African Americans for in Africa Norm R. Allen Jr.

ince its inception in 1989, African Americans who performed certain rituals was responsible for killing peo- for Humanism (AAH) has struggled to attract ple and using their body parts. In February 2003, a judge sen- African Americans to organized humanism. tenced several members of the network to death by hanging. SIndeed, few non-Whites are active in organized humanism In September 2001, the story of “Boy Adam” came to the throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe. attention of the world. Police in Britain found his mutilated However, such is not the case in other parts of the world. corpse in the Thames River near Tower Bridge in London. He There are vibrant humanist and skeptics groups throughout had lived in southwestern , and some people believed Africa, Latin America, and Asia. Due largely to the efforts of that he had been the victim of a ritual killing. In July 2003, the Council for and Prometheus Books, police arrested twenty-four Nigerians in Britain as suspects there are now about fifty-four humanist groups in twenty-six in the murder. African countries. In June and July 2006, I visited humanist The Nigerian Humanist Movement has been working hard groups in Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania. to fight the superstitious belief that killing people and taking their organs will bring believers wealth, good health, or power. NIGERIA They would like to work closely with skeptics in the United Joining me in Nigeria was Hugo Estrella of Argentina, my States and India in this effort. fellow codirector of transnational programs for the Center for Faith healing is also a major topic of discussion among Inquiry. We traveled to Nigeria for the tenth anniversary cele- Nigerian humanists. Evangelists such as Benny Hinn and Oral bration of the Nigerian Humanist Movement at the University Roberts of the United States and Reinhard Bonnke of Germany of Benin. When Leo Igwe established the group, he was met have made huge inroads into Africa. They are spending mil- with skepticism, because Nigeria is widely regarded as the lions of dollars and attracting millions of converts. most religious country in the world. However, Igwe persevered There are also several homegrown Nigerian pastors who with his dream, and AAH was with him every step of the way. make a lot of money through faith healing. In 2005, the situa- Today, the Nigerian Humanist Movement has members tion had become so bad, and so many people had lost so much and supporters in several Nigerian states. They have made money, that the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission would no an impact in the Nigerian media and have established groups longer permit stations to show the performance of supposed on a number of college campuses. Student panelists at the miracles on television. conference represented Onabisi Onabanjo University, the At the anniversary celebration, journalist Patrick Nagbaa- Univ ersity of Calabar, Ambrose Alli University–Epkoma, and ton gave a talk on “Religion and Nigeria’s Underdevelopment.” the University of Ibadan. He was highly critical of the religious “nonsense” that is hold- Leading humanists throughout the world extended con- ing his nation back. He has examined faith-healing claims and gratulations to the Nigerian Humanist Movement upon the exposed them. He called for increased skepticism of untested anniversary of its founding. They included philosophers claims to knowledge among Nigerians. An tony Flew and Peter Singer, Nigerian Nobel laureate Wole There was also a session on the subject “Humanism and Soyinka, and science-fiction writer Sir Arthur C. Clarke. Women’s Rights.” The topics included “Promoting Girls’ Rights The presentations delivered at the event were intellectu- and Empowerment,” “Harmful Traditional Practices and Niger- ally stimulating. Those in attendance were primarily young ian Women,” and “A Humanist Perspective on Women’s Social people, as is the case with most humanist groups in Africa. Status.” A presentation by Grace Osakue, who heads an orga- Steve Okecha gave a presentation on “Ritual Killing and Super- nization that works to instill confidence in young girls, was stition,” a hot topic of discussion for Nigerian humanists. In especially well received. 1996, police in the city of Owerri in southern Nigeria arrested a Secularism might have been the most popular topic at man who had in his possession the head of a young boy. Police the conference. Most of those in attendance remarked on the later discovered the boy’s torso buried on the grounds of a differences between northern and southern Nigerians. In the hotel. They eventually found out that a network of individuals predominantly Muslim north, Sharia law is widespread. In the predominantly Christian south, there is much more freedom Norm R. Allen, Jr. is executive director of African Amer- and tolerance. Most of the participants seemed to believe that icans for Humanism. there is very little hope that peace and tolerance will come

free inquiry http://www.secularhumanism.org 38 to Muslims in the north. Indeed, most agreed that holding a de bate or humanist conference in northern Nigeria could only end in violence and death. Nkeonye Otakpor, the former Dean of Arts of the University of Benin, gave the World Humanist Day lecture. The title was “The Imperative to Be Human.” He discussed many ways in which faith retards intellectual development. He defended unfettered intelligent thought and talked about the importance of intellectual maturity in realizing the potential of individuals. The conference was well attended and intellectually refresh- ing. Students at the University of Benin formed a campus humanist group. By all accounts, the conference was a success, and Nigerian humanist leaders seemed to be reinvigorated. After the conference ended, the Nigerian Humanist Move- ment cohosted an international seminar on humanism with the philosophy department of the University of Lagos. Joining The presenters at the Nigerian Humanist Movement conference (left to right): me on stage for the seminar were Estrella, Babu Gogineni Peter Adogoke, Patrick Nagbaaton, Babu Gogineni, Hugo Estrella, Leo Igwe, of the International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU), Nkeonye Otakpor, Kuldip Singh, Norm Allen, Jimkelly Abegbe, and John Asokhia. and Ni gerian humanist Eze Ebiske, former chairman of the Nigerian Humanist Movement. Most of the seats were filled, and a lively question-and-answer period followed. Afterward, about two dozen students came together to form a humanist group at the university. After the seminar, we visited a veteran Nigerian jour- nalist named Harry Nwana. He has publicized the Nigerian Humanist Movement in his column in the Vanguard, a leading Nigerian newspaper. He writes from a humanist perspective and tries to foster skepticism. He is interested in learning about conducting secular funerals and promoting humanism in a nonconfrontational way. Since my first trip to Africa in 1991, African media have become much more progressive and democratic. There are now major critiques of and investigations into faith healing in lead- ing African newspapers. Columnists argue for gay rights, sex- Nigerian Humanist Movement conference panelists (left to right): Enyeriba ual freedom, and the legalization of prostitution. The Monitor Onuoha, Kuldip Singh, Norm Allen, and Steve Okecha. of Kampala, Uganda, published an article by , titled “Five Reasons Why There Is No God.” Earlier, they ran an In 1996, it initiated a campaign to stop corporal punishment article exposing the tricks of a traditional healer. It is possible in Uganda’s schools. It held seminars at numerous teachers’ that the African media in general might some day be favorable colleges. to ward skepticism and the promotion of humanist ideals. This year, the Ugandan ministry of education banned cor- poral punishment in the nation’s schools and colleges, as well KENYA as nursery schools and infant classes. Dr. John Mbabazi, the In Kenya, I met with Boaz Adhengo of the Center for Inquiry/ director of education for Uganda, made the official announce- Kenya. Adhengo and other Kenyan philosophy students were ment. UHASSO has also been involved in campaigning against introduced to humanism at a major humanist conference I land mines and in other progressive causes. Though this group attended in Kampala in 2004. is headquartered in Kampala, like its counterpart in Nigeria, We visited the University of Nairobi and the United States UHASSO has branches elsewhere in its country as well. International University. We met with activists from other The group’s leader, the charismatic activist, Deogratiasi organizations and looked at possible office space for the Ssekitooleko, has started a dynamic group called the Ugandan Center for Inquiry/Kenya. We discussed plans for a proposed Humanist Effort to Save Women (UHESWO). Betty Nassaka humanist conference to be held in Kenya in 2007. heads the group, the membership of which is open to women Adhengo introduced me to Churchill Otieno, an editor with between the ages of eighteen and thirty-five. the Nation Media Group, Kenya’s leading newspaper publisher. UHESWO works to build confidence in Ugandan women Otieno informed me that his group had investigated and exposed while combating sexism. Their most ambitious project to date Kenyan faith healers and other religious hucksters. He was great- is giving assistance to prostitutes by distributing condoms ly interested in the Center for Inquiry’s publications and said that and encouraging them to further their education and to seek his group might do more investigations into faith healing. job training. UGANDA Like the humanists in Nigeria, Ugandan humanists draw upon traditional dance, music, and drama. Putting on good Like the Nigerian Humanist Movement, the Uganda Humanist entertainment is an effective way of stimulating and maintain- Association (UHASSO) has been in existence for many years.

39 http://www.secularhumanism.org Dec. 2006/Jan. 2007 ing interest at humanist gatherings. I distributed copies of Paul Kurtz’s book Affirmations: Joyful and Creative Exuberance at all of my stops in Africa. UHASSO has established the Paul Kurtz Reference Library at its headquarters in Kampala. The library houses more than four hundred books. Many of the books are unavailable anywhere else in Uganda. The library also houses humanist newsletters and magazines from different parts of the world. I appeared before the members of the Bukalasa Free Thought Association at the Bukalasa Agricultural College, discussing the history of AAH and the importance of fostering

Allen with Sisi kwa Sisi member Isakwisa Lucas. In 1992, one African activist told a humanist congress in Holland that Africa would one day hold impressive humanist conferences. That prediction has been fulfilled.

humanist ideals. Afterward, Deogratiasi urged members to continue to be active in defending the humanist life stance.

TANZANIA My final stop was Tanzania. Tanzanians take great pride in the fact that people from all religions, as well as those who The Bukalasa Free Thought Association of Uganda. At bottom, Allen is practice no religion at all, are able to live peacefully with second from the right. Standing second from the left is UHASSO Chairman Deogratiasi Ssekitooleko. one another. Marriages between Muslims and Christians are common. This is largely due to the leadership of their former grow. president, Julius Nyerere, who was able to unite people from In 1992, Emmanuel Kofi Mensah of the now-defunct Action various backgrounds under the Tanganyikan African National for Humanism group in Nigeria told an audience at an IHEU Un ion (TANU) in 1954. Congress in Holland that one day Africa would host impressive Traditional medicine is very popular in Tanzania. Many humanist conferences. (At the time, there were only three Muslims, Christians, and animists patronize traditional heal- known humanist groups in sub-Saharan Africa.) His predic- ers, largely because they cannot afford modern health care. tion has been fulfilled. Practically every African government has embraced tradition- There are other major conferences planned for Africa. The al healers in efforts to combat malaria. Center for Inquiry/Kenya is planning a conference in conjunc- However, traditional medicine can be dangerous. For tion with World Philosophy Day in 2007. The proposed site will example, in 2005, there was an outbreak of the deadly be in Nairobi at the Kenyatta International Conference Center. Marburg virus in Angola. Some healers had injected home Details will be published in a future issue of FREE INQUIRY. remedies into patients with reused needles or syringes. Because the virus is communicable and easily passed along by From January 17–19, 2007, the Cameroon Freethought means of contaminated needles, this action helped the disease Association (CAFTA) will host an international humanist/ spread. This occurred despite a month-long effort by trained atheist/secularist conference in Cameroon. On the first day, physicians to prevent it. the conference will be held at the University of Yaounde in the The name of the Tanzanian humanist group is Sisi kwa nation’s capital. The conference will then move to the town of Sisi, which means “all of us” in Swahili. The members are pri- Ebolowa at the Classic High School. marily interested in promoting humanist ideals and uplifting These African humanist leaders are courageously strug- the Tanzanian people. Despite widespread religious tolerance gling to advance the humanist cause. For more information, or in Tanzania, however, they fear that it is dangerous to promote to find out how you can be of assistance, e-mail Boaz Adhengo humanism in their country. Still, they persist. Last year, they in Kenya at [email protected] or Alex Mbom in hosted Fadel Niang of the Center for Inquiry/Senegal. They have Cameroon at [email protected] or alexmbom established worthwhile contacts with humanists in Holland, @yahoo.fr. Africa, and the United States, and their confidence continues to

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