Special Report: The Rise of Pro-Life Africa

In a world that is currently being redefined and redesigned in the hands of wealthy and powerful social engineers, Africa is being increasingly pressured and prodded to embrace the new and emergent decadent culture of death. Issues such as abortion and contraception are being pushed as women's empowerment and reproductive healthcare by many western donors who seem obsessively committed to eliminating poverty through the elimination of poor people.

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P>ENUGU, Nigeria (Catholic Online) - In a world that is currently being redefined and redesigned in the hands of wealthy and powerful social engineers, Africa is being increasingly pressured and prodded to embrace the new and emergent decadent culture of death. Issues such as abortion and contraception are being pushed as women's empowerment and reproductive healthcare by many western donors who seem obsessively committed to eliminating poverty through the elimination of poor people.

And we see more and more "family planning" facilities being installed ,by the likes of International Planned Parenthood federation and Marie Stopes International , in many African cities, towns and villages (even in places where basic healthcare is lacking). Consequently, the good people of Africa are being bombarded everyday by the contraception/abortion message and the most cherished African values of life, faith and family are being systematically eroded .

This was why it was really timely and necessary to launch a series of Pro-Life events last month in the South-Eastern Nigerian cities of Enugu and Owerri as a way of countering and refuting some of the morally objectionable message ringing in the ears of the people.

The 10-day Pro-Life event unfolded from a close and fruitful collaboration of Culture of Life Africa with the Catholic Archdiocese of Owerri as well as Happy Home Foundation Enugu . A marvellous collaborative effort which brought the pro-life message into these African cities to so many people who received it with much joy, gladness and gratitude .

This message of life and dignity cut through the Enugu and Owerri communities like a double-edged sword to set free women who have been bound by the weight and lies of "modern" artificial contraceptives ; the exuberant youth who have been led to believe (by the aggressive publicity Ads and campaigns) that condoms will protect them from HIV better than abstinence and fidelity ;the good clergy and religious who are always in the privileged position to offer hope and spiritual direction to so many ;the healthcare professionals who have been erroneously taught that modern medicine must provide artificial contraception and abortion ; the government officials, legislators and administrators  who have been subjected to immense pressure from the tenacious abortion lobbyists ; indeed , the pro-life message resounded through the land and was heard by so many .

And It brought with it much courage and inspiration to the hearts and minds of these Africans who already understood, by their fervent faith and tradition , the blessing of married life , the beauty of womanhood and the inestimably precious value of human life from the moment of conception .

The themes of these events in Enugu and Owerri were "The Defence of Human Dignity" and "The Protection of Human Life from Conception to Natural Death" respectively and all the talks and rich discussions flowed from these themes. A broad array of critical topics and issues were presented by various excellent speakers from esteemed pro-life organisations such as Human Life International, Women for Life International , Delaware Right to Life , Doctors Health Initiative and Nigerian Catholic Doctors Association . There were many lively lectures, talks, teaching and training sessions , all of which ignited a powerful pro-life spark in the young and old alike as they enthusiastically absorbed the good and sound information that was being presented to them .

For many of them, it was their first real exposure to the truth about abortion, contraception, same-sex "marriage", promiscuity , pre-marital sex and pornography, all toxic elements which are now being injected into the blood stream of the every society through the modern day  entertainment , media , movies and even music. In this age of globalisation , the seeds and effects of the Culture of Death are being felt everywhere (including in Africa) as the committed proponents of this decadent culture are desperately trying to redefine , redesign and  re-caliberate  acceptable sexual norms and morality around the world. 
 
The last day of the Nigerian pro-life events was marked with a spectacular March for Life through the City of Owerri. A ground-breaking event which attracted many people from all facets of the society: young and old, strong and frail , rich and poor , men ,women and even children .

People from all walks and stripes of life came out on that day with much zeal and zest, to witness to the sanctity and dignity of life, motherhood and marriage. And with remarkable African vitality, verve and vigour, they sang , danced and prayed that social poisons like abortion and same-sex marriage will never be accepted in their culture and so never be legalised in their country. One can say that the march in Owerri left an indelible memory in the hearts and minds of many as a powerful testimony of the unanimous pro-life stance in the typical African society.

By the grace of God , this most recent  pro-life initiative in Africa was enormously fruitful and successful in strengthening, sensitising and educating so many people. It was very much like a wakeup call for Africans to rise up and uphold an authentic Culture of Life and a real Civilization of Love in a world that is being shaped and chiseled by the brute force of moral decadence.

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Obianuju Ekeocha is originally from Nigeria, but has for the past six years has been living and working in the United Kingdom as a biomedical scientist. Her work, including the recent "An Open Letter to Melinda Gates," has been published in The Catholic Herald UK and other Catholic news outlets. Obianuju is also part of Culture of Life Africa, an initiative dedicated to the promotion and propagation of the Gospel of Life in Africa through the dissemination of good information, sensitisation and education.

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