Madam, – Please permit me to respond to letters your newspaper has received and published since my article was published on April 2nd. Some of the contributors have expressed pseudo-humanitarian views that do not address the core issues of Pamela Izevbekhai’s saga.
To quote a Nigerian proverb, “Instead of collectively blaming the thief, you say it is the owner of the stolen property who has been careless”.
Pamela Izevbekhai has openly admitted that the documents she relied upon to make her asylum claim are forged. This revelation can only further reinforce the perception that Nigerians are untrustworthy. Or can anyone now blame an Irish employer who views a certificate obtained from a Nigerian university with suspicion?
Recent revelations in this country have shown that no society is corruption-free. But as a Nigerian, I find it exceptionally difficult to believe that any Nigerian medical doctor would deny his patient the documents or records he or she requires as proof that a daughter has been lost under such tragic circumstances, more so if the request is from overseas. And neither do I believe that any Nigerian grandmother would dare suggest circumcision for another of her granddaughters after one had already been lost due to the same unnecessary archaic tradition.
I am unequivocally for the abolition of the anachronistic tradition of female circumcision. In relation to Ms Izevbekhai’s claim, however, a web of lies has been knitted. Like unsuspecting flies, we are all entangled in that web. It is important that no stone is left unturned to get to the truth of this matter.
If it turns out that this Nigerian woman is telling the truth, let her be granted a refuge in Ireland. If on the other hand, her tale of baby Elizabeth is a phantasmagoria, then she should, without further ado, be repatriated to Nigeria to face the consequences.
To conclude, Madam, I too have a daughter and she does not even have her ears pierced, so when she is in Nigeria many people think she is a boy. However, if she were a boy, I would not allow her to be an altar boy in any part of the Western World. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – By denying the existence of FGM in Nigeria on RTÉ's Would You Believe(April, 5th), the Nigerian ambassador to Ireland lent further credence to Pamela Izevbekhai's case.
Whereas the Nigerian government, as well as a plethora of NGOs, has admitted the existence of FGM, the insistent denial by the ambassador raises more questions than answers. How ironic that an educated woman in power seeking to undermine another woman’s struggle against deportation would provide us all with further reason to believe that Ms Izevbekhai’s story is true. – Yours, etc,