A Community-Based Organisation (CBO), the People’s Initiative for Development (PID), has stressed the need and urgency for Africa to take a greater and stronger stance against racism in the world.
The call was made during a courtesy visit by the organisation to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) headquarters in Abuja. The visit was part of the activities to commemorate the 2021 Africa Liberation Day by the group.
Africa Liberation Day is an annual commemoration of the foundation of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) now known as the African Union (AU) on May 25, 1963. The commemoration also aims to promote unity and solidarity among African peoples and states.
PID noted that Africans have been at the worse receiving end of racism and racist attacks globally in all human endeavours.
According to the spokesperson of People’s Initiative for Development, Mr Kolawole Bamidele, “it is seen as a crime and scorn to be black. Black and blackness, historically have continued to come under conscienceless, immoral and unacceptable attacks from the days of slavery, colonialism and in the age of globalization”.
He added, “Africa and Africans have made tangible and profound contributions to civilisation, global development and humanity, her land, people, descendants and persons of African descents have continued to be forced and confined to the lowest rung of the human ladder. The worse, growing and reoccurring situation that has continued to transcend generations and centuries is the violent and fatal attacks against blacks all over the world.
“The height of this led to the formation of the #BlackLivesMatter movement – representing a message for the cessation of violent attacks against blacks everywhere. The #EndSars protest by the Nigerian youth was also a visible attempt to accentuate this message.”
Drawing the link between racism and COVID-19, Mr. Ernest Iyagi, the Campaign Coordinator of PID said figures from the coronavirus pandemic outbreak continue to expose systemic and systematic racism against blacks and peoples of African descents globally.
He said: “In the United States, black communities have higher COVID-19 infection and death rate. These communities have less and lower access and quality of health care provisions and facilities. Also, at the migration front, black migrants have been exposed to the worst treatment during the ongoing COVID-19 containment fight.”
Mr. Iyagi recalled the sad and scandalous treatment of blacks (African labour migrants) in Saudi Arabia in 2019 who were rounded up by the Saudi authorities and detained under the pretext of implementing COVID-19 containment measures.
He noted that the fight to defeat COVID-19 and the pursuit of post-COVID-19 recovery measures must use public health care access to all as a tool to fight global racism.
To this end, the group calls on the international community to show greater international coordination and solidarity; and lauded the world’s response to the worsening situation in India and urged advanced economies to desist from vaccine nationalism and to embrace compassion and care.
“This is why, therefore, the People’s Initiative for Development (PID) is using this year’s Africa Liberation Day to call on Africa and Africans to continue to stand up and speak up and loud about racism and racist attacks against people everywhere. Africans and peoples of African descent must be treated and accorded equal rights and privileges like other races,” he said.
The group also noted that global sporting events should continue to be used as tools to grow tolerance, peace and the defeat of racism.
It pointed out that the current media attacks by the west against Qatar concerning her 2022 FIFA World Cup host is unnecessary and may be seen as racist attacks if the attacks persist.
YOU SHOULD NOT MISS THESE HEADLINES FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
We Have Not Had Water Supply In Months ― Abeokuta Residents
In spite of the huge investment in the water sector by the government and international organisations, water scarcity has grown to become a perennial nightmare for residents of Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital…
Selfies, video calls and Chinese documentaries: The things you’ll meet onboard Lagos-Ibadan train
The Lagos-Ibadan railway was inaugurated recently for a full paid operation by the Nigerian Railway Corporation after about a year of free test-run. Our reporter joined the train to and fro Lagos from Ibadan and tells his experience in this report…
and then