A Global Champion for Change and human rights lawyer, Carol Ajie, has written an open letter to Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari as he leads the ECOWAS charge in negotiating a relinquishing of power by sit-tight Gambian President Yahya Jammeh.
Dear Mr President Muhammadu Buhari,
With your permission, a mediation panel of the Bar Association should help resolve the Gambian imbroglio and steer Africa from a regional crisis roiling.
Some may say but NBA mediation committee on 2016 presidential election didn’t work so how could NBA perform the magic of intervention.
I suggest Mr President in your letter to AB Mahmoud SAN ask for the names of the lawyers who constituted a mediation committee that didn’t demonstrate the will to call a peace meeting of the parties, because they ought not feature in any further mediation exercise, with all due respect.
NBA has sixty thousand practicing lawyers plus, the association is not short of skills. I suggest a quick tip towards resolving President Jammeh’s tenure elongation bid. NBA ought to bring both sides President Jammeh and President-elect Barrow to sign a power pact ASAP.
Jammeh obviously does not want prosecution for the atrocities committed during his 22-year reign – disappearance of citizens, torture of political opponents, etc.
I Recall Barrow and his supporters publicly bragged about getting Jammeh to answer for his crimes after he had conceded the election; whereas Jammeh would prefer to leave office and live peaceably with his fellow citizens bearing in mind he had congratulated Barrow on Tape he, Jammeh aired to everyone.
Iconic Activist and Lawyer Nelson Mandela negotiated power with the Whites hence did not ‘prosecute’ those horrible hate crimes of the apartheid regime De Clark even got a Nobel peace prize.
Best,
C. N. Ajie
Carol Ajie is a constitutional and human rights attorney and a Global Champion for Change. She can be reached via email HERE.
The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author.
