyia. These four days will coincide with the same time last year (2007) when protest marches were organized to Spanish embassies across the globe. It may interest you dear fellow bloggers that Osamuyia is still lying in the cold somewhere in racist Spain and his killers are walking tall and free. Our Nigerian government is bad and wicked and this is one of the pieces of evidence that we need to know that our lives remain in our hands. Being our brothers’ keeper is a moral that we should never throw away. Without that principle, millions of people in Nigeria will slip from poverty zone into the zone of extinction. Many of us have impacted our world with our blog messages and we have teeming readership. If we dedicate those 4 days to Osamuyia, we may succeed where our government has failed woefully. The government failed to build on the Momentum gathered by CNW. Some of us have no faith in governance in Nigeria. How else can one express the shocking revelation that the Federal Government of Nigeria cannot secure the release of Osamuyia’s corpse one year after he was murdered in Spain by the Spanish Police? The Aikpitanhi Family is still in agony and pain as shown by the investigative report of Ahaoma Kanu. They are yet to get the opportunity to bury their son and brother. Osamuyia needs a proper resting place and his family would like to have him back. Let us direct parts of our publications / messages along that line. While doing that, we must also condemn the racism involved in this entire unfortunate episode. Let us condemn racism in Spain as well as the lack of proper prosecution for the erring murderers in police uniform. Our message will not be complete if we do not direct more of our energy towards the government at home. Let us condemn in strong terms the handling of this matter by the Nigerian Government. We can call for the sacking of the Minister of External Affairs. Maybe, just maybe we may sensitize someone who has the solution to this shameful act. We can also request for the re-call of Nigeria’s Ambassador to Spain. He may be neglecting his duties. In calling for the sack of the Minister, we can raise questions regarding the investigations that have been carried out and what has stalled the process of demanding for justice for Osamuyia. As Nigerians we deserve to know why a brother has been left in the cold for more than one year. I hope that we can heed this call and dedicate 72-96 hours to a brother. He had dreams like the rest of us in the Diaspora but his was cut short very prematurely. His death has implications for our world: racism, bad governance, irresponsible public servants, police brutality, murder and negligence of duties. By speaking out and writing boldly on June 27-30 2008, we can one way or the other change the world we live in for the better. We must also hope that Osamuyia’s body will finally arrive in Nigeria at the end of the blog dedication. This is a task started by NVS/ CNW but it is a solidarity call for all of us wherever we are on planet earth. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: This piece was inspired by the recent article written By Kanu Ahaoma. Thanks to NVS for the archive references. aderounmu@gmail.com
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