Just back from Dakar, the capital city of Senegal, ADEOLA OGUNLADE reports on his visit to some of Africa’s biggest tourist attractions including the African Renaissance Monuments reputed as the biggest statue in Africa and The Point Of No Return, Africa’s window to the world through which slaves were transported to Europe in the heady days of the obnoxious slave trade.

TRAVELLING from the airport to the centre of Senegal in a trip that takes more than one hour, the first thing that would strike a visitor from Nigeria is the clean, nylon-tarred roads devoid of potholes. Although the roads are tiny, they are never as chaotic as one would find in Lagos, Ibadan or other Nigerian cities because the motorists observe traffic rules to the letter. This, perhaps, explains the not too visible presence of law enforcement agents around the city, safe for a few spots.

Dakar, no doubt, is one of Africa’s most expensive cities. Daniel, a resident of the city and administrative staff in one of its prominent organisations, said that Dakar hosts a lot of foreigners because of its tourist attractions, accounting in part for the high cost of living. For instance, a room apartment costs 75, 000 CFA (about N53,000) monthly

Transportation is equally expensive, costing an average of 1,000 CFA per drop in a public bus reputed for its unique nature as passengers have to board it from the back. To help passengers ferry their goods, a small carrier is built on top of the bus. Yet the most popular means of public transportation among locals is the station wagon vehicle known as ‘Sept Places’ because up to seven people can be packed into the vehicles at once.

As an alternative to ‘Sept Places’, there are mini-buses painted white with carriers on top of them to carry loads belonging to passengers. But they are generally considered less comfortable as they could between 20 and 30 passengers at once. The driver could squeeze as many as seven adults into a row meant for three or four persons.

Besides the discomfort, boarding the mini-buses could amount to wasting time as the driver would not leave the bus terminal until he has secured a sizable number of passengers. Members of the transport union are usually on hand in some of the terminals to help the drivers get passengers easily.

Of course, the mini-buses are cheaper than the Sept Places and taxi. Dakar is the only Senegalese city with a substantial inner-city bus system, called Dakar Demm Dikk. Senegal’s main inter-city transportation system is made up of mini-buses known as Car Rapides. To board these white, blue or yellow vehicles, would be passengers must flag them down and call out their destinations. On getting to their destinations, passengers must bang loudly on the side of the Car Rapide or signal to the conductor.

At about 12 noon every day, activities in most public and private organizations are at the lowest ebb and vehicular traffic begins to build because no fewer than 95% of the inhabitants of Dakar are Muslims and they have to go for prayers at 1:00pm.  People drive in to get to one of the Dakar Grand Mosques, the biggest mosques in Senegal situated at Allée Pape Gueye Fall, in order to be part of the afternoon prayer session.

Unlike Nigeria, the city is averse to the use of tricycles as a means of transportation. That may partly be responsible for the high cost of transportation.

“Here, tricycles are not allowed to be used for commercial purposes,” Daniel said.

 Fascinating places for visitors

Dakar is not only about big corporations, religious centers, shopping malls and inter-governmental agencies; it has unique recreational activities for fun seekers. As an ocean-facing country, there is a wide array of water sports available from surfing and diving to fishing and swimming. Also, there are football clubs, rugby clubs, tennis courts, speed boats, motorcycle tours and golf courses.

According to a report, Senegal has 530km of coastline of which more than half is the golden sandy beach. It is a beach lover’s paradise. But it is not just the ocean that attracts. Senegal is also home to deltas, lagoons, rivers and marshlands. There are dune-filled deserts and palm-tree-lined forests beside bustling cities and quaint villages.

As in most of Africa, football is the most popular sport in Senegal, with the nation producing some of the most famous players on the continent, including Liverpool striker Sadio Mané and Napoli center-back Kalidou Koulibaly. Around 4 pm in the evening, young people would be seen playing around the shoreline. Some of them play football while others play basketball. There are also different sites across the shoreline where exercise can be done.

According to Francis, a Nigerian based in Dakar, people use the shoreline for prayers and relaxation. In the evening, it is an exciting sight to behold.

Dakar is home to the trendy and the traditional; Senegal’s old and new. It is a fascinating city for dancing, bargain-hunting and authentic culture. In the relaxed neighbourhood of Mamelles, La Calebasse is a good spot to sample traditional African cuisine.

Monument of the African Renaissance

Riding from Novetel Hotel in Avenue Abdoulaye Fadiga, the centre of Dakar overlooking the Atlantic Ocean, could be great excitement. It is a journey that takes about 30 minutes on tiny roads across Dakar. On the threshold of the venue are soldiers saddled with the responsibility of guarding the statue. On sight are a very lovely restaurant and beautiful Senegalese craft stores. Some neat graffiti of murals can also be found on walls at the parking lot.

On hand are cameramen awaiting visitors who want to climb Africa’s biggest statue and one of the largest sculptures in the world. On one of the twin hills in the Mamelles District of Dakar lays this preposterous and magnificent edifice. It is called the African Renaissance Monument. The monument depicts the sculpture of man, woman and child. It is seen as a symbol of defiance and Senegal’s future prosperity. This statue is situated atop a 152-metre-high hill dominating Dakar’s skyline

It is built on a rock and it will take over 200 steps to reach the monument’s base, making it terribly difficult and exhilarating to climb. Hence, resilience and courage are needed to get to the top. The edifice has two entrances — one for visitors and the other for the country’s President and his guests.

The monument was built by Mansudae Overseas Projects, a North Korean state-owned construction company, with the support of some Senegalese’s. At the entrance of the monuments was an inscription written in French and interpreted to the writer by a tour guide. According to the tour guide, the monuments were built in memory of those who died in Senegal and other parts of Africa in the struggle against colonialism and slavery.

The Senegalese monument project lasted for eight years including two years of construction. It began in 2002 when former president Abdoulaye Wade began planning a massive hilltop monument that would represent Senegal and perhaps Africa’s freedom from centuries of slavery and colonialism. It was completed in 2010.

Entering the monument costs a visitor 3,000 CFA while an indigene pays 1,000 CFA. The monument has a lift that reaches the 15th floor. On the 15th floor, one can easily see the image of the boy and the woman in the monument. It also gives a visitor the opportunity to see the aerial view of Dakar city. However, visitors only have access to move around the monument from the ground floor to the second floor.

Inside the monument are many historical materials donated from different African countries. About 12 Africa leaders were on the ground when the monument was opened in 2010.

On the ground floor of the monument are moving pictures of how it was built and the various stages of the construction. It also has an artwork-canoe with the image of a man, a woman and three children seated in the canoe.

The artwork depicts how Africans travel by sea to Europe in search of better life, according to the tour guide. Pictures of different African leaders who have visited the statue are also on display. They include that of the Vice President of Nigeria, Prof Yemi Osibanjo and those of some African leaders who contributed immensely to the continent’s emancipation.

On the first floor are different artworks. It has different works that depict the various ethnic groups in Senegal. On sight are such images as a man with notable traditional musical instruments, a foreigner who is a farmer, a siege who was sitting down, among others. It also has a noise-proof event hall that can harbour about 50 people. Also on this floor is a room with ancient chairs and various other artworks donated from different African countries.

The statue shows a giant shirtless man holding a naked baby while guiding forth a scantily clad lady. Another depicts a man holding an infant aloft in one arm and guiding a woman with the other. The infant pointing ahead, it is said, is an indication of the nation’s glorious future while the woman extending her arm behind shows she’s trying to acknowledge the nation’s troubled past.

The African Renaissance Monument was unveiled to commemorate Senegal’s 50 years of independence from France. The view from the top is magnificent. One can see visibly from the top the city of Dakar. This magnificent view spreads out to the horizon. The airport is to the east, while Dakar itself stretches to the south

The giant structure has continued to yield a great deal of revenue for the country from tourists and nationals. A giant-like structure which is perhaps the tallest statue in Nigeria is the Queen Moremi Statue of Liberty.

The Point of No Return

At the entry point of the avenue that leads to the Point Of No Return are various inscriptions indicating that the site is filled with history, particularly in respect of slavery and the emancipation of the Senegalese people.

It has different buildings such as the museum and event halls. It has a big waterfall where different calf’s pots were seated together. Pictures of the founding fathers of the city which dates more than 200 years ago are on the walls. Also, different pictures of Africa leaders and their messages about the continent are displayed for visitors.

The access to the Point Of No Return is a small pathway that leads to the seashore. At the point of the seashore is a beautifully carved map of Africa with the different flags of the countries that make up the continent.  The Point Of No Return was the place where most slaves captured from Senegal in the colonial era were taken to America through the Goree Island.

Predators know the crude sign language of sexual and domestic violence, but the criminal justice system has none yet for redress, GBENGA OGUNDARE reports.

When Ronke met Mike in 2016, her hearing impairment was no disruption strong enough to make her miss the signs of Mike’s affection for her.

“He even told me that was exactly the thing that swept him off his feet. And I was like really? Okay, no problem,” Ronke said.

And, indeed, there was no problem. Even if there was any warning sign loud as hell, Ronke couldn’t heed it. Not her fault. Love wasn’t only blind then, it was hard of hearing too.

She hardly introduced Mike to her grandma—who equally sounded him out if he knew what he was going into—when she got pregnant for him.

But reality set in after she had her first child.

“He changed,” Ronke said amid tears.

“He would spank and isolate me. He would not take me out.

“I felt depressed, useless, disappointed, regretful. He’d shout at me and I’d cry. I was lonely.”

The clarity with which she poured out her anguish and described the emotional torture her husband put her through is part of what expert regularly tick up as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

To relieve herself, Ronke just used all she had—venting all her morbid feeling.

No word could console her that she could hear. She is a one-track person. She can only express herself, thanks to hearing impairment.

Ronke said when depression set in, she heeded the advice to move out of the marriage. And she has sworn she’s gone for good.

Why not? She has her son, 4, the only fruit of the marriage, with her.

She was lucky. Unlike Adebisi, 34, a mother of twins that have been severed from her already. They are alive in the house of her equally deaf ex-husband—somewhere in Igando, Lagos.

friends traced the children in her desperate search. “But they told me initially on the phone that he and his mother and my twins had relocated to Abuja,” she said.

It is a nightmare, considering her dream when she met the man on Facebook in 2011.

Her romance followed a similar pattern as Ronke’s. They met eyeball to eyeball in Ogun in 2012, and he had a chance to know who he was in love with—with all her blemishes.

By 2015, she, too, got pregnant for him even before settling major issues: where to live, livelihood, duties and responsibilities.

The language of love is different from that of reality. With gestures, waves of the hands, rolls of the eyes, and coos, Adebisi could communicate love. But it was hard for her to tell him her feelings about his laziness and womanizing in the single room they lived with her mother-in-law because of the fear of his proclivity for violence.

 

What was life like in that hellhole?

“He beat me for seven years. He didn’t provide anything while I was pregnant. It was my big mummy in the US that sent me $300 for hospital bills and baby wears. My mother- in-law, who had no job except begging, was the one feeding me, the babies and their father,” she said.

When he trounced her, she had no way of airing her side of the story to her mother-in-law who does not understand the language of the deaf. Plus the mother-in-law would always take sides with her son (her only child), and rebuke her for nagging.

Sometimes, Adebisi took the beating for protesting her husband’s plan to take a second wife.

Sensing danger, Adebisi’s father suggested his daughter should leave the twins at home and get a job. But she tried hunting for two years without success.

The father then suggested that she move out and get a separate apartment, but her mother-in-law objected.

“She said I could not go with my twins,” Adebisi said.

And that was how it eventually ended—on the note her husband was taking a new wife, and she would have to leave the twins if the decision was not okay by her.

She never reported this forced separation and other instances of domestic violence she suffered to the police or any agency.

“I didn’t even know of any,” she said.

She lived through it with no protection, no defence, and no survival tactics.

She was unlike Folake who is 13 years older. Folake’s situation, in terms of the available faculties, looks similar to Ronke’s: she can’t hear you talk love or spew hurt.

Notwithstanding, she knows domestic violence. She suffered it in her marriage to a man exactly like her, but 10 years older.

Over two decades ago, both Folake and David met at Festac in Lagos. They were immediately attracted to each other.

Their circumstances, in spite of their auditory impairment, were not that bad for a marriage. They both had something to do for a living. David worked for an FMCG company on the Island, in Lagos. She was a catfish farmer.

They eventually settled down and had a girl whom they supported through university. She’s now a graduate at 22.

In those years of raising their child, the couple somehow waxed cold in their love and the brute in the abuser reared up.

David, Folake said, manhandled her so many times, stripping her naked and kicking her out. “I could stay out for three days, two weeks, and sometimes a month,” she said.

David punched out her front tooth during one of those beatings. He was bent on disfiguring her.

“He said I am too fine—that men will be calling me. He doesn’t trust me because he himself is a womanizer,” Folake explained only in a manner a person like her can.

Unlike Adebisi, Folake’s mother-in-law never took sides with her son. “She was always accommodating me each time her son sent me out,” she said.

She reported to the police sometimes with her daughter interpreting. “But he didn’t change,” Folake said.

“He even stopped supporting our daughter in the university because she invited the police to come intervene the last time he beat me in the public.”

All the mental and physical violence was taxing her health. Her blood pressure hit the roof at a point. She might die. So she decided to flee from the abusive marriage—a troubled union with a fellow living with disability.

“Since last year, I have not gone back.  I love my life,” she said.

Amid the toothache, spiraling blood pressure, shame, nakedness, and gossip she could never hear, Folake devised some coping mechanisms.

“I go into meditation. I create positive mantras to counter the negative one. I make up my mind to be happy. I create physical distance,” she said.

Folake’s mum taught her how to survive sexual predation as a child. Age and experience are on her side; and she is the chairperson of the Deaf Women Association of Nigeria in Lagos. So she can’t help being a survivalist.

Her case was unlike Lola who at 15, with no ability to hear or talk, had no idea how to cope with sexual predators in her environment.

When Kingsley lured her into an uncompleted building on August 5, 2021 at Aratusi, Oke-Aro, Akure, she was fair game.

The 54 year-old was caught penetrating the girl, and the mob that got him was going to lynch him, but the police came and took him away.

Kingsley is now in police custody, as though it were enough to keep Lola from venting her pain the way she can to achieve closure.

Mary, 20, is like Lola: easy prey, deaf, dumb. It was well figured out when Azeez Salau, according to the police, scaled a fence and entered a house where Mary fetched and carried as a maid at the Boluwaji area of Ibadan September 17 this year.

Her mistress had left the house for work. So the 26-year-old bricklayer had his way—raped her. He, too, was caught and the police eventually arraigned the rapist before an Iyaganku magistrate court.

But Magistrate Mercy Amole-Ajimoti claimed she lacked jurisdiction to entertain the suit. She then ordered the rapist remanded at Abolongo correctional facility in Oyo town. Everything about the case has screeched to a halt now. Nothing heard from Mary the victim.

 

Violence everywhere

Lola, Mary, Folake, Adebisi and Ronke are just a handful among the thousands experiencing diverse degree of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) across communities in Nigeria.

Lagos alone recorded 10,007 cases between May 2019 and August 2021, according to Attorney General Moyosore Onigbanjo.

While the 2020 lockdown lasted, no fewer than 3,600 women and girls also suffered such violence, according to Women Affairs Minister PaullenTallen.

The data of violence shared by AG Onigbanjo and Minister Tallen revealed nothing about disabled victims though. Cases involving this community, especially the hearing impaired, hardly get airtime.

Even when reported, government agencies don’t bother sorting the cases out of the jumble of data, despite the victims’ peculiarities.

Nonetheless, Titilola Vivour-Adeniyi, Executive Secretary of the Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Response Team (DSVRT), said the agency recorded 11 cases of PWD’s complaints of sexual and domestic violence since January this year. Nine of them are female, and six have “auditory impairment”.

“Once we have any case that requires intervention or we need the support of a sign language interpreter, we get in touch with the Lagos State Office for Disability Affairs to get it,” she said.

 

So far, so mute

How the DSVRT intervention leads to justice for Lola, Adebisi, Mary, and others will be a stretch.

Folake said majority of members in her hearing impaired community who suffer the trauma of abuse are not aware an interventionist agency such as DSVRT exists. And those who choose to go report abuse at the police station have to hire an interpreter to help them.

“They pay at least N5, 000,” she said.

“If he or she can’t afford it, they can communicate by writing.”

Not in the courts, however. Literacy level regardless.

The deafness of the complainants—or even defendants living with similar disabilities—becomes a snag in the wheel of justice, according to Tobi Makinde, General Secretary of the Association of Sign Language Interpreters of Nigeria (ASLIN), Lagos State Chapter.

“There are no sign language interpreters in Lagos courts, customary or magistrate,’ Makinde told this reporter, ‘so the deaf person will have to be the one to improvise an interpreter, otherwise he will lose out.”

It has to be so, according to Samuel James, Southwest Coordinator of the ASLIN. “We do not work with the Lagos State judiciary. We only work as freelancers when called upon for services.”

And such engagements come at a professional cost; charged against the deaf in search of justice.

“Truth is that the N5000 you mentioned earlier isn’t our professional fee, but sometimes we consider it just as transport fare from the victim requesting our service,” said Makinde.

The Lagos State Office of the Public  Defender (OPD) will not take the blame for the dearth of sign language interpreters in the court all the same. Prosecuting perpetrators, according to OPD director Jide Martins, is not OPD’s beat.

“It is the office of Attorney-General that prosecutes. Office of Public Defender supports victims of sexual offences and assist in bringing the offenders to justice,” Martins said in a WhatsApp response to questions on how the OPD has helped to get justice in gender-based violations of deaf and mute victims.

Nowhere else is the hole the buck-passing leaves remains as obvious as it is during prosecution. That is if the cases ever get to a court that has jurisdiction to try them.

The Violence Against Person (Prohibition) Act 2015, Discrimination Against Person With Disability (Prohibition) Act, the Penal Code, the Criminal Code—all laws of Nigeria that punish SGBV never envisage how disabilities will get in the way.

 

But that is a fact now.

When she presided over the Ikeja Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court, Justice Sybil Nwaka confirmed this.

State prosecutor Gbenga Alagbe put Emmanuel Umoh, a 48-year-old pastor accused of defiling a 13-year-old deaf and dumb girl, on trial in Nwaka’s court in 2020. While Umoh allegedly committed the crime in 2017 at Shapati, IbejuLekki, the peculiarity of the victim slowed down the prosecution of the case. And even many others similar to that in the court.

“We need the attorney-general’s involvement because we have a lot of cases involving deaf and dumb children that are being defiled. We need to get the services of sign language interpreters and we need them as soon as possible,” she said.

Justice Nwaka’s pleas simply ended there. And it might remain there because she has moved to the Appeal Court now, leaving her knowledge of the special court’s need on the shelf.

This lack of due diligence on the prosecutor’s side has yet to become a matter of public interest in Lagos. And such dereliction remains the reason Lagos, which has adopted VAPP 2015, battles large scale SGBV, more than any other state in Nigeria.

It’s better imagined when the deaf and mute sexually abused in Adamawa, Bauchi, and 24 others yet to domesticate the VAPP Act will catch a whiff of justice.

Of the 11 provisions of VAPP 2015, rape, spousal battery, and incest deal more directly with SGBV. That is generally speaking. Likewise the provisions for protection and compensation. But neither of the provisions expressly guarantees access to effective representation in court for PWDs that suffer sexual abuse or domestic violence.

This lacuna in itself is even some kind of violence, according to Women Enabled International in a  policy proposal to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on sexually abused PWD access to justice in Nigeria.

There is no arguing the fact that communication barrier remains a hurdle for the deaf and mute victims and defendants in court.  Sign language service ties everything in here—not just in court, but also at home. The victims can then express themselves with it, before or after the violation.

 

It’s part of justice.

At least Ronke, a mass communication graduate, has expressed her travail audibly and coherently. At peace now, she has sworn off love with any able-bodied partner.

“If I am going to have anyone again, the person must be like me. Or it must be somebody that is totally deaf,” she said.

David is. Yet he gave his equally deaf wife Folake a hell of a marriage.

 

 

• All the names of survivors in this story have been changed to protect them from revictimization.
• Support for this story was provided by the Media and Gender Project of Premium Times Centre for Investigative Journalism

The creative industry remains one of the most impacted sectors in the country with the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the sector is gradually picking up with Digital Switch Over (DSO) revolution. VINCENT IKUOMOLA reports.

Minister of Information and Culture Alhaji Lai Mohammed recently explained why the government is paying close attention to the creative industry, with the migration from analogue to digital broadcasting, otherwise known as Digital Switch Over (DSO), which is to herald Digital Terrestrial Transmission (DTT).

The idea of DSO was reached at the meeting of 193 member states of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland, in June 2006, where they all signed on to a treaty of digital broadcasting for 119 countries in Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia, with 2015 as the terminal or deadline date.

Mohammed launched the pilot phase in Jos, while President Muhammadu Buhari anchored the Abuja launch in December of the same year.

Other states such as Kaduna, Kwara, Osun and Enugu have been added to the process. Though the process may have been very slow, it was, however, believed that the current economic reality and the impact of the pandemic have thus added a renewed fire.

If the trend is sustained, the DSO may turn out to be the country’s catalyst for economic revival for the industry and the economy at large. This could be better explained by the renewed vigour with which the second phase of the launch in major economic cities in the country is being pursued.

 

DSO as a catalyst to country’s economy

 

The DSO is expected to create a boost for the local content industry because of the availability of more channels, unlike the analogue era where there were only a few channels available to people. There will be a pluralism of channels and a lot of diversification as digital technology has the capability to carry over 60 channels/in populating these channels with contents, young people with creative ideas will have the avenues to put their contents together and give it expression. They will also be able to commodify them to make some profits.

With quality content, advertising revenue will grow, bearing in mind that there is an Audience Measurement System (AMS) provided by the migration.

With the DSO, there will be the proper measurement. People, especially advertisers, will be able to know who is watching what. With the absence of an audience measurement system, Nigeria is lagging behind South Africa and even Ghana and Kenya in maximising TV advertising opportunities.

Hence, following the Lagos switch over in April, Kano State, with 44 local government areas, was recently switched on as part of the Federal Government’s comprehensive nationwide process of transitioning from analogue to digital television broadcasting.

At the launch in Kano State, the Minister of Information and Culture said: “The Federal Government is vigorously implementing a comprehensive nationwide process of transitioning from analogue to digital television broadcasting, which is referred to as the Digital Switchover (DSO) project.”

On other steps taken by the ministry to ensure that the creative industry becomes the livewire of the economy, the minister said: “A number of reforms have been instituted, some of them necessitating amendments to the Broadcasting Code which we have since carried out, with a view to encouraging investments in the broadcast industry in particular and the creative industry in general.”

As part of the ongoing reform to make the creative industry attractive, the minister revealed that the Federal Government is also putting in place an industry framework that will ensure that content producers receive their just due for the value of the contents they create, as well as provide objective guarantees to the advertising community with regard to return-on-investment on media placements.

“This will then have the overall effect of guaranteeing greater expend by advertisers, who are all seeking to grow their market share. The ministry, through the National Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) and Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON), has implemented a system to monitor the media purchases and ensure that advertising revenues are earned by the broadcasters in due time.

“The collaboration between NBC and APCON is to guarantee zero- advertising debt for the broadcasting industry.”

 

How to make Set-Top-Boxes (STBs) accessible to Nigerians

 

One of the major concerns is the issue of availability and accessibility of the STBs to the majority of the populace, given the fact that the government has removed subsidies on the STBs.

However, providing a workable solution for the immediate, the minister urged governors and other well-meaning Nigerians to assist the indigent in their states by providing them with STBs.

“Those channels are also critical to the success of the DSO because they have the potential to attract many eyeballs to the DSO platform. Still talking about set-top-boxes, affordability is a key factor in making digital television available to all.

“Indeed, set-top-boxes represent the very minimum entry point in the world of digital television broadcasting. At the same time, it is necessary to ensure a reliable supply of low-cost STBs for purchase by the general public.

“I implore state governments to be at the vanguard of providing set-top-boxes to their people. This is because the provision of set-top-boxes is a social service that will take governance to the grassroots and bridge the information gap between the government and the governed, among other advantages.

“For Kano State in particular, with a population of over 15 million, governance will be revolutionised if each of the 2.4 million television households can have a set-top-box.”

Kano State Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, who was present at the launch in the state, took up the gauntlet with an assurance that the state will rise to the occasion by supporting indigent and poor households so as to facilitate access to signal.

Consequently, he said the state would make provision for 100,000 units of subsidised set-top-boxes.

He said: “To facilitate access to signal for all, the Kano State Government is partnering with one of the licensed manufacturers of the digital set box in Nigeria in support of indigent and poor households in all the 44 local government areas in the state for the provision of 100, 000 units of subsidised FREE TV/STB, beginning with 10, 000 units for the first phase of the supply.

“Accordingly, 700 units of the STB will be supplied to the 114 Ministries, Departments and Agencies, 70 to the 15 tertiary institutions, 1,460 units for Senior Secondary Schools, offices of public servants that included Special Advisers, Senior Special Assistants and Special Assistants, while the state government would continue to mobilise for the supply and acquisition of the STBs in the state.

“Also, we have also directed the supply of 44, 000 STBs to the 44 local governments in the state at the rate of 100 per local government, where the following will be beneficiaries: Primary Health Care Centres, Community Viewing Centres, Government Education Authorities, Primary and Basic Schools, as well as Local Government Councils.

“We have also in collaboration with the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) trained over 100 technicians, installers and entrepreneurs; two each from the 44 local governments and 20 from the state government, while also being engaged in sensitizing the citizens to fully understand what the DSO is all about.”

 

How ready are suppliers of the STBs?

 

Another issue that has been of concern is the availability of STBs. There are fears that the over 13 registered STB producers may not have the capacity to produce the needed boxes. However, this fear was allayed by the Set Top Box Manufacturers of Nigeria, (STBMAN).

Sir Godfrey Ohuabunwa, Chairman, STBMAN on behalf of the stakeholders, said they are ready to make the over 24 million boxes available despite the challenges.

The Delta Oil-Producing Areas Development Commission (DESOPADEC) was established in 2007 by Chief James Ibori-led administration. Saddled with the responsibility of developing oil-bearing communities through the provision of critical infrastructure, the state-interventionist agency’s record has been below average. However, OKUNGBOWA AIWERIE reports that since 2019 when the current board of the commission was inaugurated, it has intervened in critical sectors such as education, health, housing, power and transportation and human capital development

Delta Oil-Producing Areas Development Commission (DESOPADEC) has had a chequered history since 2007 when it was first established by the Chief James Ibori administration.

Saddled with the responsibility of developing oil-bearing communities through the provision of critical infrastructure, the state-interventionist agency’s record, since its creation, has been less than stellar.

It has been characterised by a bloated inefficient workforce and corruption and was often criticised for failing in its core mandate.

But under the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Bashorun Askia Ogieh, the current board in the last two years has delivered some impactful projects across the three senatorial zones in the state.

The commission has, since 2019 when the current board was inaugurated, intervened in critical sectors such as education, health, housing, power and transportation and human capital development.

One of such projects in the riverside areas is the provision of 40,000 capacity solar-powered water scheme at Obodo Community in Warri South Local Government Area of Delta South Senatorial District.

In a chat with reporters, a community leader, Omatseyin Olley praised the commission for embarking on the project, stressing that the community, prior to the installation of the water scheme, accessing potable water was a huge challenge.

According to him, residents had to rely on the nearby streams for their domestic chores.

Olley said: “We are happy for the provision of the water scheme as it has reduced the difficulties we faced getting water in the past. We plead with the commission that the water scheme is extended to the other two quarters by connecting pipes to the area. This is so because, as of this moment, they still must walk some distances in order to fetch water.”

For Mr Omare Leleji, the water scheme has improved their standard of living. He wants the capacity of the water scheme increased to enable the water in the overhead tanks to last longer.

In Osubi Community in Okpe Local Government Area Delta Central Senatorial District, the Osubi Community Civic Centre is a testimony to one of such people-oriented projects; the edifice meets the social needs of residents of the community.

A youth leader, Obukhowo Efe, said the community civic centre provides a modern meeting place to congregate and discuss issues affecting the community.

He praised the agency for listening to their pleas and demands, during the agency’s town hall meeting in 2019, for a community civic centre, stressing that “we feel a sense of belonging with this project.”

At the Youth Corps Lodge in Osubi, a stone throw from the civic centre, some youth corps members expressed their happiness over the amenities at the lodge.

Bukola Adeyosoye, a 25-year-old corps member, who shared her experience, stressed that the lodge, a six-classroom block, converted into the lodge, offers them many modern amenities and security.

In Delta North, two road projects, the 8-kilometres Abavo/Obi-Anyima road project, and the ongoing Ofagbe-Ibrede Road project linking Isoko North to Ndokwa East Local Government Area, shows an agency resolutely poised to touch the lives of rural dwellers.

A community leader, Ogbueshi Alfred Esume, said the construction of the Ofagbe/Ibrede Road linking Isoko Communities in Delta South was a proper example of reaping the benefits of oil wealth.

He said: “Hopefully, this road, when completed, will foster the bonds of friendship and enhance trade among us and the Isoko communities. This is an example of benefitting from our oil wealth. This is a commendable project. We thank DESOPADEC for this project.”

In a recent media briefing in Warri, its Managing Director/CEO, Bashorun Askia Ogieh, highlighted the commission’s model for the development of infrastructure in its mandate areas.

He said the commission has entrenched a new culture of communal engagement which adopted a bottom-up model where communities decided their projects while discarding the era of imposition of projects.

Ogieh noted that within the past two years, the interventionist body received the “ regime in crude oil receipts from the Federation Account,” noting that this has made redressing the infrastructure gap even more challenging.

He said low crude oil receipts and the unpredictable COVID-19 challenges notwithstanding, the current board has adopted creative solutions to cost reduction.

Ogieh said the cost-saving biometrics system introduced by the board has saved N380 million from its rebranded biometrics system, adding that upgrading of its personnel/payroll system has eliminated “all loopholes of human factors and infractions.”

According to Ogieh, the savings realised from the biometrics system has been deployed into the construction of a four-storey DESOPADEC Tower in Warri, Warri South Local Government Area.

He said a staff management database for administration, saved in a cloud system, has been developed to check age falsification and tampering rife in the commission.

Ogieh noted that the operations of the interventionist agency have been brought into the Delta State Public Service, adding that this has addressed the issue of members of staff stagnation.

He lamented the untoward effects of low crude receipts from the Federation Account in the past two years on the operation of the commission, even as he praised the board for creatively redressing the challenge of cash crunch.

He said the challenge of ghost workers and an environment not conducive to work has been tackled by the commission frontally with improved members of staff welfare and technology.

Ogieh said the commission has invested in critical infrastructure in sectors such as education, health, power, housing, transportation and commerce.

He said the body invested heavily in its human capital development by empowering youths, and women through the DESOPADEC Skills Academy.

His words: “I am glad to announce that the pioneer students of our innovative DESOPADEC Skills Academy (DSA) have just completed their six months training programme in various vocational fields such as catering/confectioneries, electrical repairs and solar energy works, fashion design/tailoring, hairdressing and makeover,” among others.

He said the commission has delivered numerous community-driven projects in its mandate areas and as a result, agitations in riverside areas have reduced significantly.

Economic and tax experts gathered at the Sheraton Hotels, Lagos to ruminate on how benefits could be maximised for Medium Small and Middle-Scale Enterprises (MSMEs) with the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement (AfCFTA) at a one-day stakeholders’ sensitisation and consultation forum. The forum was organised by the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) and OXFAM Nigeria in collaboration with the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (CITN). CHINAKA OKORO reports.

In 2018, 54 of the 55 countries that make up the African Union (AU) established the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). It was created by the African Continental Free Trade Agreement. It was aimed at being a free trade area to fast-track economic development on the African Continent, especially through the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

Nigeria is a signatory to the agreement and President Muhammadu Buhari signed the agreement early this year.

However, nine months after President Buhari signed the AfCFTA, it seems as though Nigeria is still foot-dragging with the agreement’s implementation. While the AfCFTA has great potential to support economic development on the continent and Nigeria by extension, some enterprises may not be able to take advantage of the agreement or compete with an influx of new competitors from other countries within the free trade area because of internal inefficiencies within businesses or sub-optimal business environments.

These potential challenges for businesses sparked some opposition to the AfCFTA in Nigeria and led Nigeria to be one of the last countries to sign the agreement on July 9, 2019.

Bothered about this development, three concerned bodies, that are players in the business of accountability for growth, and development came together in a conference where they did a breakdown of the AfCFTA agreement and expunged certain inhibiting technicalities that only the professionals could understand. This is for the purpose of clarity and usable material for the layman in business.

It was so planned that no one will be left behind as the rest of 55 African countries moved to finally save the continent from the embarrassing under-development status to a final collaborative socio-economic growth and development in no distant time with the implementation of the agreement.

No doubt, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are the backbone of many developed economies. They are important contributors to employment, output growth, and trade expansion and in Nigeria, they remain critical constituents of the economy.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), SMEs in Nigeria accounts for about 96 per cent of registered Nigerian businesses, employ about 75 per cent of the national labour force and contribute 48 per cent to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

The government is currently at the third phase which is the implementation phase and on its part has made a concerted effort towards positioning SMEs to harness the numerous benefits of the AfCFTA on implementation through formalisations and engagements with public sector agencies to strengthen the capacity of SMEs to harness available opportunities.

Despite sensitisation and consultation campaigns in all the geo-political zones, there is a seeming lack of mass enlightenment on the AfCFTA with only 30 groups and 2, 317 people sensitised and consulted on the AfCFTA.

A 2020 survey of 1,804 MSMEs across Nigeria by the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines, and Agriculture (NACCIMA) showed that more than 50 per cent of those surveyed were most concerned about the threat posed by imported cheaper goods competing with local products due to the AfCFTA, while only 20 per cent were aware of the existence of the AfCFTA.

In the circumstances, the above statistics formed the background of discussions at the one-day stakeholders’ sensitisation and consultation forum whose theme was “Maximising the Benefits of the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement” held on Tuesday, December 7 at Sheraton Hotel, Ikeja Lagos.

The discourse jointly organised by Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Center (CISLAC), OXFAM Nigeria in conjunction with The Chartered Institute of Taxation Nigeria drew experts from the Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), the academic community, corporate organisations and the media.

The Executive Director of CISLAC, Auwal Musa Rafsanjani said the impact of the AfCFTA cannot be determined by the government policies alone but also by how much the private sector leverages the abundant opportunities available in the free trade area.

“In Africa, despite sensitisation and consultation campaigns in all the geo-political zones, there is a seeming lack of mass enlightenment on the AfCFTA with only 30 groups and 2,317 people sensitised and consulted on the AfCFTA.

“Without an active strategy to ensure that MSMEs are aware of the AfCFTA and put in a position to capitalise on the agreement, the AfCFTA’s positive impact on the Nigerian economy will remain minimal,” the CISLAC boss said.

Also, the CITN President, Adesina Adedayo, noted that the AfCFTA has the potential of contributing greatly to the movement of capital and natural people and facilitating investments across borders by laying the foundation for the establishment of a continental Customs union at a later stage.

He said: “AfCFTA was established primarily with the objective of deepening African economic integration through a single market for goods and services and to promote industrial development through diversification and regional value chain development.

“The advantages of this agreement are quite enormous. It has the potential of contributing greatly to the movement of capital and natural persons, facilitating investments across borders by laying the foundation for the establishment of a continental Customs union at a later stage.

“MSMEs remain critical constituents of the Nigerian economy as they represent 96 per cent of Nigerian businesses and contribute 75 per cent to national employment. MSMEs will benefit from access to new markets and the economic transformation that competition promotes.”

On concerns about the effect the AfCFTA would have on the Nigerian economy, Adedayo said the concerns can be addressed by the government putting in place safeguards to ensure the protection of vulnerable industries.

According to him, these safeguards include improving transport infrastructure and enforcing policies that would see a reduction in the cost of production with much consideration and easier access to credit facilities by the MSMEs.

“This would, in turn, make goods export competitive and promote rapid growth in industrialisation which, in return, boost our country’s economy.”

On benefits of AfCFTA to MSMEs and Nigeria, the keynote speaker and Professorial Chairman, Babcock University and Tax Commissioner at the Tax Appeal Tribunal, Prof. Ishola Akintoye took a cursory look at the continent, the prevailing situation on the ground in Nigeria and called on the government of the country to get serious with its implementation because, according to him, if it took Africa’s most populous country that long to carefully check and study the AfCFTA before it signed, it will not be in a good place to find Nigeria wanting among 55 other countries at its implementation.

He said: “AfCFTA is simply an idea to have a single plan for all African countries to come together under an African integration developmental authority that will make all the member countries grow together,” he said noting, however, that some members will lose because “when you open your doors, you will lose some fiscal benefits.”

Akintoye said the AfCFTA will allow African-owned companies to enter new markets, facilitate economic growth, encourage foreign direct investment, reduce input cost, and also increase efficiency and sales, minimise the threats and improve her competitive advantages under the AfCFTA.

Akintoye said there was a need for critical evaluation and concerted measures in key areas. According to him, the government must “carry out an impact assessment to determine likely effects of AfCFTA implementation on government revenue, identify required changes to existing laws and regulations, including local content rules, and areas of competitive and comparative advantages.

“Build institutional capacity to lead the implementation of AfCFTA and identify key stakeholders and agencies with key responsibilities, expected outcomes and performance indicators.

“Using the provisions of AfCFTA, systematically improve the capacity of the Nigeria Customs Service to secure and enforce Nigerian borders to prevent dumping, transhipment, smuggling and other detrimental cross border activities.

“Systematically address infrastructural gaps and improve the general ease of doing business in Nigeria especially through a concerted focus on power and access to affordable finance.

“Protect and strengthen business sectors and infant industries that could be endangered by AfCFTA in line with Article 24 (under Protocol on Trade in Goods).

“Isolate, support and stimulate sectors and businesses with identified capabilities to increase export volume and create jobs locally through coordinated governmental efforts at all levels

He added that the government must address regulatory and policy impediments and promote small-scale industries in local machine tool manufacturing, fishing and crop production, livestock, forestry, audiovisual and financial services through the extension of focused Venture Capital and skills enhancement under AfCFTA.

“The FIRS and the JTB should leverage technology and the new TIN system to improve the quality and integrity of taxpayers’ data, enhance tax intelligence gathering and initiate reforms to ensure appropriate taxation of nonresident individuals and businesses with sufficient connections to Nigeria.

“Ensure policy coordination and alignment among monetary, trade and fiscal policies. Most importantly, conduct regular, extensive and robust scientific studies on different aspects of AfCFTA as it affects Nigeria in terms of potential benefits and probable losses to inform policy decisions on future withdrawal, review and modifications of the AfCFTA treaty.”

Corroborating Akintoye’s views, former Director-General Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Dr Muda Yusuf, noted that countries with strong productivity and competitiveness will benefit more.

He said: “Benefits and costs would vary from country to country. Countries with a quality investment environment would emerge as key destinations for investment; countries with weak investment environments will be market destinations.”

He, however, highlighted the multiplicity of membership, slow ratification of protocols and reluctant implementation of agreed plans, lack of complementarities of African economies, socio-economic policy divergence, inadequate infrastructure, limited national and regional capacities, and lack of full private sector involvement at both planning and implementation stage, as part of challenges of the AfCFTA.

As Nigeria finally rises to begin the implementation of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area Agreement (AfCFTA) after taking many times to consider the pros and cons months ago, the discussants noted that there is a need to wake up the consciousness of citizens, particularly those in Micro, Small and Media Enterprises (MSMEs), of their respective duties to, rights from the agreement, and how they can leverage on the inherent opportunities to maximise the benefits it has necessitated.

The participants were also exposed to the inherent benefits of the AfCFTA for value addition and improved export trade revenue derivation.

Many vulnerable students have had to deal with trauma for the good part of their school life owing to bully by older or stronger school mates. Many schools are not unaware of the despicable act only that they often treat it with kid gloves thus further emboldening the bullies. With the death of Sylvester Oromoni last Tuesday as a result of alleged brutalisation by older school mates at Dowen College, Lekki, Lagos there is a clamour for the National Assembly to make a law criminalising the ugly act as it is done in other parts of the world, INNOCENT DURU writes.

The death of Sylvester Oromoni a student of the elite secondary school,  Dowen College, last Tuesday, the issue of bullying in schools have been brought to the front burner.

The 12-year-old Dowen College student was alleged to have died while nursing multiple internal injuries allegedly sustained after he was bullied by his fellow students.

The nephew, Perry Oromoni, had alleged via his Twitter handle, that the deceased was attacked for declining to join what he termed the secondary school’s “cult group” dominated by older boys at the institution located in Lekki.

Contrary to the school’s defence that the deceased was injured while playing football with his colleague, the father  according to an onlinepublication, ‘The Cable’, said that Sylvester, revealed before his death that he neither played the ball nor tripped as claimed.

He also alleged that the deceased stated before his death that five boys in the school barged into his room, put off the lights and beat him up in the presence of other students.

“Mummy, I didn’t play ball; I didn’t fall,” he was quoted as saying moments before he passed on. He was said to have jumped off his hostel bed while his attackers were kicking him and matching his waist. Other students,  terrified by what was going on, took to their heels, particularly because the attackers threatened to kill them all if they spoke a word to the school staff. They allegedly warned Junior to say that he sustained injuries while playing football.

Shortly after the story of Sylvester’s predicament went viral, a mother recounted how her  child  who attended the school suffered a similar fate. She spoke  during a zoom meeting organised by the Concerned Parents and Educators’ Network – a group of about 200,000 parents and educators. The programme was started by education branding specialist, Mrs. Yinka Ogunde, on December 4.

The mother in question  said: “My son was a victim. They did exactly what they did to Sylvester to my boy. They put off the light and beat him. They were dancing around. They put a box on his head, seven of them.

“They forced my son to kneel down and  they put a suitcase on his head.  They were dancing around him like an acoustic thing.

“Everything Sylvester Oromoni said is the truth. The principal told me that she saw my son’s video as he was being bullied but she did not think it was important to act because it was not yet online. So she slept on it.

“The school was collecting N3 million and they could not put ordinary CCTV camera? 11-year-old boy that just left them in September and they bullied him – seven boys.”

Our correspondent who had been following a group, @ArewaMeToo on twitter,  reports how a young boy has been living a traumatised life after he was bullied and initiated into homosexuality  by a senior school mate.

“It all started when I was attending a boarding school. It was a typical northern Nigerian English school.

“I was a straight male before this dude ruined my life and coded this worst sexual orientation in my brain.

“My first year in JSS (Junior Secondary School) class was hell. I was sluggish, naive and dumb. I was bullied by everyone, even those in my class until this asshole entered my life.

“His name is Mubarak. He was huge and among the honoured bullies at that time in the school. He was in SS1, but even SS3 students were scared of him because he was strong,” he said.

“Did you know what this motherfucker did to me? He protected me from being bullied and I thought he cared for me as a brother until one night after Isha prayer.

“I was in the bathroom and someone grabbed my butt. It was Mubarak. I thought it was the normal rough play that boys used to do in the dorm until he started asking me some strange questions

“He grabbed my crotch numerous times and then he pointed a small knife at my neck and said he and I would enter trouble if I told  anyone  and he would kill me.

“From that day, I was really uncomfortable and also kind of scared of the guy.

“He forced me to watch gay porn with him. I was 13 and I knew nothing about sex. He started asking for blow jobs, hand jobs, whatever. He penetrated me about four times or more. I couldn’t speak up or tell anyone. Things started getting out of hand. I was seriously ill and  was taken back home.”

Following the ugly experience, he said, “I begged my parents that I didn’t  want to go back to the school and they agreed. It’s been eight years now. Mubarak is off my life but he is always in my memory.

“There is so much that I don’t want to remember and want to tell, but there is also so much I will never, ever be able to forget.

“I’m not doing good these days, but I am talking to a Muslim therapist online. Allah ya sa mudace.”

Nkechi Odebiyi, founder of Virgins Pride Foundation, shared stories of how bullies almost wrecked the lives of some students.

She said: “There was a boy who was sick and taken to the hospital, but he refused to go back to school thereafter. The parents insisted  and took him back to school by force.

“Later, he fell sick again and was taken back to the hospital where it was discovered that his anus had been messed up by his schoolmates who warned him not to tell anybody about it.

“There was also a case of a girl that was bullied by 13 of her school mates.  She was big and beautiful. The school mates ganged up and went to tell the school counsellor that she was wayward.

“The counsellor did not try to investigate. Rather, the counsellor kept calling her names. The mother said each time she went to see her, she wasn’t looking happy.

“It was recently that we learnt that one of the girls confessed and  apologised to her about what they had done to her. Imagine bullying a child for that long.”

President and founder of TRY Initiative, a non-governmental organisation, John Wesley, MFR, in a chat with The Nation, told of how a young boy he counselled narrowly escaped death in the course of being initiated into a cult group by his schoolmates.

He said: “The boy’s parents are financially better than his schoolmates’ parents. He has a huge physique and the opposite sex liked him .

“The school mates always wanted him to be a part of them but he never associated with them. That made them to become aggressive towards him.  As a result, they would either meet him on the road or do something annoying to prompt him to fight back.

“Sometimes they would tear his book, collect his bag and throw it on a tree and tell him to go and pick it.  On some occasions, they would eat up his food or collect his money.

” Eventually, we realised that the day they were even going to initiate him, they were beating him up and the boy collapsed.

“When he collapsed, they were going to leave him there and go but some other people saw them.  In the course of trying to escape, they were caught.”

Concern as parents resort to crude tactics to save children

Following the failure of school authorities to address the complaints of their children, some parents have been employing crude tactics to stop their children from being bullied.

Lateef, a Lagos-based journalist,  said he stopped his children from being bullied after the school authorities failed to check the bullies.

He said: “My two children, a male and a female, were always bullied by students in higher classes in their school. We reported the complaints of our children to the school many times but nothing was done about it.

“They were always eating my children’s food. The girl bullying my daughter started doing that when my daughter was made the queen of the house she was representing in their inter-house sports competition. She was angry that they chose my daughter when she had looked forward to being made the queen.

“When the issue was getting out of hand, I called my children and packed stones in three stockings for each of them and gave them another set of heavy stones and told them anytime the bullies were approaching, they should stone them close to their eyes before they (the bullies) got close to them.

“The next day, I followed my children to school and asked the principal to bring forward the bullies. Before the principal and the bullies, I repeated what I asked my children to do any time they wanted to intimidate them.

“The principal shouted and immediately sent for the parents of those bullies. That was how my children had their peace. One of the bullies was the bursar’s child. They had kept mute all along until I took that drastic step.”

Dare, a public analyst, told our correspondent how he went to his son’s school to personally beat up the bully.

Said he: “My son was always bullied by another who was a class ahead of him. When the complaints became unbearable, I went to the school and asked my son to show the boy to me.

“Incidentally, the boy was passing along our way that moment and immediately he saw me, he attempted to run.

“Before he took off, I pounced on him and thoroughly beat him. When the principal saw me, he was shocked and I told him it was important to invite the boy’s parents at that point to discuss the whole issue. That was how the bullying stopped.

“If I hadn’t taken that decision, my son would have remained in bondage.”

Speaking on a television show during the week, Yeni Kuti, daughter of Afrobeat legend, Fela Anikulapo, said she and other members of her family practically went to his nephew’s school to save him from those that were bullying him.

She said: “One of my brother’s kids was bullied by five boys. We don’t take that kind of thing.

“Once dey talk like this, action don happen. Immediately, everybody don go the school. I asked him today, are you still being bullied and he said no. With our action, the school and the students knew that these ones don’t tolerate bullying.

“I asked if other kids wer still being bullied and he said yes. I told him that if he should see anybody being bullied, he should report to his school and also report to us.

“If my child is being bullied in your school and I don’t go there to solve the problem, other children would be bullied.”

A Facebook user, Adeola Osho Akinrinola, posted about  how they equipped their son to physically confront  the school mate that was bullying him.

Osho said: “There was a boy who was quite big in my children’s former school and who was also a relative to the school director. He would conveniently bully almost every student in the school,  includeing my first son and daughter.

“He went to the extent of using belt to whip my children on a particular day, but we kept insisting that our children should always report to the school authorities and we also contacted the school.

“Although they assured us they would take necessary action, the boy stopped for a while but resumed his bullying act again. This was when their dad decided it was time to fight and resist the bullying

“So we decided to ensure they learnt mixed martial arts. After some basic lessons, they were equipped enough to defend themselves.

“On a particular occasion, the bully came to do his usual bullying towards my children. He started throwing punches at my first son, but he was able to block the punches and returned to him very intense punches that resulted in him going on his knees and saying, ‘Olamide, please, please!

“This got the other children excited and they said to him, “Don’t mess with Olamide again”.

“The boy stubbornly came back again after a few days, bragging that he was now a master in karate. So he started a fight again, but  my son resisted and gave him a very sound beating.

“He was literally floored. This was what quenched the buand eventually he became friends with my son.

“This is not always the ultimate solution, but in some cases, it can go a long way.”

Reps decline comment on making anti-bullying law

The House of Representatives has declined comments on the need to make laws to stop bullying in schools.

House Committee Chairman on Basic Education, Hon Julius Ihonvbere,  neither  answered  the calls made  to his mobile number nor replied to a text message requesting his comment on the issue.

France and other countries across the world have made laws to this effect to curb the act of bullying among students.

The Guardian,  in a report, said the French parliament had voted to make school bullying a criminal offence punishable by up to three years in prison, as MPs said society needed a wake-up call on the seriousness of children targeting their peers.

The proposed law was supported by Emmanuel Macron’s education minister, Jean-Michel Blanquer.

Blanquer said the law sent a strong message to society that “we will never accept the lives of our children being shattered”.

As many as one in 10 French children are estimated to have been affected by bullying, and social networks are increasing the potential for public taunting and humiliation. Blanquer said the draft law was “a way of enforcing the values of the republic”.

The new crime of “school bullying” applies to children and adults in schools and universities, including students as well as staff such as canteen service teams and break-time monitors. It would carry a maximum three-year jail term and a fine of up to €45,000 (£38,300). If a victim of school bullying kills themselves, or attempts to, the maximum penalty could rise to 10 years and €150,000.

Macron’s wife, Brigitte, who is a former teacher, has made combating bullying a focus of her charity work at the Élysée

‘Bullying begins from home’

The act of bullying among students has been blamed on family orientation. According to Nkechi, “bullying as you see it in schools starts right from homes.

“Some children see their fathers bullying their mothers. They also see their mothers bullying their fathers.

“Children bully themselves according to what they see in the lives of their parents. When a father insists on having sex with the daughter before paying her school fees or giving her pocket money  or the necessary things she needs to go back to school, and the girl submits to the father, it is bullying.

“Some  of the students in boarding schools are dumped there by their parents who have not been able to give them a solid moral, emotional and spiritual  foundation.

“The few good ones get corrupted before they come back.  They carry the bullying from home down to school and begin to recruit others to join them to perpetrate these evils.

“They collect their mates’ food, money, force them to watch pornography and dance for them and beat them up. Some of the girls who have big butts are asked by the senior girls to dance and tweak for them.”

On his part, John Wesley blamed the absence of discipline for the rising cases of bullying.

“One of the measures that will put a check  on bullying is a whole lot of discipline. Discipline has left our schools, and even the home.

“In America and Great Britain now, you would notice that they have reintroduced discipline because their children have gone haywire. They now kill and  do all sorts  of things.

“That is becoming unbearable even for the government and for the communities. So discipline is the solution.”

Psychological effects of bullying

Speaking on psychological effects of bullying on victims, a United States based Crisis Clinician/Senior Therapist, Dr Lateefat Odunuga, said people with bullying scars are mostly incapable of repairing the damage sustained. “This often leads to various behavioral manifestations being misinterpreted and diagnosed as psychological disorders such as adjustment disorder, mood disorder, or even other triggering conditions. Bullied people are often frightened of reporting their worries, which creates severe anxieties and irrational preoccupation about the threats that might be carried out by the bullies.

Bullies might appear to themselves as strong and limitlessly expressing some grandiosity that they cannot be reprimanded by anyone reinforcing their behavior of intimidating another person. Despite appearing vulnerable and weak, recent studies show that bullied victims are capable of non-violent as well as extremely violent behavior which is dependent on so many factors such as prior violence history, family support, socio-economic status, and self-esteem etc.

“A bully gets reinforced by attention-seeking behaviors which mean a lot to them indicating that most bullies have underlying issues that contribute to their maladaptive behavior such as dysfunctional families, poor parenting practices, negligence, poor impulse control, highly impulsive behavior, and immediate environment in which the bully resides.”

Speaking from her experience with victims, she said: “While working as private practitioner and other clinical practice, I have seen several cases where bullied students report to school authorities or teachers that they have been bullied, and the bullied student is then referred for psychiatric treatment after making homicidal threats. Based on previous cases, it seems that the system that is responsible for educating and instilling appropriate behaviors is not conducive to the needs of bullied victims. In fact, we have seen cases of bullied victims who have consciously and unconsciously transitioned into becoming bullies themselves through a behavioral approach called ‘modeling’. Bullied victims who enjoy watching other kids beaten up and assaulted are likely to also become a part of the transitional bullying.

“A person who bullies and bullied victims needs professional assistance, not the case where a victim is subjected to unnecessary evaluation because they have threatened to hurt their person who bullies them. Post-Bullying syndrome is likely to develop in early adolescence into early adulthood. It has been shown that young adults who were bullied are likely to develop post-traumatic stress disorder later in life. Bullied victims on the other hand, are also likely to develop post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety, panic attacks, including other psychological disorders that can be triggered because of current stressors beings faced. On the other hand, children who bullied others are also likely to become a danger to themselves or others in the society and are likely to encounter psychological conditions such as adjustment disorder, anti-social personality, narcissistic personality disorders, anxiety, PTSD etc.”

Nigeria, she said  is doing well with regard to child discipline and actions; however, “we could accomplish more if governmental agencies involved in the protection of children’s rights cooperate with schools, parents and other organizations involved in the fight against bullying and create more awareness on the benefits of condemning such maladaptive behavior.”