Dupe Olaoye-Osinkolu/
A chief prosecutor and legal adviser of the International Criminal Court, Fatou Bensouda, has charged jurists to always uphold the tenet of truth whenever they want to deliver their judgement at the law court.
Bensouda, who spoke at a programme organized to kick-start activities lined up to mark the 9th Great University of Ife Alumni International Reunion Celebration, said “where truth is, justice would thrive”. She appealed to the concerned authorities to stand uncompromised even in the face of intimidation.
“Injustices should be addressed in all quarters by jurists to discourage inhuman acts in any given society,” she said.
Bensouda, who is also the Solicitor General and Minister of Justice in Gambia, argued that if this is done, “the rule of law to protect humanity against criminality would be upheld”.
The ICC prosecutor added: “It pains me a lot when I see injustices not being given adequate attention in a court of law.
“One of my commitments in life is to see that justice reigns in every circle and ensure that right of every individual is protected. There should be international justices all over the countries to address cases like rape, child abuse, sexual harassment, suicide attack, adoption and many others without political interference.
“Criminal interrogation must be justly handled without political interference while cases of molested women, raped girls and many others especially, those inflicted with tortures should be handled without fear or favour by the concerned authorities.”
The Worldwide President of the Great Ife Alumni Association, Mr. Segun Oke, also spoke at the event.
He said: “A total sum of N15.5 billion had been set aside by the association to construct a befitting new students’ hostel accommodation that would conveniently accommodate over 8, 000 pupils.”
He added that the alumni had concluded every necessary arrangement to see that the lives of students in the institution are transformed through provision of other basic amenities.
He noted that the association facilitated the on-going construction of the senate building worth N1 billion in the institution to make life more meaningful for all stakeholders of the University.
“The association has renovated the male and female hostels on campus while renovations were also carried out at the Faculty of Agriculture and the lecture theatre among others,” he said. “Scholarships were given to over 1,000 scholars to encourage them in their academic pursuits and over 2,000 books were donated to Oluwasanmi library in the institution.”
Mr. Oke stressed that the association had constructed new accommodation facilities for students to make their lives easier.
“The alumni would not relent in ensuring that, the welfare of Obafemi Awolowo University students are adequately taken care of, ” he said. “The Association has also put in place a body saddled with the responsibility of ensuring harmony between workers, management, students and members of the university community.”