Leadership (Abuja)
Joe Egundu
18 August 2008
analysis
Enugu — A popular Igbo adage says that "if a man is asked to exhume a corpse that he did not witness its burial, he stands every chance of beginning the process from the legs, which is assumed to be the wrong part from where such exercise should begin".
The interpretation of this adage is that, it is never wise for anybody to dabble into matters that he/she knows little or nothing about. Reading Sonnie Ekwowusi over time has been interesting in the sense that the man seems to be gifted in manipulating minds in an attempt to make Nigerians see things from his point of view and not from a point of knowledge, evidence, facts and figures. In doing so, mistakes, misinterpretations and misrepresentations have been noticed and noted in his numerous publications.
Ordinarily, it would not have been necessary to respond to his comments because it will amount to giving recognition to his sermon which has been made possible by the space allotted him in a national newspaper in his campaign against efforts to improve the sexual and reproductive health and rights of Nigerian women. However, Ekwowusi' s latest publication in a national newspaper of July 16, 2008, deserves serious attention because it contains disparaging remarks about some NGOs, a politician and a state government. The essence of this response is to put facts in perspective, while the credibility of the individuals mentioned in the publication remain intact. He created the impression that the NGOs he listed are in the country to damage Nigerian women through their activities by making abortion the order of the day. He re-branded the comments credited to a politician by given it a different slant.
One would have thought that his experience at the last public hearing on Nudity Bill, where women reacted vehemently against his comments on the CEDAW Bill, would have made him realise that Nigerian women are now on top of issues concerning abortion and CEDAW Bill. It is most unfair for Ekwowusi to say that the comment credited to Hon. Saadatu Sani is a call "to employ suitable euphemisms, skillful semantics and dodgy words to market abortion in Nigeria so that the unwary public would buy it without knowing what they are buying" . This statement also sounds like an outright insult on all Nigerians, especially the lawmakers who threw out the CEDAW Bill and the National Reproductive Health Bill on the pretext that it was an abortion bill. The bills which aimed at making the lives of Nigerian women and children better were thrown out because people like Ekwowusi mindset found favour in the hearts of members of the National Assembly at that time. Latest evidence shows that the women groups who fought against the bills have retraced their steps and are making frantic efforts to explore the possibility of presenting them again at the National Assembly.
The women are now wiser, having come to terms with the fact that there is a lot of pretence about their reproductive health and rights. They were taken aback by a recent study by the Society of Gyneacology and Obstetrics of Nigeria (SAGAN) which revealed that 47 percent of abortions were done by married women who are members of a certain christian faith that kick against the procedure. The women have also realised that many of the men who are against abortion send their daughters, girl friends and wives abroad for the procedure or visit doctors at nights for the same reason. Enquiries made about Sani' s comments shows that the seasoned politician feels that the general belief is that abortion simply means voluntary termination of pregnancy, when in reality there are other indicators for abortion. There is no insinuation that the comment is an attempt to smuggle abortion through the back door into the statute books, as Ekwowusi claimed in one of his publications.
She only wants a comprehensive explanation on what the procedure is all about, so that Nigerians, including the lawmakers, will be more knowledgeable on abortion so as to enable them make informed decisions or choices and not to allow religion, culture and sentiments becloud their thinking and judgment. It is also important to note that the NGOs that Ekwowusi attacked in his publication are of the view that women should be allowed to make choices about their sexual and reproductive health and rights, and that there is need to check the deadly blow that unsafe abortion deals on Nigerian women. They are of the view that a woman should be allowed to choose when to become pregnant and what to do with it. Men never carry pregnancies. Not many women will like to keep a pregnancy that result from serial rape by armed robbers, when science has proved that armed robbery can be traced genetically.
Experience also shows that there are other indicators for abortion. Even the over 100 year old Nigerian law on abortion recognises that fact and that explains why it only allows the procedure to take place when a pregnancy becomes life threatening. Apart from that, Nigerian women are now calling for the amendment of the restrictive abortion law so that it can prescribe how to deal with pregnancies that result from rape and incest. Reports shows that the incidence of rape and incest are on the increase in Nigeria. One wonders when Nigerian women appointed Ekwowusi as their spokesman when he is busy playing a discordant tune, going by the reaction of the over 19 women groups to his presentation on July 9 at the public hearing on the nudity bill organised by the Senate.
It is pertinent for him to know that studies have shown that if a woman can know ahead of time that the child she will give birth to will either kill her later in life, become an armed robber, a tyrant or an assassin, there is the chance that she will terminate the pregnancy. Ekwowusi should know that so many things in life are circumstantial. The section he quoted from the "Women's Reproductive Right" law of Anambra State to conclude that the state has legalised abortion is self explanatory and does not need an interpretation by a lawyer for it to be understood. It only confirms what the NGOs working in the area of reproductive health and rights of women are asking for. Ekwowusi should be able to draw from the wisdom of Senate President, David Mark, at the opening session of the public hearing on the nudity bill. Mark advised that matters of morals should be separated from matters of law. Ekwowusi attended the hearing but it seems nothing has changed.
With all the campaigns on HIV/AIDS over the years, one would have thought that by now, abstinence would have taken prominence in the sexual behaviour of Nigerians, but with a safety net such as condom, there are doubts that the sexual behaviour of Nigerians have changed. In the same token, while Nigeria struggles to fight poverty, poor nutrition and lack of access to effective and affordable healthcare which Ekwowusi recognises as the causes of high maternal mortality rate, how can the death toll of 10,000 Nigerian women who die from complications of unsafe abortion annually be curtailed and what happens to the restrictive law on abortion? What safety nets can society provide for women, knowing the role poverty plays in sexual behaviour and the fact that the fight against poverty, poor nutrition and lack of access to healthcare will not be won in the nearest future?
Ekwowusi is a lawyer, but is interested in issues on medicine/women. He should therefore go and read about maternal mortality rates in the us and Britain to confirm that the information he has given out is correct. For sure Britain, from where Nigeria inherited its restrictive law has reviewed its abortion law four times. It will also not be a bad idea for Ekwowusi to see the positive roles the NGOs that he attempted to give a bad name have been playing in healthcare delivery in Nigeria. They are in Nigeria to save women's lives. Some of them spearheaded the introduction of free maternal services by some state governments and have even gone ahead to do a study which shows that N 10 billion is enough for the provision of free maternal services nationwide every year.
Nigeria's health care delivery system will suffer if these organisations withdraw their services, especially from the rural areas. The advise for Ekwowusi is for him to make himself available for a debate where he, the NGOs and Nigerian women will engage themselves in a lively debate, otherwise, .he should seek detailed information about what the NGOs are doing in the country and what the Nigerian women want about their sexual and reproductive health and rights.
Joe Egundu writes from Enugu
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