How does one begin to address strong issues of great importance delicately?
How
does one point out to a fledgling organization that it does not
practice what it seeks to preach to others without being termed a killer
of dreams?
How does one get redress for a wrong done by a minority organization without being termed as malicious and vindictive?
How
do we get people to understand that being a minority organization or a
member of a minority group does not excuse you from objective criticism?
Bigotry,
sexism, censorship, lack of regards for facts, misrepresentation,
bullying should not rear its ugly head in a progressive organization,
certainly not in an ATHEISTS organization, and if it reared its ugly
head, this should not be welcomed or swept under the carpet.
No
organization should claim a free pass from objective criticism because
it is a minority, fledgling organization. If you want to preach reason
and logic to the world as a group, be ready to practice what you preach
starting from within your group.
As a woman who has been
actively engaged in activism over the decades as a student union leader,
full time career trade unionist and human right activist, I have had
many encounters with bigotry, sexism, censorship, harassment and
bullying amongst so many called “comrades’ but I must confess I was
really shocked to be confronted with these ‘uglies’ in an Atheists group!
I
have never held the opinion that Atheists are better people just
because they do not believe in the existence of any God or because they
don’t have imaginary Sky daddies and Water mummies, but I always
thought that every atheist would AT LEAST GIVE RATIONAL THINKING a
chance in every debate, how wrong I was!
This was
forcefully made apparent to me when I raised valid
objections to the minutes of Nigerian Atheists group first ever meeting and what came out
was an exposure of the true characters of people who wanted to
camouflage as atheists! The revelation stinks to high heavens!
It
is a pity that some group members were of the opinion that because the
person who raised the objection to the minutes is a woman and the one who
wrote the minutes is a man, therefore it is a Boy Vs Girl issue, this is a great disservice to our evolved brain. This is an OBJECTION with
facts, why should the focus be on gender?
In an effort to
trivialize legitimate, valid concerns of members of this group, some
have referred to our concerns as “Women rantings” and “Girls doing their
thing” , also bullying has been employed to try and censor some female
members who dared to raise their voice. How do we even begin to explain
some chauvinist and misogynist language used by some members of this
group without caution?
Female members were called
“bitches” and “motherfuckas”, homophobic comments were used against a
member of this group and his home address posted online, thereby
endangering his life especially in the highly volatile, homophobic
Northern part of Nigeria! There were threats to rape women and ram dicks
up their mothers’ ass and yet, the admin members of this group
‘Nigerian Atheists’ (who BTW added these people to the group) did not
deem it fit to caution on the use of offensive language, in fact one
member actually said he found the contribution of a misogynist to be
Intelligent!
How does Nigerian Atheists even begin to
move on as a group without addressing these important issues? Nigerian
Atheists claim to want to ‘preach’ the use of common sense to the world,
but pray, how do you give what you do not have?
Atheists
do not get to have a free pass from criticism just because they are a
minority group or because I identify as an Atheist.
Atheists worth their salt should not be afraid of scrutiny; they should
welcome objective, critical scrutiny of any Atheists organization and its
mode of operandi.
This is where I read for the first
time, this mysterious MINUTES of the meeting as this MINUTES of the
meeting was NEVER posted on the Nigerian Atheists group page, but FIRST
ended up in a
FOREIGN BLOG! Majority
of the comments on the blog post are deriding NIGERIAN ATHEISTS as a
possible SCAM GROUP looking for INTERNATIONAL FUNDING! If proper advised
had been sourced by Kunle Ogunyemi before making the UNILATERAL
decision to ask Phil Ferguson to post the unapproved minutes of Nigerian
Atheists meeting on his blog, we would at least have thought of a better
way to introduce this group to the world, but NO, he had to do it all
alone.
BTW, why should the minutes of the meeting be what
was posted in a foreign blog as promotional stuff? And that again is one
of the major issues I raised in my objection to the minutes of the
meeting.
Here is a
link on the Nigerian Atheists meeting's
minutes on REDDIT, not a good promotional strategy I would say, that
sure backfired, the comments are killing!
For
all anyone knows, Kunle Ogunyemi could have also begged other
"foreigners' that he has suddenly befriended on facebook to help promote
"HIS NEW GROUP". Ethically Phil Ferguson could withdraw his earlier
post of the minutes of the meeting from his blog, or he could do a follow
up bringing the attention of his readers to the controversy surrounding
the Group and its controversial minutes, however he is not obliged to.
KUNLE OGUNYEMI should ask Phil and all others he had sent the minute of
the meeting, to cease from publishing it until all clearance has been
given by the group.
KUNLE OGUNYEMI needs to understand
that even though he was appointed Secretary of Nigerian Atheists
group, HE is not the Group. An argument or disagreement with KUNLE
OGUNYEMI is not the same as a disagreement with NIGERIAN ATHEISTS group. This African dictator WARLORD mentality must stop. You cannot
seek to take out the speck in your religious brothers and sisters eyes
when you have a LOG in your own eyes!
BTW, what is
“atheistic values” that Kunle Ogunyemi referred to in this controversial
minute … gawd, I bet the more enlightened atheists reading the minutes
would be convulsing over in a fit of laughter!
He wrote in the minutes of
the meeting-
“Yemisi Ilesanmi complained that the mission
is too broad... Ogunyemi Adekunle disagreed with this position,
pointing it out that; atheistic values go beyond the mere defense of
atheists’ liberty….”
Atheism is simply the rebuttal of the
belief in theism, a god, a deity, spiritual beings etc. There is NO
ATHEIST(IC) VALUES. You can have Christian values, Muslim values, Hindu
values, HUMANIST values…but you cannot have ATHEISTIC VALUE because
atheism is not a religion or philosophy. Atheism is simply reasonable
noises that reasonable people make when told that there is a GOD. I
would be embarrassed to have that statement associated with me or with a
minutes my name appeared on!
The minutes of the meeting
needs to be amended or references to my name in any way taken off it.
Although the minutes was written by the secretary of the group, as long
as my name appears on the minutes of the meeting under the group name
‘NIGERIAN ATHEISTS’, my objection and disclaimer will continue to
be directed at the group ‘NIGERIAN ATHEISTS’.
I again state categorically that-
-
I, Yemisi Ilesanmi has been misrepresented and misquoted in the MINUTES
of the meeting of Nigerian Atheists held on February 12, 2012 in Abuja,
Nigeria.
-I was appointed Director of the group at the
meeting, yet the minutes was not sent to me for amendments or approval,
infact the first I saw of this controversial minutes was on a foreign
blog, the minutes was not even posted on ‘Nigerian Atheists’ group page.
-
I made a request on the group page to know why I was misquoted and
portrayed in the minutes as "Yemisi complained" Yemis disagreed"
especially considering that it was a group discussion on matters arising
at the meeting and all that needed to be made public was the decisions
unanimously arrived at the end of the meeting.
- I believe
the minute of the meeting was ill motivated especially since it
portrays me as a dissident having a constant argument with Kunle
Ogunyemi rather than someone sharing her views like other members
present at the meeting, my request was called "women rantings"!
- I stated on the Nigerian
Atheists group page and categorically in the Objection document I posted
on the page that the minutes of the meeting was never sent to me as
someone present at the meeting and as a director of the organization.
-
I made several requests on the Nigerian Atheists group page that if I
must be quoted at all in the minutes of the meeting, that I should
be accurately represented and quoted.
These requests has
so far been ignored by the secretary of the group, Kunle Ogunyemi, who
wrote the minutes and sent it out for promotion without following due
procedures.
The co-director of the group, Dr Tunde
Arogundade who was also present at the meeting made several call on
Kunle Ogunyemi to amend the controversial minutes to no avail. When
the co-director asked Kunle Ogunyemii to recall the controversial
minutes of the meeting, Kunle Ogunyemi claimed that this would cause
TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES because it is posted online and amendments can’t
be done online.
Now, an educated, IT savvy
person would know Kunle Ogunyemi just told a blatant lie. Dr Tunde
Arogundade is an elderly gentleman who is not IT savvy therefore it was
easy for Kunle Ogunyemi to make him believe it was impossible to edit an
online document. DR TUNDE AROGUNDADE HAS NOW RESIGNED AS DIRECTOR OF
NIGERIAN ATHEISTS GROUP.
It is no mystery that ANYONE WHO CREATES A DOCUMENT ONLINE CAN EDIT IT.
What Kunle Ogunyemi needs to do to amend the minutes of the meeting is-
1- Amend/edit the original document if saved on his PC
2-
Rewrite the minutes if it was not saved, although he can do a copy and
paste of the minutes from the foreign blog he sent it to.
3-
He should send the amended version to ALL members present at the
meeting and POST the approved version on the NIGERIAN ATHEISTS group page.
4-
He should call for a RECALL of the controversial minutes from whatever
blogs or bloggers he already sent the minutes of the meeting.
5-
If it is the wish of the Nigerian Atheists group to promote the MINUTES
of their meeting in foreign blogs, he can then send the AMENDED version
to wherever he wants to.
All I ask for is that IF AT ALL
MY NAME MUST APPEAR ON THE MINUTES OF THE MEETING , I SHOULD AT LEAST BE
CORRECTLY QUOTED AND REPRESENTED. However, I see no reason why
individuals should be quoted, a public minutes of a meeting should
contain what a group unanimously agreed on, not what individuals say or
didn’t say.
I am again flabbergasted by these immoral,
unethical, two faced lies spurned by Kunle Ogunyemi all in an attempt to
satisfy whatever it is that is making him behave in such an irrational
manner. I am all for LOGIC, REASON and FACTS and his action so far and
that of his supporters have done nothing but proved a total disregard
for TRUTH, HONESTY, EQUITY and JUSTICE. CHARACTER IS INDEED WHAT WE DO
WHEN NO ONE IS WATCHING.
I am aware that every other
person that attended the meeting was invited by Kunle Ogunyemi, however
this should not justify their support of his irrational and malicious
action. When you say "THE MINUTES IS CORRECT BECAUSE Kunle Ogunyemi,
Gamba Joel, Leke Adepoju and Andrew Nandip, say so “ , this is
basically the same thing as a Christian saying.. “GOD EXISTS BECAUSE THE
BIBLE SAYS SO” or “THE BIBLE IS CORRECT BECAUSE THE BIBLE SAYS SO!” As
we as ATHEISTS should know, this is not a valid argument.
