“Every woman shall have the right to enjoy reproductive rights including right to MEDICAL ABORTION in cases of sexual assault, rape, incest and where the continued pregnancy endangers the life or physical, mental, psychological or emotional health of the mother”
This statement above was a content inside the Trumpeta with a bold screaming front banner headline; IMO GOVERNMENT LEGALISES ABORTION (tuesday,august 2013. Vol 3 N0 219) and also on sunday The Leader carried it with a similar screaming front banner headline,captioned; ROCHAS OKAYS ABORTION IN IMO STATE. (September 1,2013. N0 34),however the government through their various agencies has continued to deny ever passing the said bill into law as the leadership of Imo state house of assembly has vehemently denied passing the bill into law as captured in the Announcer Express with the head line; IMO STATE ASSEMBLY DENIES PASSAGE OF ABORTION BILL (wednesday,august 28,2013. Vol 8 N0.66) and the governor through Mr. Chinedu Offor has constantly also denied ever penning down his signature to the said bill as been heard in the state owned broadcasting radio,orient fm and some newspaper publications.
As the government and its agencies has continued to deny ever legalising abortion in Imo state even when the truths is glaring in the sub-section of a section in the law of Imo state of Nigeria called VIOLENCE AGAINST PERSONS (PROHIBITION) LAW NUMBER 12 OF 2012. By interpretation it is meant that in Imo State, every woman shall have the right to medical abortion when she feels like not pleased with the pregnancy,(psychological) and stressing further, by implication, every woman who is a citizen of Imo state has the to right to terminate her pregnancy at her own will or when provoked by the husband or husband’s relative and hence enraged, she could show resentment by aborting their pregnancy (emotional),even at the slightest chance by way of feeling headache or fatigue due to pregnancy and thus bears pain, she may seek medical abortion ( health of the mother). Among other interpretations of the law was the one giving by a pro-lifer and one of the major antagonist of the law, Dr. Philip Njemanze, who said that the passage of the Abortion bill into law will encourage the selling and trafficking of ovarian eggs of our women and the state will become a hub of harvesting aborted tissues.
Reasons for such an obscene and anti-life law, government says it was done on good fate in other to save women from some psychological trauma after been raped as the government seems to raising an emphasis solely on Rape. Now, talking rape and its post-effect, it is on record and from strong and convincing research that women hardly get over the memories of Rape, that no matter how one tries, the memories of such rape incidents still lingers on and it is even more traumatising aborting such pregnancies than having nothing to show for it! Asked those who have illegally indulge in abortion in the past, The process of abortion is more traumatising than anything else. Why taking life that we can not give? Some have argued that, since there has been an already law for the abolishment of rape, it would also be good to make a law for the victim, what a shallow argument? Why legalising an illegality? Rhetorically asked by a mother! Rape is an unfortunate situation and when it occurs (though we don’t pray for it), it is better to have the baby than committing a murder which is against the law of humanity and of God the creator.
These are the messianic gifts from our chief rescuer to the family lives of Imolites, womanhood and the unborn child. Since the revelation of this devilish and satanic law by our supposed to be rescuer turned life destroyer Gov.Rochas Okorocha, by a local tabloid in the state, TRUMPETA, Imo state has been awashed with series of emotions from all the nooks and crannies of the state,Nigeria and the world at large decrying and protesting against the inhumane, heinous,wicked,brutish,iniquitous,cruelly,immoral and barbarous law of terminating the lives of unborn children at will. Call it anything near barbarity and you will not be far away from the truth. And nothing could be more deserving to the collective sensibility of the public than the government to hearken to the voices of the people which is ultimately the voice of God.
This is a bill/law that the National Assembly expunged because of our religious,cultural and societal interests and well-beings as the two major religions in Nigeria (Christian and Moslem alike, even our African/traditional religion) forbids shading blood not to even talk of innocent bloods,that of unborn child but only for the money hungry Rochas okorocha led government of Imo state to resourcitate and capitalise on this law sponsored by some unknown international forces. Honestly Imo state is due for a thorough moral sanitation, as some of our highly placed and serving political office holders in the state are been on almost on a daily basis alleged of involving in some acts of absurdity as evil practices of homosexualism in the government of Imo state.
Permutations coming from Some pundits has it that the law legalising the much condemned same sex marriage may be passed into law in Imo state as the abortion bill was surreptitiously smuggled into the house of assembly and subsequently passed into law without any public knowledge nor consultation,public hearing and robust debate in the floor of the house plenaries by our law makers who seems to be morally bankrupted! What is the fate of Imolites? As in the history of our Nation,Imo state is the only state in Nigeria to legalise abortion, how absurd?
How our leaders suffers from what I calls severe memory deficiency and short memory syndrome. If Gov Rochas Okorocha and our (dis)honourable members has absolute sense of history, they wouldn’t have tolled in this obnoxious and obscene way in their life and political career. What am I saying? I still vividly,remembers in 2010 during the era of former Gov.Ikedi ohakim when similar if not the same bill/law was brought before it for passage into law and how vehemently the Christian community and good people of Imo state stood against the said abortion bill. On its day of public hearing, the people stormed the premises of Imo state house of assembly em mass, protesting against the abortion bill and its urgent abolishion and immediate abrogation from our constitution. The people however succeeded with their motives and the law was consequently dropped despite the presents of some paid hired crowds to stand in not against the bill.
This further lends credence to some school of thoughts, that suggests that gov.Rochas Okorocha is politically naïve! If Rochas Okorocha was too smart, he wouldn’t have given his signature to such an obscene law that would further drag his dwindling and denigrating poltical careers to the rocks. Taking into cognisance of the after effect of his actions and the costs. Wouldn’t he have leaned from the experiences of his predecessor? According to my Idol and mentor,Prof.Chninua Achebe of blessed memory, he said that the only thing that we have learned from history is absolutely, Nothing! If he had learned anything from experience (as experience is the best teacher), he would have known by now that the abortion saga of his predecessor’s administration was among many other things, one of the strong contributory factor that led to his ousting in 2011. As my parish priest said after our mass service on last sunday that: ihe ahu n’ebe mmadu eji awu, ebido hula ibe ozo! (That voice when it cries and somebody would die, has started crying again!)
Unfortunately, The principal initiator and chief sponsor of this iniquitous and dehumanising bill cum law, Hon.Adaku Ihuoma, the house majority leader and the member representing Ahiazu Mbaise state Constituency who happens to come from the same mbaise nation as my humble self! I want to use the medium to state categorically, that the good people of Mbaise Nation as (Umu ndu na agu) lovers of life has NEVER in any event giving out their consent to such an anti-life bill/law because she Never consulted her constituency on the matter under review and hence acted on the interest of herself and her cohorts. In Mbaise Nation, it is an abomination For a woman who is ought to be a woman of virtue to legislate on such a morally debased and consciously bankrupted bill and based on the virtues of our moral uprightness and the principles of Nd’igbo in general about the sanctity of life, we the good people of Mbaise Nation condemns her actions in its entirety.
According to a man whom I have so much respects for; prof. Anthony Anwuka who coincidentally, happens to be a serving secretary to Imo state government : “Every person should have the courage to preserve life rather than destroy it; medical doctors, pharmacists and all healthcare givers as well as government should have a rethink because if they have a life, they should think only about how to keep other lives and not how to terminate these at whatever stage”. I want to add my voice to his assertions.
Conclusively, owing to the bad omens attributed to this bill/law and its adverse effects on the human life and the life of the unborn children in Imo state, I want to call on all well meaning individuals to stand against and resist this law in its entirety! At a time like this in the history of Imo State, it is a time for all and sundry to come out em mass and defend their faith once again Irrespective of our political and religious afflictions. Devoid of political sentiment, its time to play the politics of ISSUES and not the politics of personalities, not the politics of party affliction, but the politics of protecting our faith and culture and defending the lives of the poor and helpless unborn children. The governments and those concerned are doing everything humanly possible to justify this heinous law, they might be using some intimidating and threatening vocabularies and grammars to blackmail the lay observers into silence so as to cover this inhumane and anti-life law. For no amount of rhetoric know-how devised can justify this obnoxious law. This is where the discerning and educated elites in Imo state would stand to be counted. We, the informed citizens of Imo state is now indebted to the posterity to stand for the abrogation of this satanic clause in the constitution of our land and protect the future of the unborn children OR we will receive history’s merciless indictment and the wrath of God the creator for conspiracy of silence.
Ambrose Nwaogwugwu. ambrose@gloworld.blackberry.com
Comentários