IBADAN, JULY 24, 2016 – Bishop Mathew Hassan-Kukah will on Tuesday, July 26, in Ibadan give a critical accounts of the findings from the Nigeria’s Truth Commission 2011, popularly known as `Oputa Panel’ This is contained in a statement signed by Dr Festus Adedayo, and made available to newsmen in Ibadan on Sunday. Adebayo said that Hassan-Kukah, Bishop of Catholic Diocese, Sokoto, would be the guest of the Book Readers’ Club of Ibadan School of Government and Public Policy (ISGPP).
He said that the bishop would be reading from his book `Witness to Justice: An Insider’s Account of Nigeria’s Truth Commission (2011).
According to him, Hassan-Kukah will be giving a critical narrative of the Human Rights Violation Investigations Commission established to investigate the causes, nature and extent of human rights violations from 1966 to 1999.
Adebayo said that the commission set up by former President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2011 was headed by the late Justice Chukwudifu Oputa. He said that Hassan-Kukah’s reading would be the second of such in the school.
The maiden reading was by Odia Ofeimun, a Labour Party gubernatorial candidate in Edo. Ofeimun read from his book, “Taking Nigeria Seriously’’. Adebayo said that Hassan-Kukah’s book in 500 pages brought together history, politics and violence within the framework of Nigeria’s tormented development in a beautiful narrative that was bold and sincere.
He said that dignitaries expected at the occasion were Prof. Femi Osofisan, Dr Sepehen Lawani, Prof. Bolanle Awe, Mr. Edmund Obilo, Prof. Pai Obanya, Prof. Akin Mabogunje, Prof. Ayo Banjo, and Prof.
Oladipo Akinkugbe. He said the essence of the gathering was not only to tease out the arguments of the book, but to also see its significance within the larger problem of Nigeria’s national development.
