Sunday Okobi
The leadership of the group, Brothers Across Nigeria (BAN) aka Buccaneers Confraternity, has condemned misconceptions by some media groups and Nigerians who recently associated the organisation with one convicted man in Australia.
Speaking to journalists in Lagos, the Chairman of the Elders Council and Attorney for the body, Mr. Femi Osibanjo, likened it to stereotyping and profiling when one begins to use certain attributes to associate a criminal with either an organisation, tribe or religion.
According to him, “This is the problem we are fighting against. It emanates from intellectual laziness – the scourge of hasty generalisation in journalism. If a man commits a crime, he is a criminal. It has nothing to do with the association that he or she belongs to unless that association itself supports or encourages or otherwise gets involved in the crime.
“The Buccaneers Confraternity is a very responsible organisation comprising eminent responsible gentlemen of various noble professions. We are a Brotherhood with the sole aim to look after each other through lawful means.”
“On the assumption that the man said to have been convicted is a member, has the prosecution said that he committed that offence in the ordinary course of his membership? All these quack journalists need to grow up and do their verification before reporting.”
“So if a soldier has been found guilty of an offence, we should take it that the Army is a criminal organization? Or why not tag the whole of the United States for any crime committed by an American.”
The group chieftain, who decried any form of stereotyping in the Nigerian society, said: “I have been a member of this confraternity for over 45 years and we have always aimed at building men with good character and integrity. We have also been committed to community development. “Last year alone, we paid school fees for over 200 students across the country, from Bauchi to Rivers State, from Osun to Adamawa State. These are the ideals we believe in and nobody or group of person can criminalise my association, because the Nigerian Constitution and the African charter give me a freedom to associate.”
He highlighted that the Buccaneers Confraternity has been involved in lots of corporate social responsibility of recent, especially a programme tagged: ‘When education cannot wait’, under the Tony Uranta Educational Board.
“What about the Nigerian communities like in Badagary, Lagos, where we are donating transformers and bringing light to the communities and people? What about our donations to the Ikeja bomb blast victims then; our war against fake drugs, our support for the military against terrorists and various other humanitarian works we have done?” he asked.