With the hyper-growth in the technological achievements,
globalization, communication, etc. of the twenty first century, it may sound sad
to say that the world has continued to drift away from the anthropocentric goals
of such developments to the side of anti-anthropocentric ideologies. This has
continued to degenerate our society today to an unprecedented manner whereby the
prevailing cultures are against the promotion and propagation of humanity,
propelling the culture of death.
In our present society, so many issues contrary to the ultimate
good and moral integrity of the human person have taken the lead in our cultural
values today. Abortion no longer seems to be a problem in so many countries in
the world today and have been legalized in some countries. Same sex marriage is
very common in the western culture and is now extending its roots to the African
society. Not only has same sex marriage been accepted, rather the couples have
been allowed to freely adopt children. Artificial reproduction is highly
promoted as a means to resolve problems of infertility to the expense of so many
fertilized zygotes which are potential persons. Also, due to the advancement of
artificial reproduction, the less privilege are contracted as surrogate parents
to carry someone’s child for money. Female genital mutilation is still practiced
in some cultures to prepare ladies for marriage.
Other social vices like instant kidnapping of children and adults
for money and rituals, children and women trafficking, extra-judiciary killings,
bloodshed armed robbery, to name but a few, have become part of our normal
life-style and probably, part of the prevailing cultures. So many of these
problems continue to emerge and are passed from one generation to another. To
circumvent these problems and make the world a better place, there is need for
those who are against these prevailing cultures, those who preach against the
culture of death, and the need to call the attention of the public to these
problems, their impacts to the society and the way forward. Pro-lifers; those
who dedicate themselves to sincerely and actively promote and perpetuate life
have always used different means to communicate with the public to inform the
uninformed, form the unformed, reform the deformed, and to make a positive
change in our societies. One of such ways have been through a peaceful march
with banners, posters, boards carrying slogans of the different intriguing
issues of our contemporary society as a means to portray their concern against
these social challenges.
This peaceful march called “March for Life” is an activity that is
done almost in most western countries yearly to protest against the
anti-anthropocentric ideologies in the world that propagates the culture of
death. In the world today, different pro-life organizations in different
countries have organized march for life with tremendous success. The annual
march for life against abortion in Washington, D.C of the United States of
America has witnessed the participation of some prominent figures such as
President George W. Bush, Alveda King (niece of Martin Luther King Jr.), Ronald
Reagan, Barack Obama and others as notable speakers. In Paris France, the yearly
march for life on abortion attracts delegations from many European countries,
notably Italy, Spain, Belgium, the UK, Poland, Switzerland, Germany and Ireland.
In Italy, the yearly march for life called marchia per la vita organized by the
Catholic Church starting with a rally from Colloseo (the ancients of Rome) to
the Saint Peter’s square of the Vatican city, Rome is witnessed by the full
participation of the Pope, dignitaries, associations and groups from all works
of life and different parts of the world.
We of the International Bio-Research Institute, Ugwogo-Nike,
Nigeria as Pro-lifers, an institute that promotes bioethics and whose main
objective is to counteract the prevailing culture of death and promote life
intends to extend this culture of march for life to Africa, precisely in Enugu,
Nigeria.
Our objective for this march is to expose all the challenging
issues of our present society which are controversial to the promotion of life,
their consequences to the society and the way forward to overcome them to the
Nigerian people and the world at large.
Programme for the march
Please save the dates of August 2013 (Thursday and Friday) at
09.00am on the Event of the March For life, the first of its kind in Nigeria.
Participation is free for everyone. The event will start with a conference on
very relevant issues bordering the promotion of life in our society. Hence,
August 29th Conference on
Bioethics
Theme: Unveiling the Bioethical questions that militates the sacredness
of human life in Nigeria
Venue: The Conference Hall, International Bio-Research Institute,
Ugwogo-Nike, Enugu
August 30th
March for Life (Theme)
About the organizers
The March is organized by the International Bio-Research Institute,
Ugwogo-Nike, Enugu in collaboration with the Steadfast Foundation Italia ONLUS.
1.
The International Bio-Research Institute (www.ibi.edu.ng/www.ibiportal-ng.com)
is a private Institution of Catholic inspiration that presently offers
National Diploma (ND) Courses and
Master’s Degree (M.Sc/MA) Programmes
approved by the Federal Ministry of Education. Its primary aims are to encourage
Research and Studies on the life and survival of man using an interdisciplinary
approach and to promote the culture of life, among others.
2.
The Steadfast Foundation Italia ONLUS (www.steadfastfoundation.org) is a lay and multicultural
non-governmental organization based in Rome-Italy with the objective of
promoting and defending the culture and the development of countries in constant
economic instability in order to assure them a sustainable development of their
local culture and economy.
In keeping with its vision, the International Bio-Research Institute, Enugu is to hold a 2-day international seminar and street march on life challenging societal vices.
