The Nation Newspaper

Category: Campus Life

  • A vote for equality

    A vote for equality

    The Gender Mainstreaming Office of the University of Ibadan (UI) has sensitised freshers on the institution’s gender policy to create a gender-friendly campus. HAMMED HAMZAT (300-Level Educational Management) and DAMOPE GBADEGESIN report.

    Over 200 students of the University of Ibadan (UI) participated in the two-day workshop organised by the institution’s Gender Mainstreaming Office last week.

    The event, with the theme: Developing a gender sensitive place for learning and research on campus, was held in the First Bank Building at the Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry and in Large Lecture Theatre at the Faculty of Social Sciences.

    The workshop enabled participants to study the school environment and apply gender-based arguments to promote human dignity in their daily activities on campus.

    The Vice-Chancellor, Prof Isaac Adewole, represented by the Dean of Students’ Affairs, Prof Akinola Alada, in his message, urged the freshers to explore opportunities provided by the event to study the campus.

    Alada urged the participants not to relent in reporting challenges they face on campus, noting that the office of the VC was open to students to volunteer information on how to improve on the gender policy.

    The Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Prof Sanya Arinola, said the gender policy of the university sought to promote equal opportunity for both male and female students. Culturally, she said, women are not given the chance to be heard but “women who have come out to speak out against this inequality should be applauded”. There is no need for confrontation or aggressiveness before a woman should be given chance in the society, Prof Arinola said.

    The coordinator of the Gender Mainstreaming Office, Dr Stella Odebode, urged the freshers to develop gender sensitive habits that would involve mutual care and consideration for the progress of both genders in the university community.

    Prof Janice Olawoye of the Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry, and Dr Alero Akeredolu of the Faculty of Law, who were spoke at the workshop, emphasised basic concepts of gender equality and sexual harassment.

    Prof Olawoye said gender equality must be socially determined, maintained, enforced and learned, noting that no human was born with specific role. “It is safe to say what men and women are important to human development,”Prof he said.

    Gender inequality should be discouraged, said Dr Akeredolu.

    Other facilitators at the programme were Dr Demola Lewis of Department of Linguistics and Dr Chinyere Ukpokolo of the Department of Archaeology and Anthropology. Dr Lewis called for balance in participation and benefits for male and female according to their needs. The don noted that the workshop was borne out of creating a gender-friendly campus.

    Dr Ukpokolo noted that sexual harassment was a threat to the education development in the country, urging students to report harassment between 24 and 72 hours such incident happens. “It will be treated with utmost confidentiality,” she said.

    Present at the workshop were the Dean, Faculty of the Social Sciences, Prof Olawale Ogunkola, his counterpart in in Law, Prof Oluyemisi Bamgbose, Grand Liaison Officer, Macarthur Foundation Prof Oderinde, Deputy Registrar, Dr Stella Soola, and the Coordinator, UI Youth Friendly Center, Mrs Olukemi Akinyemi.

     

  • An unjust law

    An unjust law

    The topic of this discourse is one that requires no flowery introduction. Last January 7, President Goodluck Jonathan signed into law, a bill which prohibits homosexuality. For the purpose of the law, “civil union” includes homosexual adult independent relationships, caring partnerships, civil partnerships among others.

    The overwhelming majority of the citizens, who have applauded this law, did on various grounds which I have summed up as follows: culture, religion and public choice. I do not agree with this majority. And I will justify my deference by logically attacking these bases in order to prove that this law is, first, a clamour for public support and patronage and second, a prejudiced attempt by a powerful majority to oppress a minority.

    Culture: The presidential spokesman, Reuben Abati, said of homosexualism: “…it is not our culture.” And millions of Nigerians echoed in agreement. What is culture? If memory serves me right, culture is simply the totality of a people’s way of life. The keyword being totality and not majority. In Social Study class, I was taught that culture is diverse and changes with respect to people, place and time. True to this, the numerous cultures in Nigeria have undergone transitions.

    Christianity, health care, education and technology have all been added to our cultures in response to the demands of the people, place and time. And more additions occur as these we continue to transform daily. Where then lay the boundaries defining ‘our culture’ as a nation?

    A friend vehemently upbraided the Europeans for the ‘infection’ of the Nigerian culture with homosexuality. She hailed the anti-gay law because of her fears that, Nigerians would “out-perform” their “western” teachers in the practice. I wonder, if we should also blame the West for fornication, adultery and rape that we willfully commit in our country. If we indeed blame the Europeans for these rising despicable trends, where are the policemen carrying around lists of ‘potential’ offenders on these counts? Where are the vigilantes and mobs religiously enforcing the laws prohibiting these practices on our streets? My answer to this is prejudice.

    Section 21(a) of the Constitution stipulates: “The state shall uphold the Nigerian cultures which enhance human dignity and are consistent with the fundamental objectives…of democracy and social justice.” The recently-promulgated anti-gay law breaches this provision.

    Religion: Not a few anti-gay advocates explore the Holy Bible and Qur’an in the attempt to justify this law. As much as I am tempted to, I will not prove in this essay, my belief, based on my knowledge and experience as a Christian, that God would have handled this situation differently than it has been handled. Nor will I explore the malicious hypocrisy of my discovery that many proponents of the anti-gay law are spurred to voice their support by their abhorrence of man-and-man union while harboring a healthy tolerance (even likeness, in many cases) for woman-on-woman sexual activities. What I would rather take issue with is the error, which is quickly gaining popularity among Nigerian leaders and followers alike, of mixing the state and its law with the dictates of religion.

    Chapter IV (38) of the Constitution clearly guarantees every Nigerian’s fundamental rights as the “right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion”. While Nigeria may be a country of religious people, it is not a religious state, hence the absence of any one religion as the national religion. The wrongness of instituting a law based on principles particular to one or a number of religions in a country which legally allows one the right to not practice any religion cannot be overemphasised. The attempt to justify the anti-gay law on the grounds of religion is not only criminal and hypocritical but is also responsible for recent malodorous occurrences like the incessant Boko Haram killings and the subscription of some state governors to religion as disguised psychological blackmail of the voting electorate.

    Public choice: “…Nigerians are happy with it,” says Abati. Democracy is, indeed, a government by a majority but I refuse to believe that it subscribes to the oppression of minority, who, in exercising their fundamental rights of choice and association, hurt no one.

    If majority did indeed automatically dictate the law and the extent to which it is applied, slavery would have never been abolished in China, Europe and America where slaves were an obvious minority; racial discrimination of the minority black Americans would also have never ended; Hitler’s holocaust of the minority Jews in Germany, Charles Taylor’s crimes against Liberians and Saddam Hussein’s genocidal campaign against the Shia Muslims would have had a legal approval.

    Even when the majority was in support of a revolution as was the case in South Africa during the Apartheid era, the law came to the rescue of the people not because of their numbers but because they sought equality, democracy and social justice – precepts which every law venerates.

    If at this point, you are saying: “This writer is clearly gay!” I feel no urge to either congratulate or sympathise with you because you have completely missed the point. For the readers, who would, however, put sentiment aside to absorb my arguments and proceed to sift through the facts for themselves, I will now take my stand. My stand is based on nothing else but the exact term of the issue at hand – the law.

    Section 14(1) of the Constitution states: “The Federal Republic of Nigeria shall be a state based on the principles of democracy and social justice”. On these counts, the anti-gay law fails woefully. The law criminalising homosexual unions, acts and sympathies, in my opinion, is both wrong and unnecessary.

    It is wrong because it absolutely violates six fundamental rights of the Nigerian citizen as stated in the Constitution and exposes a percentage of the country’s people to harassment and abuse. On the count of being unnecessary, the law could have prohibited the public display of sexual acts (homosexual and heterosexual) because such would corrupt the younger and more impressionable populace.

    It could have criminalised rape and all manner of sexual practices (homosexual and heterosexual) lacking consent of the individual(s) involved because it would clearly abuse the unwilling individual while robbing him/her of fundamental rights.

    I fear that the government, in a bid to prove that Nigeria will not be bullied by western forces, may have gone too far with this law.

    The effects of this law are fast unraveling in the uncharacteristic efficiency with which the police, vigilantes and volunteer mobs are enforcing it across the country. Health clinics for healthcare and rehabilitation of homosexuals have been shuttered and reports of beatings, arrests and manhunts for ‘potential’ homosexuals abound. No matter the terms with which we try to justify it, this law is unjust. And an unjust law is no law at all.

     

    •Chisom is a Corps member in Osogbo, Osun State.

  • Not yet Uhuru for our polytechnics

    A mild drama ensued, last week Tuesday, at the meeting between the Federal Government (FG) team led by the supervising Minister for Education, Chief Nyesom Wike and officials of the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP). The meeting was called by the minister to resolve the issues that have kept our polytechnics under lock and key for seven months.

    In the war of words that ensued, ASUP officials accused the minister of inviting students to the meeting to undermine them, while the minister said the students and the media were invited to know how far government has gone in resolving the lingering crisis. ASUP National President, Dr. Chibuzor Asomugha regretted that government could invite students to a meeting where issues around the strike were to be resolved.

    But the minister had a contrary opinion. Hear him: “There is nothing wrong in inviting the media and seeing the report in the media before the meeting. Inviting the media is not a new thing…”

    As the altercation continued, the minister blurted out: “In most cases, on television I watch you say all sorts of things against the Federal Government and how the Federal Government is insincere and how they do not want Nigerian polytechnics to grow. I think we should respect ourselves.”

    He also advised the union to state the facts, especially when addressing the public as the government was making concerted efforts to strengthen its educational system at all levels. Government, he noted, is identifying grey areas that could be addressed for “all to move forward” by agreeing to pay N20.4 billion arrears of new salary structure to the striking polytechnic lecturers.

    The National President of National Association of Polytechnic Students (NAPS), Ogbonnaya Sunday, who spoke on behalf of students, had accused ASUP of using them as a negotiating tool with the government. As a result of the altercations, the meeting ended in a deadlock while the woes in our polytechnics continue.

    While I’m not here to start apportioning blame, a couple of questions emanated from this meeting with some key learning curves which I feel need to be addressed.

    Why would the minister invite students and journalists to the meeting? Was the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) present at the negotiations with ASUU last year? Should we ascribe this to the disdain we seem to have developed against polytechnic education? Is it really proper for students to sit in meetings with their lecturers where issues that pertain to their welfare and other policy issues are discussed? Does ASUP members have things to hide by insisting students shouldn’t have been part of the meeting? Is propaganda at play here or is someone seeking cheap publicity for political gain? If the government claims it has released funds to tackle some of the issues that led to the strike, why are the lecturers still grumbling? I will take these questions one after the other.

    The minister said the reason the students were present at the meeting was for them to know what the Federal Government was doing in the education sector. The question I’d like to ask here is this: Would an otherwise responsible union go on strike if the government is doing enough for the sector? Are there no other ways of letting the students know what the government is doing than allowing them sit in a meeting with their lecturers?

    If I were to advise on this issue, I would have subtly told the minister to request for a position paper from the students which can then be tabled and discussed at the meeting. It is condescending for professors and doctors to sit with students they lecture to discuss policy issues which they may not have the temperament or tact to discuss. We all know Nigerian students and their penchant to jump into conclusions before the facts of a matter are fully understood. I think the government goofed here. I will like the NAPS president to elaborate on how his lecturers are using students as “negotiation tool” with the government. This is a sweeping statement that should be backed with facts and not the usual playing to the gallery stance of some Nigerians.

    Was NANS present during negotiations with ASUU? To the best of my knowledge, that was not the case and may likely not come to fruition in the near future. We all read about the long-drawn negotiations between the and ASUU. Even though there were ‘no victor no vanquished’ (apologies to General Yakubu Gowon rtd), Nigerians are smart enough to form their opinion on who won that battle.

    Should we ascribe this to the disdain we seem to have developed against polytechnic education? In the past, I’ve heard people say polytechnic lecturers lack the intellectual and academic depth their university counterparts have. I’m afraid this stereotype has continued to date, whether it is right or wrong. This , I also believe , was the reason for the clamour to transform polytechnics to universities, a clamour which is ongoing. What do I think about this? I have had cause to interact with some polytechnic lecturers and I found them intellectually and academically sound in their chosen fields of study. They are practical men and women who provide practical and workable solutions to issues.

    Does ASUP members have things to hide by insisting students shouldn’t have been part of the meeting? I will leave this forum open for ASUP members to tell Nigerians, in their own words, why they find it condescending for the government to invite students to the meeting. If they fail to give concrete and cogent reasons, Nigerians may jump to the conclusion that they have things to hide and are using the strike option as an arm twist tactics with the government.

    Is propaganda at play here or is someone seeking cheap publicity for political gais? Whether we like it or not, Chief Wike came out of the last ASUU strike bruised and battered as he was taken to the cleaners by ASUU. Some columnists even took to attacking Wike’s personality to drive home their point, especially when he compelled lecturers to resume lectures or be sacked en masse. He was forced to eat his words as the lecturers had their way and the last laugh. The government not only bowed to their pressure, but paid their backlog salaries and will be committing billions of naira to varsities in the next few years.

    Is it that Mr. Wike wants to use the perceived docility of polytechnic lecturers to erase the painful humiliation he suffered in the hands of ASUU? We may never know what is running through the minister’s mind, but we can be assured that he has learnt his lessons. He was castigated by many for issuing threats everyone knew he can never enforce. The way ASUU handled the issue, however, showed that they were only interested in pushing public university system forward and not to engage in unproductive altercations.

    This is the reason he should handle the present crisis with tact and understand that polytechnic education has a fundamental role to play in national development by virtue of their practical orientation.

    The polytechnic system was originally adopted, or should I say, inherited from Britain. However, it is instructive to note that the United Kingdom where we copied the system from- intended it not to be more than intermediate institution to train technologists and middle-level manpower. But in 1992, things changed as the polytechnics were all transformed to universities. Did this resolve the dichotomy? Not quite.

    Today, you hear of terms like “post-1992” university, that is, the year polytechnics were abolished under the Higher Education Act. So, why did the “post-1992” university fail to clear the dichotomy? There seem to be two main reasons. First, the post-1992 universities paved the way for mass higher education. They increased overall student expansion – and in widening participation for students from “middle England,” working-class homes and ethnic minorities.

    But powerful interest groups hate the idea of mass higher education. They believe that a university education should be rationed to the socially privileged and economically successful.

    The second reason is that the upgrading of polytechnics happened when inequality was increasing.

    It went against the grain of what was happening in Britain at that time. Meanwhile, the debate continues. Are there lessons for us to learn here?

     

     

  • Danfodiyo varsity resumes

    Danfodiyo varsity resumes

    The Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto (UDUS), has resumed for the 2013/2014 academic session. Freshers started their registration last Monday. Returning students have yet to round off their first semester examination of the 2012/2013 session.

    As early as 6am on the first day of registration, students converged on the university’s Information Communication Technology (ICT) Centre for the exercise. Admission letters were issued to students who scaled the screening hurdle.

    Some of the students shared their experience with CAMPUSLIFE. Danladi Musa, a 100-Level Medicine and Surgery student, said: “The registration process is tedious. We spent hours on the queue just to complete a stage of the process. It took me three days to get my confirmation letter and I am yet to finish as we speak.”

    When CAMPUSLIFE contacted the Dean of Students, Dr Ibrahim Magawata, he said the new students would not return home after their registration, as widely rumoured on campus. “The university calendar remained as planned. The new students will start lectures immediately after their registration. We are going to run a concurrent session with the returning students.”

     

  • OAU wins $8m World Bank grant

     

    The Obafemi Awolowo University in Ile-Ife, Osun State, has won a $8 million grant from the World Bank.

    The institution’s Public Relations Officer, Mr Abiodun Olarewaju, said the three-year endowment was meant for the establishment of the OAU Knowledge Park (OAK-Park).

    The Vice-Chancellor, Prof Bamitale Omole said OAK-Park would create a world-class model for uptake and commercialisation of research and technology, adding that it would contribute to the growth of the nation’s economy.

    Prof Omole said the centre would ensure the systematic growth of research ideas in the university and other affiliated institutions in the West Africa sub-region.

    “Our objective is to harness the innovative energy and skill of Nigeria’s teeming youth into entrepreneurial activities by using appropriate skill-enhancing trainings and mentoring models. OAK-Park facility would stimulate creativity and excellence in research and innovation, and expand learning opportunities for staff and students and, indeed, other researchers within the region,” he said.

    He continued: “The centre is also geared towards the development of the next generation of scientists, researchers, teachers, entrepreneurs and product developers through appropriate practices anchored on rigorous capacity building measures. These include industrial immersion schemes, leverage on industry resource support for critical skills development of academics, students and researchers, as well as targeted status enhancement training for industry staff in the university system.”

    CAMPUSLIFE gathered that the university was among the 18 successful institutions in Africa out of a total 51 that applied for the grant.

  • Solomon Lar, SA varsities sign MoU

    Plateau State-owned university, Solomon Lar University, Bokkos, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the University of Johannesburg in South Africa for the training of its workers on doctoral programmes.

    In a statement by the Public Relations Officer of the Solomon Lar University, John Agam, the deal was signed at the office of the Vice Chancellor and Principal of University of Johannesburg in South Africa.

    It said: “The MoU was signed at the University of Johannesburg by the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Docknan Sheni for Plateau State University Bokkos and Prof. Ihron Rensberg, Vice Chancellor and Principal for University of Johannesburg.

    The agreement is aimed at raising the academic standard of the new university.

    The statement added that the PhD students would be drawn from all the local councils of the state.

    It reads: “The MoU entered into is on academic cooperation and collaboration through the scholarship of teaching and learning programmes, research and development and student and lecture postgraduate programmes.

    “Part of the agreement is that the University of Johannesburg will enrol Plateau State University staff for studies that it deemed crucial for development.

    “Beginning this academic session, Plateau State University will be sending at least 17 Ph. D students to South Africa for studies. This is part of the universities effort to unify the state in line with the Governor Jonah David Jang’s desire. By this arrangement, one student from each local government area in the state will take part in the programme each year.”

    The vice Chancellor hopes that by the end of his tenure, the state can boast of at least 85 people who have either completed or are undergoing Ph. d programmes in the university.

     

  • Challenges of leadership, by Kolade

    Challenges of leadership, by Kolade

    HOW to find the right people to work with, gain and retain their commitment, have interpersonal skills, know the right balance of power and authority, and use both to achieve desired objectives, are part of the major challenges former Nigeria’s High Commissioner to United Kingdom (UK), Dr Christopher Kolade highlighted at a lecture by Caleb University, Ikorodu in Lagos.

    The Pro-Chancellor of the Pan-Atlantic University spoke on the topic: The management of leadership opportunity.

    He said: “We start with a natural capacity for learning through imitation, and if we develop this, the seed that was planted in infancy may show up as leadership traits when the need arises in later life. However that may be, we will become successful and effective leaders if we seize every opportunity to learn the right things, and to develop our capacity for applying what we learn to the leadership activity,” he added.

    Dr Kolade, who is also the Chair of the Board of Trustees of Caleb University, said Nigeria needs leaders that will use the God-given resources of this country in building a nation that will, once again, earn the respect of the rest of the world.

    “Leaders should always remind themselves of the National Pledge, wherein we offer to serve the country rather than ourselves, and wherein we volunteer to use all our strength and other resources to uphold the dignity of our fatherland – So help us, God!

    “Leaders must be able to find credible ways of pursuing the organisation’s objectives within the time and the resources available. Leaders must be able to come up with acceptable and effective ways of improving the organisation’s ability to find or generate additional resources when such resources are needed to ensure the attainment of the standards to which organisational effort has been committed. Leaders must see the selection, appointment, development and retention of good quality people as one of their main responsibilities.”

    The Vice Chancellor of the university, Prof Ayodele Olukoju, said the academy, which has been existing since 2011, was formed to train students to be good potential leaders. He said he was passionate to emulate the leadership skills enunciated by Kolade.

     

  • Students seek compensation over ASUU strike

    Some students, who believe that the last Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) strike had nothing to do with their academic pursuit, have demanded compensation from the government for subjecting them to about six-months hardship. MSONTER ANZAA (200-Level Medicine, Benue State University) reports.

    Last year, university students were away from school for six months, no thanks to the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU). The university teachers downed tools to demand the implementation of an agreement it reached with the Federal Government in 2009 to improve public education.

    With the reopening of universities, students are lamenting the effect of the strike on their academic programmes. They said they suffered for a cause they did not know anything about. They want to be compensated for the lost time and the delay they suffered because of the strike.

    Reliving their experiences during the action, students said its effect on their career could not be quantified.

    Kingsley Amatanweze, 500-Level Metallurgical and Material Engineering student of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), said he lost two months out of six months of industrial training because of the strike.

    “As a final year student, I should have commenced work on my project. To carry out a befitting project work takes time. Now, the school calendar is being rushed to accommodate the lost time. There is not enough time to attend to academics and conduct research work on our projects. The rush has disorganised our plans to put in efforts to develop good project,” Kingsley said.

    Dung Damack, 100-Level Biology and Education student of the University of Jos (UNIJOS) had just paid his rent when the strike started.

    “Already, half of the rent has gone because I did not stay in the room. It is like throwing money into a well. I just got a call from a neighbour that the landlord has asked me to leave the house. But I understand the landlord wants me to pay for another year.”

    Philips Guda, a 500-Level student of Medicine at the Benue State University (BSU) and national president of the Benue Medical Students Association (BEMSA), described the strike as disaster. He said: “For us at the Benue State University Teaching Hospital, who have lost too much time as undergraduates, it was a big disaster. The strike sabotaged our efforts to cover the lost time.”

    Richard Nyikwagh, a final year student of Economics at BSU, felt bad because his plan after school was disorganised. He was preparing to graduate next month, but the strike prolonged his graduation to August.

    Ekene Ahaneku, 200-Level Optometry and Public Relations Officer of the Students’ Union Government (SUG) of the Imo State University (IMSU), Owerri, said. “I am not happy because of rent. The strike has jerked up house rent,” he said.

    Given the lamentations, some students demand compensation from the government. Since the strike was not initiated by students, Kingsley said, there should be adequate compensation for them to cover the lost time. “Of course, they should pay us compensation,” he said.

    Dung Damack also believed students should be compensated. He said: “It would be a good idea if students are compensated. I wish this was possible. But you know the way the system works. To think of compensation is almost like thinking of impossibilities.”

    However, some students believe no compensation should be paid by the government because the lecturers went on strike to fight students’ cause.

    Sesugh Ande, a Chemistry lecturer at the University of Agriculture in Makurdi, who is currently in the United Kingdom for his doctorate degree, sympathised with the students over the strike but said lecturers suffered more during the action.

    He did not believe students should be compensated. “Why?” he queried, adding: “I think everyone who suffered would have to be compensated then if students demand compensation from the government. But is the compensation being seen in terms of time or money? The only thing I may suggest as compensation is for lecturers to double their efforts to ensure that students get the best training with the little that the federal government has offered.”

    Education Rights Campaign (ERC), a non-governmental organisation, blamed the government for the students’ unpalatable strike experience, but stressed that there is no need for compensation. Its national coordinator, Hassan Soweto, said: “Students, who are demanding compensation, are doing so out of frustration. Their situation is understandable. But there are questions they need to answer. Who will grant this demand? In what form will the compensation come? I honestly do not think that any student demanding compensation is right because they are giving an impression that students are not part of the struggle to save public education.”

     

     

  • Time to stop rapists

    There has been an upsurge in rape cases in Nigeria in recent times, but measures by the government to stop the trend seem to be ineffective.

    Last month, the National Assembly started another move to curb the crime. Thanks to Senator Chris Anyanwu, from Imo State, who sponsored Sexual Offence Bill to address the crime. The Bill prescribed life sentence to anybody convicted of rape. With this, senators surprised Nigerians with their recommendation.

    Showing her disgust for rape, Senator Zainab Kure (Niger South) said rapists should be shot. To Senator Hellen Esuene, severe punishment for offenders would deter would-be offenders. Another lawmaker, Senator Sola Adeyeye implored Federal Government to urgently sign the bill. All these are signs that sooner, rapists would have no chance to perpetrate their activities.

    In time past, human rights groups have held campaigns against rape, which they see as violation of rights of the victims. But these campaigns yield nothing and the criminals get away with the crime. Now, underage girls are prey for the conscienceless rapists. It is now a common occurrence to hear reports of a grandfather defiling a minor.

    There are many cases of rape, which are not reported because of the status or position of the people involved. This simply indicates that the number of reported cases is only a few occurrences out of several cases.

    In northern Nigeria, there are incidences of rape where young girls affected. The other day, a police chief confessed: “Child rape is becoming rampant in Kano and we are worried that nothing is done to stop these incidents. It will definitely go out of hand if proper care is not taken.” The top cop must have good evidence to back his claim.

    Rape suspects are usually elderly men while their victims are mostly girls between 3 and 18 years. The high rate of rape cases started in 2004, while it became pronounced 2005. In 2007, rape became uncontrollable.

    In 2013, Kano alone had 54 cases of child rape. Also in Ibadan, over 20 rape cases are reported on monthly basis with only one out of 100 was prosecuted.

    Most vulnerable victims of this inhuman act are street hawkers. These girls are lured by rapists who pretend to want to buy their wares. The situation has become so bad that one has to monitor every movement of his children, especially the ladies.

    Young girls are susceptible to this crime. Poverty, parental negligence and the moral crisis in the society have also all combined to be a factor stoking the flame of rape in our society. The victims are traumatised and stigmatized, which is why a few of the victims are willing to press charges.

    Out of sexual lust of a few perverts, our society is painted in bad light. Psychiatric tests should be carried out on rapists. Girls should desist from wearing bad dresses, which attract rapists.

    Instead of waiting for the next victim to cry out, government should begin a community outreach programme to educate the citizens on the evil of rape. Parents should also educate their wards on the need for good conduct, which will promote our values.

    It is good to make a rapist face the full wrath of the law and that of the Almighty. But we have to act fast to prevent the crime by enlighten people on the evils of rape and its consequence on the society.

     

    •Akinola, ND II Mass Communication, OFFA POLY

     

     

  • Oshiomhole and the widow

    In the synoptic gospels of Mark and Luke, Jesus, while teaching at the temple in Jerusalem, eulogised the widow’s mite. She gave all from her heart. The New International Version (NIV) of Luke 21: 4 says: “… but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.” And so was the widow of Benin, Mrs. Joy Ifije. Unfortunately, the widow had put in all she had to live on in the wrong place at the wrong hour.

    The plight of Nigerian widows is that which needs not be overemphasised. It is common and well-known. The challenges widow’s face after the demise of their husbands, who customs bequeath the role of the head of the family, is no longer a strange phenomenon; it is all the same fate across different cultures in Nigeria.

    Inevitably, the widows assume the role of the head of the house, a role which comes with a lot of responsibilities. In such a situation, life becomes so difficult, especially for widows who are not financially independent prior to the passing away of their spouses. The unexpected transition bestows on them a father figure.

    Mrs Ifije must have had her share of widows’ plight. She had been a victim of theft by a truck pusher who went away with her goods, a week before her encounter with Governor Adams Oshiomhole. To avoid such an occurrence again, she placed her goods on the road contrary to the state’s law on street trading.

    On the other hand, the law is no respecter of persons and so was the governor. The widow’s encounter with the Edo helmsman was a blend of pain and gain. Despite government’s effort to rid the state of street trading and other unhealthy practices due to the hazard they pose to public safety, the governor, who was on inspection, was enraged at the widow’s attempt to sabotage his administration’s effort.

    Just like Jesus, so many of us had expected the governor to tell the poor widow to go and sin no more. On the contrary, he was upbraided. The law, Anatole France, a Nobel Prize winner, said forbids, in its majestic equality, the rich as well as the poor to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal bread. But, the diction was, nevertheless, too strong for public consumption.

    Such an uncensored utterance from an elected public figure was deemed inappropriate. While apologising, the governor said: “…but when I said go and die, that one was said in a fit of anger. And I am really sorry.” Not only did the governor realise his mistake on time, he tread the path of honour by employing the widow to enforce that same law she flouted.

    As Aristotle puts it: “Anybody can become angry – that is easy, but to be angry with the right person and to the right degree and at the right time and for the right purpose, and in the right way – that is not within everybody’s power and is not easy.”

    Anger is a normal emotional response to a perceived provocation but never should we allow it to cloud our sensibility. It was the same hubristic anger that led to the downfall of Odewale in Ola Rotimi’s The Gods Are Not to Blame. Beyond fatalism, anger has led to the downfall of great men. Such is the case of the rage of Achilles.

    The ironic twist of event was the governor’s strength of character, as explicated in Aristotle’s poetic expression. Oshiomhole discovered his weakness before it was exploited by the opposition in a fit of mischief. For the widow, it was a reversal of fate. The governor’s regret was her fortune but, nevertheless, it was an act of divine providence.

     

    •Taiwo has just finished Nationl Youth Service in Oyo State