Justice in Nigeria

Justice in Nigeria

How does anyone get justice in Nigeria? The country’s justice system is broken. Even when relevant laws are on the books, they are poorly enforced. Lawyers are expensive and not easily accessible.

One radio and TV host is taking action!

Ahmed Isah is the host of Nigeria’s “Brekete Family.” Reuters says this is, “a show which promises to help Nigeria’s downtrodden redress wrongs – a format, says Isah, born out of frustration in an official legal system beset by bureaucracy and mismanagement.”

Isah may try to mediate a family dispute, or he may call on a government official to take action. Sometimes he even gives the phone number of a civil servant for the aggrieved person to call.

I've heard from a Danforth cousin who sent this picture of my grandfather and mother!

I’ve heard from a Danforth cousin who sent this picture of my grandfather and mother!

People line up to get into the studio for their chance to be heard on Human Rights Radio, broadcast six days a week from the capital Abuja.

You can learn about it in John Campbell’s blog Africa in Transition. Then I found more at Reuters in a link Ambassador Campbell provided.

Our Own Legal Issues Today

Property is an especially difficult area. We have three cases pending today.

1 One has been in the judicial system for nearly two decades, with decisions and appeals. It concerns land given to my father-in-law, whom I always called Papa, in the 1940’s. It is not far from our house in Nanka. We didn’t learn about it until the 1990’s.

Papa did not tell his son, my husband, about the land. Nor did he ever take possession or even farm it. Because of that, one branch of the family who were the original owners say they gave it to someone else. That person or his heirs say they are now the rightful owners.

But we believe it should still be ours even though Papa didn’t live on it or show ownership.

My "newly discovered" Danforth cousin also sent this picture of our grandparents' house in Danforth, Illinois!

My “newly discovered” Danforth cousin also sent this picture of our grandparents’ house in Danforth, Illinois!

Of course there is no deed. Land transfers in those days were recorded in memories. Today only one person from our side is alive who remembers when the land was handed over to Papa.

The lawyer we have engaged says the case will be heard this year by the Supreme Court. I’m not holding my breath!

2 The second involves a plot of land in Awka. Clem bought the land, he thought, but somehow the plot was apparently sold to someone else as well. Clem’s lawyer says there is another plot now promised to Clem. Not holding my breath on this one either.

3 Nor the third which involves land that belonged to Clem’s sister Grace. We have yet to see progress on that.

Racism and White Learning

Waking Up White: and Finding Myself in the Story of Race, by Debby Irving, is the author’s “sometimes cringe-worthy struggle to understand racism and racial tensions,” according to an Amazon reviewer.

The author grew up believing that only “others” had a race or an issue about race. When she was in her forties she began to understand her own white privilege.

The reviewer says, “As Irving unpacks her own long-held beliefs about colorblindness, being a good person, and wanting to help people of color, she reveals how each of these well-intentioned mindsets actually perpetuated her ill-conceived ideas about race.”

Her book is good. At the end of each chapter, she provides suggestions for the reader to reflect on and learn from. This Tedx talk provides a short version of her ideas.

About this Tedx talk, she says, “[It] is designed to be a 101 for white people about what white privilege and institutional racism are and how they manifest.”

Today she is a racial justice writer and educator. You can read more on her website.

Another Book on Race

I’m nearly finished listening to The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas, a novel about the death of a young Black man at the hands of a police officer. It is a gripping story.

The characters and plot are deeply revealing about the different experiences of people of different races. Star, the main character, is a Black teenager whose parents have placed her in a White private high school to keep her safe.

She has to separate herself into the “white school” Star, and the “neighborhood where they live” Star. I recommend it highly.

White Fragility - I'm about to start.

White Fragility – I’m about to start.

And a Third Book on Race

I haven’t yet started the third book about race. I read about it on Beacon Broadside, a blog from Beacon Press who published it.

They said, “We have a New York Times best seller! Hailed by Michael Eric Dyson as “a vital, necessary, and beautiful book,” Robin DiAngelo’s White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism ranked number 8 on their list of bestselling Paperback Nonfiction within its first week of going on sale!”

I had already written the title from our TEAM Westport meeting on Tuesday. Someone, maybe Judy, described the book. I’m looking forward to listening.

One More Book: Lincoln in the Bardo

For my Mount Holyoke Book Group I’ve just finished Lincoln in the Bardo. I was intrigued by the reviews when it came out, but I can’t say I enjoyed reading it.

Have you read it? Do you understand the author’s perspective on race? Or anything else? Please enlighten me!

Author: Catherine Onyemelukwe

Author, blogger, speaker. Born in New York, grew up in mid west United States, lived in Nigeria for 24 years, back in U.S. since 1986. Advocate for racial justice.

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