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PRESS RELEASE
By COPPED
However, our position remains unshaken regardless of these minor victories. We are fundamentally opposed to an "Abubabakar A. Abdusalami Lectures series" for reason best known to you all. Abubakar or any Nigerian rogue general doesn't deserve any kind of honor amongst civilised people. They are "elements of ignominy that must be allowed to perish in perdition". Hence, we invite well meaning Nigerians and our friends to join us at a "counter procession" at the venue of the event on Friday February 23rd, 2001. Venue: the Jacoby A.Dickens Center (the procession will lead us into the Gym") Time : 10 :30 am
Contact: Sowore Omoyele (International Coordinator, US)
Please come make a date with history. COPPED, Nigeria Find attached our reply to Dr. Daniel: Dear Dr. Elnora D. Daniel, We find your current denials of the invitation of former General Babangida to your "Abdusalami Abubakar lecture series" very spurious and frivolous. It has not addressed the basis of our concern and the very core issue at stake. In your personal welcome message posted on CSU's website to General Abubakar you wrote interalia: "The largesse of his excellency Abdusalami A. Abubakar has afforded this opportunity to establish this annual program, which is designed to transcend geopolitical and ethnic boundaries in search of humane and peaceful transitions to democracy. Chicago state University is a wholly appropriate intellectual environmemt in which to raise critical issues relating to this challenge. Indeed, our reputation for academic excellence in tandem with our long standing commitment to scholarship and responsibility embodies the goals of the series". It is both disgraceful and despicable that your university, which ought to be a market place of intellectual ideas, has become a place where robbers, murderers, looters of national treasuries can purchase a "lecture series" with blood soaked largesse. We still cannot fathom how such "lecture series" can promote dialogue and advance the cause of democracy in the global space except to commend your ability to stand logic on its head. When rogues, dictators, corrupt retired military dictators like General Abdusalami Abubakar visit your university or purchase endowments, honors or "lecture series" from your university, you have not only ratified corruption and stealing but also extended a hand of fellowship to criminals whose only international recognition ought to be a date with justice at the International Criminal Court. We urge you to cancel this fraudulent "Lecture series" in the name of decency, transparency, accountability, human rights and the suffering youth of Nigeria who have been robbed of their future by General Abubakar and his colleagues. "This act in itself will not delay their day of justice".
Sowore Omoyele
The Committee for the Protection of people's Dignity (COPPED, Nigeria) is a
youth organization established since 1995 by students activist who were
victmized by the military at the University of Lagos.
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e salute all well meaning Nigerians, our friends, colleagues who in the
last two weeks have helped "bombard" the Chicago State University authorities
with letters of protest in respect of the fraudulent, and anti -intellectual
"Abdusalami A. Abubakar lecture series". We can confirm to you that due to
your principled stance on this issue, the Chicago State University has
removed Babangida's name from its list of invitees and so many other
shameless Nigerians who initially planned on attending the event are too
"scared" to come for now.