The Nation Newspaper

Tag: endangered

  • Girl-child as endangered specie

    SIR: Few days ago at a crowded market in Damaturu, the capital city of Yobe State, North Eastern Nigeria, a 10- year- old girl blew up herself, killing over 15 people and injuring several others. This occurred on the heels of the bombing in Biu, Borno State which was also perpetrated by a woman.

    Wrought by discrimination and bias, the society, especially in the third world, has dealt the girl-child a rough blow even before birth.  In India, for instance, the country accounts for the termination of about 10 million female foetuses over the past 20 years while female infants are still found dumped in dump sites in large numbers. In Nigeria, the story is not different as women continue to endure all sorts of humiliations for giving birth to girls- the so-called weaker sex. It is the belief that female children drop the family names for their marital names, thereby terminating their ancestral lineage. In her journey through life, the girl- child undergoes a lot of harrowing experiences ranging from sexual harassment to early marriage and low level of schooling. Others include but not limited to exposure to violence, HIV infection, maternal death and vesico-vaginal fistula.

    It has been more than a year now that over 200 girls were abducted from their hostel at the Government Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State, an event that has remained indelible in the minds of parents and empathizers alike. The drama that unfolded after the dastardly act made Nigeria a laughing stock among comity of nations. Till date the girls are still in captivity save some of them that were bold enough to flee from their abductors.

    Although child marriage is against the law in many countries including Nigeria as international treaties forbid the practice, it is estimated that over 51 million girls are forced into early marriages yearly worldwide.  Quite often, in most African countries, parents of child brides are driven by factors such as pressure to conform to age old traditions like preservation of chastity and economic considerations to give out their young daughters in marriage. It is not uncommon also in poor developing countries, for poverty-stricken parents to settle debts by offering their underage girls as payments. And as a result of the age gap existing between the child brides and their spouses, they are often exposed to domestic violence and other forms of abuses.

    Invariably, these early marriages deny girls the opportunity for quality education in addition to depriving them of their childhood. Among the more than 100 million children not in school, approximately 40% are girls. In Nigeria, women and girls constitute 60% of the illiterate population. Also, most young wives are burdened by growing up responsibilities, household chores, rearing of children, and consequently do not get a chance to interact with their peers or carry on friendships outside the household. This put them in a state of complete dependency on their husbands.

    Equally, child brides often suffer from Vesico- vaginal fistula, a medical condition where there is an opening between the uterus and the bladder because the pelvic bones do not have sufficient time to develop before getting pregnant. This often leads to abandonment or divorce by their husbands and ostracization by their communities as urine continuously leak from their bladders, leading to offensive odour oozing out from the victims’ bodies.

    Female Genital Mutilation is another heinous infringement on the rights of the female gender. It is usually carried out on young girls between infancy and the age of 15, most commonly before puberty starts. The procedure is traditionally carried out by a woman with no medical training.

    Today, of all girls and women’s fears, that of being raped is the darkest.  At least one in three girls and women worldwide has been beaten or sexually abused in her lifetime. Sexual violence is the abuse of women’s or girls’ bodily integrity and this includes incest, indecent assault of young girls, rape, sexual harassment and child pornography. Incest which had hitherto been an abomination in the olden days Africa is now common as even fathers these days sexually abuse their young daughters.

    Therefore, it is essential that all hands be on deck to make sure that the girl child dwells in a world where, from childhood, adolescence to womanhood, she is educated, acquires essential life skills and employment thus fulfilling her leadership potential and becoming an asset and inspiration to her family, community and the world at large. Also, appropriate legislations on the protection of the girl child should be put in place and strictly adhered to and punitive measures taken against those found violating these laws. The time to act is now!

     

    • Bilkis Bakare

    Ministry of Information and Strategy, Alausa, Ikeja.

  • Retirees as endangered species

    SIR: I only heard about the miserable lives or avoidable deaths of many of retirees from government service until I had the first time experience of the last days of my uncle, Samuel Ademola Ojo. He worked as a teacher in many primary schools in Oyo and rose to become a headmaster before he retired in 2011. He was about 60 years old when he retired. By then, he had two children in the university, one in NCE and one in secondary school. He waited for his gratuity for almost five years to no avail. However, his pension was paid skeletally.

    Whenever I called him to enquire about his wellbeing, it was always lamentation about government’s inability to pay his gratuity. There is no doubt that somebody with no source of sustenance will be miserable, particularly when one could not provide for the needs of his family. I heard that he later developed hypertension and later a partial stroke. He died on Friday, May 17.

    He served his fatherland for a whooping 35years, but corrupt and inhuman system denied him the fruits of his labour! How many retirees have died unsung? With the miserable end of many of our retirees, how can we curb corruption amongst our civil servants? As a matter of fact, Nigeria is still fortunate to find people who still join her civil service; this is because no one will like to work for the nation when one considers the miserable condition and avoidable deaths of many senior but unfortunate citizens.

    I appeal to the governor of Oyo State, Senator Abiola Ajimobi to please find other means to ameliorate the effect of hard times on our retirees. He has made his marks in Oyo State; I think putting smile on the face of our retirees will enable them to enjoy their old ages and fruits of their labour. A situation where those who have access to the corridors of power find it easy to collect their gratuity while many in my uncle’s shoes, who have nobody, found it difficult to get theirs, years after retirement, is not only inhuman but a crime against humanity. A mechanism ought to be evolved which would make verification, accreditation and payment of gratuity and pension easier and less cumbersome. The agonies they are subjected to during accreditation often led to avoidable deaths. These are senior citizens who should be accorded respect due to their status, but unfortunately Nigeria is a country where Hobbesian state of nature is still in vogue.

     

    • Adewuyi Adegbite

    Apake, Ogbomoso.  

  • Ekiti: Our judiciary is endangered, says group

    Ahuman rights group, the Access to Justice (AJ) has said the recent closure of courts in Ekiti State amounted to one arm of government (executive) shutting down another (judiciary) and showed that the judiciary is under threat.

    It said the situation may have been seen as “fair politics to a lawless government”, but it was “crude politics” capable of wrecking incalculable damage to democracy.

    “By doing this in Ekiti, the Goodluck Jonathan administration has gradually ingratiated a virulent and pestilent form of executive lawlessness into our political and governance culture, the effect of which will endure for a long time to come,” the group’s statement signed by  Chinelo Chinweze, said.

    It continued: “The forced closure of courts by security forces under the control of the President is a blatant, troubling trampling on the judicial branch of government. Closing courts under any circumstances has huge and severe consequences for governance, and the rights and obligations of a lot of other people.

    “What has happened is that a branch of government effectively shut down the operations of another branch of government. One arm of government is now deciding when, and under what conditions another branch of government can operate.

    “This is an existential threat to the judicial function and is clearly a tyrannical use (or abuse) of state power. In capriciously blocking physical access to courts with force, the Jonathan government has corruptly conscripted state power for illicit ends and has done incalculable damage to the rule of law.

    “Blocking access to courts of law will gradually become an attractive option to governments who fear adverse decisions from courts, and the replication of this practice will practically render courts redundant and powerless to effectively adjudicate disputes or exercise judicial functions.”