Category: Arts & Life

Niyi Adewole, a tailor and Radio presenter, is crying foul over the death of his son, Simiu, an albino whose body was brought from University of Benin Teaching Hospital, with a knife and what is suspected to be juju on his hand. He alleged that some parts of the body were missing. Taiwo Abiodun investigates

What influence does a dream have on reality or could a dream manifest into reality?

This is what the family of the late Simiu Adewole, 21, an albino, have been trying to unravel. According to the father, Niyi Adewole (aka Enudunjuyo), “Few days to his untimely death, my son, Simiu, told me that he dreamt that a vehicle knocked him down, and from there his body parts were removed for rituals.”

Not quite five days after his dream, Simiu, who was a barber by profession, went out on the fateful morning of July 22. A wine-coloured Tundra Jeep with an Ondo State Government registration number knocked him down. He was said to have sustained a severe head injury. Some days after, he died.

In tears, his father narrated his story: “When the deceased had the fatal accident he was rushed to the General Hospital Owo, but since they could not handle it, he was referred to Federal Medical Centre but again he was rejected and was referred to the University Teaching Hospital, Benin.”

He added, “I am a radio broadcaster cum tailor, and since I did not have enough money to foot the medical expenses I had to contact Mrs. Bolaji Suara, owner of the Tundra Jeep who is also Special Assistant on Special Projects with the Ondo State Government). She was kind enough as she sent some money. But I made her to realise that it was her vehicle that hit the boy. The boy was in coma for five days. When I visited him on the fifth day he was getting better. I again gave him water to sip. And I left there leaving the deceased’s aunties: Kudi Kosoro and Kehinde Kosoro to be at his bedside.”

And the boy died

However, a few days after observing his son recuperating, he was preparing to go for a function when his phone rang. On picking the call the devastating news was broken to him that his son was dead. “I wept like a baby. The boy (Simiu) was very good and responsible. He lost his mother some years ago and had been struggling.”

Accepting his fate that his son was dead, Adewole dug a grave in his compound in preparation for the burial. According to him: “An ambulance was provided by Mrs Suara to bring the corpse from Benin. We waited for days and began to wonder what could have caused the delay from Benin to Owo which is one hour – drive.” On the third day when the body arrived in Owo, the rhythm changed.

Strange objects

To receive the corpse some youths had gathered in the family house in Owo to give one of them their last respects, According to Adewole, they (the youths) were sad over the delay in conveying the corpse back. That aroused their suspicion. They believed that the late albino must have been a victim of ritual killing, especially since the father had narrated his deceased’s dream to them. Their suspicion was strengthened by the belief that albino are usually victims of ritual killers because they are believed to be very efficacious when used.

According to Adewole, one of the aunties of the late albino, Mrs Kudi Kosoro, and some young boys whom Mrs. Suara sent along with the ambulance to bring the corpse rejected the already dug grave and said they would bury the corpse in one of the rooms. The father resisted and insisted that it should be buried in the compound.

His refusal led to series of arguments, he stated. “I didn’t want them to bury him in one of the rooms in the house. While we were arguing over this, the corpse was unwrapped for the victim’s friends and family members to have the last look.” What they saw was confounding. According to him, “Lo and behold, I saw the body and it had been opened, while strange objects like a native knife and leather juju tied with strings were put in his hand and incisions were inscribed on his two hands. That was not all, his tongue was missing. We raised an alarm. Then the household shouted and attacked those who brought the corpse while the driver of the ambulance fled.”

A Muslim cleric, Alhaji Moshood Basaru, who was already there to pray for the soul of the deceased said he was shocked when some people demanded that the corpse should be taken round the town., “Even the driver of the ambulance ran away when he saw the annoyance written on them all. We were later told that they had tampered with the corpse. The police later came, then the corpse was taken to the hospital. What baffles me is that the false accusation that my step -sister, Mrs. Suara, sent me to Benin to collect the parts. They were saying all kinds of things. But I was there as an Alfa to pray for the soul of the dead.”

Who dun nit?

While the father is pointing fingers at the deceased’s auntie, Mrs Kosoro, and those who accompanied the corpse to Owo that she had allegedly colluded with some people to remove parts of his son’s body for rituals. He said, All these while sympathizers said they were going to burn down Suara’s mother’s house.”

While Adewole described the case as painful and unbelievable, he said the body of his son was butchered and his internal organs dismembered. He claimed the nefarious act must have been done while they were conveying the corpse home from Benin. In tears, he said, “They ‘butchered my son like a ram. I don’t know what they did with the body parts. They placed juju in his hands. They did not give me the autopsy report given by the hospital but claimed it is with the police.”

A member of the family, Kola (aka Deputy), said “I was there when the accident happened. The vehicle hit his head.” He alleged that “an Alfa went to Benin with them, and we heard that they said a politician sent them. They said his auntie (the deceased’s auntie) was given money. The late boy had no problem with anybody. His body is at the Federal Medical Centre now; they have removed all the internal organs. His body was tied like a cocoa sack. We learnt they are now begging the father to take money and not raise any dust. His father could not be convinced that it was the University Teaching Hospital that did a post mortem on the body of the deceased. The body was sewn like a sack of cloth. I believe somebody somewhere has used parts of the body.”

Police called to avert crisis

As the crisis brewed, Dr. Demola Obanoyen invited the police, “It was my ambulance that they used to go and collect the corpse. But they were delayed because the Teaching Hospital would not release the corpse without doing an autopsy. They also went to court in Benin before the corpse could be released. They came around 7pm and my driver called me on phone that the family of the deceased were molesting them. As a community leader, I had to call the police to go there. Earlier on, they had threatened to take the corpse to Suara’s mother due to the rumour they were fed with. The police was invited and they were dispersed while the corpse was deposited at the FMC, Owo for another autopsy.

The second autopsy

Mrs Kudi Kosoro was detained at the police station but later released. She later admitted that she was the one that placed a native knife and juju in the hands of the corpse saying the dead albino would revenge his death because she believed his death was not natural. She told The Nation “I did not kill or take any parts of the corpse but because of the mysterious way the boy died that was why I went traditional for him to revenge his own death. I took care of the boy when alive. I was the one taking care of him, now his father is accusing me of taking his parts. It is only God that will judge.”

However, according to Dr Obanoyen, another post-mortem was carried out by the FMC to verify whether the claim that some parts of the body were missing. According to him, “Normally, if you do an autopsy the whole body has to be opened including the skull. We want to know the cause of the death that will help the managing of any subsequent cases, that is the essence of autopsy. The FMC re-opened the body, the tongue was protruding because of the increase of inter-cranial pressure. The pressure of the brain was increasing and because of that the tongue was protruding. Doctors at UNIBENTH wanted to know what happened to the tongue, after studying it, they could not be taken back to the mouth, then they had to keep it inside the tummy of the patient and close it again.”

He continued “The second autopsy was partly done just to confirm or deny the allegation of some people who were accused that they had removed parts of the body for sale, so when they opened they found the tongue buried in the tummy. It was closed up and the police told them to go and bury their corpse.”

Obanoyen said Mrs. Kusoro perhaps placed juju and native knife in the hand of the dead because “that is the belief we have in Yoruba land that the dead could be empowered to fight for himself!”

It was later learnt that a man called Akasa went with those who went to convey the corpse from Benin to Owo. He was said to have assisted in empowering the corpse with the native knife and juju that were placed in his hand and it was the same Akasa who went ahead to reveal it to the father of the deceased!

All efforts to speak to Mrs. Suara failed as she was said not to be in town. However, her mother, Mrs Fehintola Famulagun, who is in her 90s, said, “My daughter is not fetish. In fact, she is a good Christian and could not have done that. I know they are looking for avenue to make money but this is wrong. Is it a sin to be a politician? “ the nonagenarian queried ,sobbing. “I heard that they were coming down to burn me and my household alive.”

Prince Olanrewaju Abegunde, the Olunaun of Owo, described the attitude of Adewole as uncouth and irrational. He said, “the father of the deceased has been ungrateful. Suara has been assisting by sending money to the father for his upkeep and the deceased’s medical expenses. We all know that any patient that dieds in the hospital must be subjected to autopsy. Suara is a great woman we are all looking up to and it will be too bad to drag her name in the mud. I am still going to fight it in the law court,” he vowed.

Morenike Falagun, an older sister to Mrs. Suara, said her sister was not the one that drove the vehicle, then why should she be made a scapegoat? If my sister does not go to court I am going to sue Adewole for defamation and character assassination. They had gathered to burn down my mother’s house. Our mother is over 90 and it is bad, too bad.

When The Nation visited the police station, the story was confirmed. They said policemen were quickly deployed to Suara’s family house to avert violence.

However, the police said the corpse has undergone another post-mortem examination and everything was found intact but the corpse is still at the FMC.

Albino living in fear

According to Adewole, when his son was alive he used to tell him that he was always afraid of going out at night since he was at the risk of being used for ritual.”When he was young I used to keep him away from the public and from keeping late outside. When we go to the barbing salon we would bring home his cut hair always for the fear of ritualists, when we learnt that they are hot cake. In fact, he used to ask me whether he was safe, for he would say eyes were on him and was afraid not to be used .He was very careful in going to places. When he completed his secondary education in order not to be idle he started to barb to keep body and soul together. I know his death is not by chance, it was planned. These politicians are something else, ritualists are all over the place, I cannot trust anybody. In his lifetime, he told me shortly before his death that he had a dream that he was knocked down by a vehicle in order to have access to his body parts. He does not go out at night .We are in trouble in this country o.”

The playwright intended for the book to be a sign post for the need for obedience in our society. The story is a well-grounded literary piece on an unfortunate man named Odewale, the king of Kutuje. This man left his hometown and in the process stumbled upon the people of Kutuje at a time when they were weak and down-trodden reeking of defeat. Odewale empathetic to their plight mobilizes them to action against the people Ikolu, the town responsible for the invasion and subsequent defeat of the Kutuje people. The people of Kutuje respond to his call and follow him to war against Ikolu. They are successful and in appreciation the people of Kutuje make Odewale their king. As custom demands he takes Queen Ojuola, the wife of the now late King Adetusa, as his wife and she bear his four children. Eleven years after a peaceful and joyous rule as King of Kutuje, trouble begins.

An epidemic in the town resulting in the death of the towns people in their numbers sets in motion the series of unfortunate events brewing up. These deaths cause the Odewale to send Aderopo, the son of Ojuola’s former husband, King Adetusa, to Ile-Ife to inquire from Orunmila the cause of the present epidemic. Aderopo returns with an answer that a curse on a full-grown man, who killed the former King Adetusa, was the cause of all the trouble. Odewale sentences the man right there and then to a slow painful death and again sends Aderopo to Oyo to call Baba Fakunle, an old Ifa priest, considered to “see all” and “know all”, to unveil the identity of the man. When the priest arrives he gets frantic on seeing Odewale and accuses him of being the murderer that was being spoken of. He labels him the cause of all the present problems in the land and a bedsharer. Odewale is upset by this assessment and orders for the priest to be detained. Seething, Odewale comes to the conclusion that there is conspiracy against him spareheaded by Aderopo and as a result, after a confrontation with Aderopo on the issue, banishes him from the land.

More determined than ever to find the culprint, Odewale swears to do so before the end of that day and is about to set out to begin his search when his wife delays him with her questions on what happened between him and her son. He answers and it is from this conversation that the truth about the origin of Odewale is revealed. It is discovered in the end that Odewale is the first child born to King Adetusa and Queen Ojuola. When he was born divination was carried out and his destructive destiny was uncovered. He was going to end up killing his father and marrying his mother. To avoid this, the priest at that time Baba Fakunle, ordered for the boy to be killed. This was to be done by a palace guard called Gbonka. Gbonka took the child to forest but decided to spare the life of the child. Instead he gives the child to a hunter and his aide that he met in the forest. The hunter Ogundele accepts the child and raises him as his own. When Odewale is full-grown, he also visits the oracle for divination to be carried out to find out his destiny. It is here he discovers that cruel hand fate has dealt him. Against the advice of the priest to simply stay where he was, he decided to run far away from home and not come back until both his parents were dead. In the process of running, he, in anger, killed a man later revealed to be King Adetusa for speaking disrespectfully against his tribe. It was while fleeing that he came across the people of Kutuje and helped them. As Ojuola discovers the horrible truth, that she has indeed married, slept with and had children for her son, she goes into her chambers and drives a knife into her own stomach. Odewale, realising that the weight of what had been done, goes in after Ojuola and seeing her dead, pulls the knife out of her stomach and uses the same knife to remove his eyes from their sockets. In his self-imposed darkness, Odewale requests for Aderopo to be called back to the land. He (Odewale) apologizes to Aderopo for accusing him wrongly when Aderopo eventually arrives and then asks as a final request for his wife and mother, Ojuola, to be given a burial of honour. Odewale proceeds to banish himself along with his children from the land, fulfilling his earlier vow. On this tragic note, the play ends with Odewale sorrowful and full of regret, his children confused and sealed to a wretched fate and the people of Kutuje mourning for the loss of their beloved king.

The book is written in drama form in acts and scenes with dialogue. With a well-handled plot, the fluid movement of the plot from start to finish gave the story an enthralling rhythm that did well to engage the attention of the audience. The employment of the narrative technique in fractions of the play conveyed a better understanding of plot and did well as an element of mystery and suspense. Literary devices like flashback were employed to expound on the plot, evoke the interest of the reader and give life to the story.

The quality of the playwright’s style was high. One feature to highlight here is the sheer simplicity of the play which left a sweet taste on my tongue. The originality of this piece is commendable. The idea to “Africanise” an originally European literary piece (Oedipus rex) was daring enough but then the playwright not only succeeded in this but ended up delivering a work of art rich with African content and flavour. The plot is well framed with an excellent construction and dramatic power. Dramatic irony is effectively used and the tense mood of the story is lightened through the application of literary devices like irony which contributed to the emotional quality of the writing. An example of this is seen in Act 3 Scene 2 where Odewale says

Odewale: Of course. You all mean no evil against me. You all love me. We are all close friends. [Sneering] Like he-goats and cocoyams!

[Here Odewale already suspects that there is a conspiracy against him]

In terms of theme, the major theme is the price of disobedience. This is a traditional and familiar theme that is especially popular in religious settings. The archives of history are replete with stories of people/ communities/ nations that have been destroyed for acts of disobedience, an example is the Israelites. The theme, didatic in purpose, developed as the plot developed and was emphasized at the climax of the story where all the clothes were hung out to dry. If only the bodyguard had obeyed, then if only Odewale had obeyed and remained where he was. If only, if only… The three-dimensional characters also carried the story well. Odewale, for example, was a complicated man, the kind of man you would not want to die, one you would love but also the kind you would want to shake hard for lacking wisdom and common sense, not to mention taking unnecessarily rash actions. There wasn’t one interpretation to him.

I would recommend this book to as many people as possible. It is a magnum opus, a work of art with much to teach and even more to offer. I’ll give it a 10.

 

For Mr. and Mrs Obinna Oleh, the fact that their son Kingsley is dead is a reality that is hard to live with. But they were further tormented by the discovery that his body was mutilated, with some parts missing. According to the couple, nurses at the hospital blamed the mysterious incident on “Spiritual arrow”, while the doctor claimed that rats feasted on the body Taiwo Abiodun investigates

 

Obinna Oleh, a motor spare parts dealer and his wife Success, a school teacher, had gone to the hospital to collect the remains of their 13 month old baby who had died in the hospital. However, when they got there they were confronted with the greatest shock of their lives. The body of their dead son released to them had many of its vital organs missing.

According to Oleh, Babawale Joshua, a medical doctor and Medical Director of Ajike Medical Centre located at 11, Adeyemi Street, Saka- Abule Iroko, Sango, Ogun State claimed that rats ate up the baby’s missing parts while nurses in the hospital said it was a ‘spiritual arrow’ that was responsible for the disappearance of the parts!

The question on the lips of the Kingsley’s parents and the rest of the community is: where are the missing vital organs? The missing organs from the dead body that was handed over to the distraught parents are: two testicles, the tip of the baby’s private part, his two eyes, fingernails, lower and upper lips, his two ears and some veins in his arms.

On that fateful morning when the Olehs were presented with the mutilated remains of their son, their protest attracted neighbours who converged on the hospital and almost lynched the doctor and set the two storey building housing the hospital ablaze.

The journey to the ‘butcher’s’ table

It all started on June 7 when Kingsley Oleh fell ill. His parents living on Adeyemi Street, Saka – Abule Iroko decided to take him to Ajike Medical Centre located on the street where they live.

According to the father, “I had patronised the hospital about four years ago. But since then I’ve always used Ikeja General Hospital (Lagos University Teaching Hospital), but since the baby was only coughing and feverish which was minor, I decided to take him to Ajike Medical Centre.” The mother added, “However, when the baby was admitted at 5:30am, I discovered that the doctor was not treating him well, I challenged him the second day on his nonchalant attitude. On Saturday, when I did not see any improvement I called my husband who had gone to Ladipo where he is selling spare parts and asked him to come. My husband came, and when he saw the way the doctor was behaving he was not happy. The doctor seeing our countenance relocated us into another private room and then gave the baby an injection. Some minutes after he injected the baby he (the baby) became uncomfortable with his stomach swollen. I again challenged him but he said nothing was wrong with the baby.”

In tears she continued, “Well, in the evening of that Saturday the baby died. When we went there to take the corpse the nurse on duty did not allow saying we can’t take it until the doctor is around. When Dr Babatunde Joshua, the owner of the hospital came to issue a death certificate we were not allowed to take the corpse. They asked us to go and bring money to settle the medical expenses.”

A twist in the tale

However, when the couple returned on Sunday, prepared to pay the hospital bills, one of the nurses told them that the dead baby had been attacked by some ‘spiritual arrow’. They were taken to where the dead baby was kept, “When the nurse opened the room where the baby was kept we were shocked! The wall was full of blood, the floor of the room was stained with blood! We discovered that the upper and lower lips of the baby had been cut, the two ears were gone, the two eyes were gone while cotton wool were inserted in the two eye sockets. Not only this, they had removed the tongue, finger nails and removed some of his veins from his hands. They had also removed his seeds (testis) and cut the tip of his private part. When we saw this we screamed but the doctor ran to us and said it was rat that ate up the parts. We then grabbed him to explain what happened to the baby, the two nurses and the security man fled. While the doctor was pleading and begging, I went to Sango Police Station to report and a police officer came along with me. The doctor then made frantic calls to the police to come and rescue him and that he would give them any amount. A police patrol team came and started shooting to scare the people that gathered away.”

Upon arrival at the Police station, Mr Oleh continued, “The Divisional Police Officer (DPO) started harassing me and said I was harassing the doctor and that a call was put through by the Baale of the community that I was vandalizing the hospital. The DPO threatened to shoot me. He said he would kill me and bury the case and nothing would happen. I told him he dare not because I came to report a case and that he was defending a suspect. I was beaten and put behind the counter and the DPO threatened to put me in cell! I heard the doctor saying he has connection and that he would also spend money to make sure the case will not continue. When we were allowed to go home, I was told that the police had come to harass the woman who was taking care of our children. The police broke into our house and upturned everything. I learnt that they were looking for the medical certificate the doctor issued to us.”

Afraid that they might be attacked the couple and their children have relocated to another place over the fear that the police have taken sides with the suspect. According to Mrs Oleh, “We are hiding somewhere now because the doctor has bribed the police and they are after us.”

To buttress their suspicion that their son might have been a victim of ritual, they showed the reporter the death certificate that was earlier issued to them by the suspect. “This is the death certificate the doctor issued, and we know that is what he is after. The doctor said it was rat that ate up this baby and removed its parts while the nurses said the baby was attacked by spiritual arrow, yet they keep pursuing us.”

According to the father of the deceased, the police are not cooperating as he believes that since the doctor has been spending money for them they wanted to cover up the crime. He said “On Monday (last week) at the Eleweran Police Station the policemen said they would detain me on the ground that the doctor petitioned the police and accused me of malicious damage on his hospital, this shocked me. The police have been bribed, they are trying to upturn the case. They want to twist it and they are begging me not to go to the press and that Inspector General of Police must not hear of the case. But see what they are doing to us. The mutilated corpse is now in the mortuary at Ifo General Hospital.”

Other revelations

When the family was asked if they know anything about the past activities of the suspect, they said no. However, the wife said, “You know when things happen like this one would then start to hear a lot of stories. We heard that babies and expectant mothers had been dying in the hospital. In fact, the beds here (in the hospital) are not up to 10. Imagine the two storey building he called hospital there are no patients, it is all empty offices. When the police came they were even shocked to have seen such a big hospital without beddings.”

According to Madam Oleh, a night after their son reportedly died in the hospital around 2am while sympathizers were mourning with the family over the loss of their baby, they were all outside their house when they saw a black Jeep on the street asking for where the doctor’ s hospital was located. “We became suspicious and wondered what the occupants of the Jeep could be doing and looking for the doctor at that wee hours of the night for. On the second day, that was on Sunday morning when we discovered that they had mutilated the body of our baby that all these things started recurring. The doctor should be interrogated.”

Last Tuesday Police form the Homicide section of Eleweran in Ogun State visited the street. It was learnt that when they came they did not go into the hospital building to inspect what was reported. One of the police officers who went there said they only visited the street to investigate the veracity of the story. But funny enough they only went to the Baale’s’ palace, spoke with him and left.

In search of justice and safety

Meanwhile, the parents of the deceased have sent appeals to Nigerians to save them from further harassment as the police had allegedly become partisan. “Our son was killed and his body mutilated yet the police keep on threatening us.We know they want to humiliate us, oppress us and want us to withdraw the case but we would not. That is not the way to do it. What I want now is justice! Imagine, they did not give us the autopsy report from the hospital, why didn’t they give we the parents of the baby the result of the autopsy?” Mrs Oleh asked.

Although the story of the couple was confirmed by the police, they insisted that the suspect is still in their custody. However, rumours are making the rounds that the suspect had been released.

Keeping mum

A visit to the street and the hospital premises show that many residents of the area have decided not to talk about the incident for fear of being molested. In fact, many of them believe strongly that the hospital was only a facade for committing crimes. For instance, a woman who begged for anonymity said “I live in this area but nobody has been patronising the hospital. Many children and pregnant women have died there . I believe it is nemesis that has caught up with the doctor over the death and mutilation of this boy.”

When contacted, the Baale of Saka, Jubril Owolabi who was accused of calling the police when the mob tried to vandalise the hospital over the death of the boy, he said “I am the head of this community and I cannot see people vandalising such edifice and keep quiet.” He added that he simply played the role of a community leader by calling in the police.

Asked if he patronises the hospital which is located near his residence, the community leader said he is a believer in traditional medicine.

Meanwhile, the hospital has been sealed off while its head office in Amje area still offers skeletal services. A worker there confirmed to the reporter that his boss was still with the police at Eleweran, Abeokuta.

Many are waiting with bated breath and keen interest to see how this case goes.

 

 

Yetunde Fashina-Arebi has in this work which centres entirely on human health and anatomy presented a compendium that is of immense value to humanity. Youth, Sex and Wellbeing is a book meant to help educate the society on the need to know and understand the whole essence of human relationships – relationships that border on how to create friends, how to enter into sexual life style, the implications and so on.

With her over 20 years experience as a journalist whose human angle column has set a standard on the first person narrative style, the information in the book are not only real and practicable, they go a long way in opening people’s eyes to the issue of man-woman relationships and the attendant consequences. The stories are not just emotional and down-to-earth, they touch on the fabric of a society and its people who have come to see sex as a normal way of life.

Yet, Arebi says that sex is more than that. In his view, sex is beyond mere man-woman relationship. Sex is life; it is knowledge, it directs people to being real human beings and so it has to be treated with absolute caution, respect, dignity and decorum. It is ordained by God primarily for pro-creation. And beyond that knowledge which propels man to indulge in or abuse sex to that level of debasement, there are lots and lots of headaches that follow it when it is wrongly applied.

That is why sex education, in the reckoning of Arebi, is necessary in order for people to begin on time to know what sex implies. This will help people to acquire information about sex and know, therefore, when and how to form the appropriate attitudes, beliefs, intimacies and the like, necessary to lead healthy sexual life.

Unfortunately, no one seems to teach teenagers when the time comes what to do or what not to do. This has led to too many sexual diseases that have today permeated the society. The author advocates for abstinence, if necessary, or for people to have self-control. But the acquisition of knowledge based on comprehensive information will invariably help to sort people out so that people will begin to have the appropriate value for sex.

Arebi’s book is deeper in terms of knowledge-base because she took her time to research her sources. With people telling their stories, how they began their first outing, their traumatic experiences and so on, the author has succeeded in giving the world an outstanding book on sex education from people’s confessions. It is easy to see a people totally steeped in sexual orgy and drama.

People begin quite early in life to practice sexual experimentation, most of which eventually land them in trouble. This is what Arebi tries to do; to encourage parents and adults to stand up to defend; to let the world know that sex is being abused in the country and more diseases are being spread to the detriment of people’s wellbeing, people’s future and more.

Sex is sacred to human existence, yet it is a natural urge which cannot be wished away. Then what must man do to use it properly for the good of the society. This is why the book is an encyclopedia on those issues. There is the need for man to learn to acquire habits for a healthy relationship. The author harps on this when she says on page 91 that “God’s stand against sex out of the marital bed may be further buttressed by the many Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDS), abortion, and unplanned and unwanted pregnancies plaguing our society…Ironically, science, having concluded and agreed with the Creator that only marital sex as recommended by God,’ that is, sex between a man and a woman who are faithful to one another is the only ideal form of sexual relationship’ if one wants to remain free of STDs….”

With the rate at which sexually-transmitted diseases spread these days, no one is safe. It is so alarming that the book opens people’s senses to some of the serious issues associated with it. The author is indeed meticulous in this regard, harping on the rapid spread and what needs to be done to curtail it.

Divided into sections, the book is easy to read and comprehend. It has a style that is unique where you read and follow with examples. To her, the examples will help readers to avoid other people’s mistakes; mistakes that have ruined many souls and rendered people’s sexual lives irreparable. And now that we know there are millions of ways to show people that we love them without sex, let us try to copy and practice those ways. You can only grasp these ideals by going through the book and also making the lesson you learn from it part of your life.

Even though more has to be done to make sex education a part of school programmes in the society, Arebi has done her part. The rest should be the clarion call of both parents and government at all levels. Every practical step needs to be taken now to ensure the safety of the people; abortion has to be discouraged and the youths guided in the right path to be of good good behaviour sexually.

With the cover showing a man and a woman in a romantic posture, Arebi has equally set the tone for a romantic and academic excursion into her world.