The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Tradition

  • Seeking balance between modernity, tradition

    Death and the King’s Grey Hair by Denja Abdullahi seems misleading as it diverts all attentions from the king who appears to be the fog in the wheel of tradition. All preying eyes are deceitfully navigated to the words ‘death,’ and ‘grey hair’ so that the unending feelings to ferret out the concomitant intriguing twist that underlie the entire actions in the play become the cliff hanger that allows no alienation effect. As some critics will avow, cliff hanger is a potent element of magical realism or surrealism if you like. It operates alongside another seminal element of magical realism called myth. These artistic elements evident in the play, inform the playwright’s dramaturgy.

    The play which begins in the middle (in medias res) unfolds in a very serious way; readers are plunged deep into the major tension of the play. This tension as dialogued by the Seven Wisemen in the play, is a stinking complexity whose clenched fist ravages the entire people of Shakaga. With due recourse to Gustav Fretag’s dramatic pyramid of a plot structure in his Die Technik des Dramas (1863), it is pertinent to opine that the play starts in the climax of the event when the engulfing conflict is being raised, and with a sharp yet apt flashback recoils to the exposition. From this point, the conflict rises again and finally retires to the expected denouement.

    The entire play is predicated upon this statement: we do not gather to crack nuts like little children. But from time to time we gather to tie or untie the knots of tradition.

    This mind-boggling statement made by the 1st Wiseman captivated my mind and heaped several possible interpretations on it. First, I envisioned the words ‘tie,’ ‘untie’ being employed in the same context. Second, how the two words lend credence to the entire play. By ‘tie’ the characters intend to salvage and see to the continuum of their revered tradition. While ‘untie’ is used to connote the total mutation of the tradition, if it has become barbaric such that total adherence to it constitutes a bane to modernism as well as development. Merging both words, and or contextualizing them, we could note worthily adduce that the characters intend to salvage the tradition before revamping it. Therefore, ‘tie,’ and ‘untie’ as used above are paradigms or fulcrums of the play.

    In movement one, we are introduced to a flashback from Otolofon, the 5th Wiseman and ruffle of royal heads, which is actually the very point from which the play begins. He reminisces into how the injunction that was given to the king upon his ascension to the throne of Shakaga, as the playwright puts it:

    VOICE: The land of short reigns and young kings. The king must be young to rule the land with the blood of the young. The blood of the young shouts the blessings of the gods. Rule the land with your young blood and achieve. The old and the wise among you are there to guide the youn. Esutu, may you not live long when you become king for a very long life on the throne makes a king a tyrant. Or a king becomes an old senile man abandoning the land to conflicts and usurpers. Esutu  at the sprout of the first white hair on your head, seen by the ruffle of the royal heads, you must drink poison, die and be taken to the forest where you will join your ancestors as a lion. Esutu, pledge your acceptance of the laws

    Esutu: I pledge that i will obey the laws…(20)

    From the foregoing, we witness that the king Esutu was given a myriad of injunctions to which he agreed. But the overwhelming reverence and concatenation of riches associated with the throne bedraggled and beclouded his sense of reasoning. Thus, he appeared irrational in the eyes of the people of Shakaga. As custom demands, the king is supposed to take poison and depart to the afterlife where he will metamorphose into a lion, at the sproud of his first grey hair, but he negates this traditional sanctum. He has a friend, a prince who comes from a different kingdom whose tradition holds something entirely contrary to that of Shakaga. This friend of his provides him with hair dye that help keep his hair as dark as possible, so that he gets in the way of tradition and remains King. It is a truth universally acknowledged that no living human who has tasted poverty before becoming affluent will even by any stretch of imagination think of falling back to poverty again. Efua Sutherland’s Marriage of Anansewa is a clear testament. We see Ananse who has tasted poverty before struggling to remain rich by receiving a junk of gift from different suitors who came to ask her daughter’s hand in marriage

    Although the king had already acquiesced in the plethora of traditional mumbo-jumbo given him by the custodians of Shakaga’s tradition, and by virtue of this oath-taking, he was charged with the onus of maintaining the continuum of the tradition, and to sternly mete out the laws on defaulters, but his unchecked ego catapults him to a situation of total insubordination to the law. Another striking point about the book is that while portraying the apotheosis of the culture of Shakapa as bedecked with gargantuan customary legal underpinnings, the playwright engineers a Kaleidoscopic movement from the old order to modernity so that what obtains in the old order is disdained and seen as mythic. The question whose answer is to be puzzled out is what more could King Esutu has done when his confidant, the prince from another kingdom keeps referring to Shakaga’s tradition as being mundane and antiquated?

  • One Corner Dance- The darling of parties, events

    One Corner Dance- The darling of parties, events

    Dance forms a very important aspect of our identity as a people. It most times is at the epi-centre of our culture and tradition.

    We communicate and share our essence with global audiences when we dance, especially our traditional dances.

    Although, to be a good dancer you need a lot of practice and training and would be easier if the talent is inborn.

    However, when dance loses its rhythm and essence, it not only becomes a ‘demonstration of craze’, but reduces man to states of bestial tendencies; more or less like a macabre dance.

    Social media have been set ablaze with the trending song called ‘one corner dance’. This song by Patapaa Amisty, a Ghanian musician, requires some level of craziness to flow with it.

    The winning strategy for this song was the introduction of a dance competition online; this meant that the winner carts away with a huge sum of money.

    The dance competition made the song more popular (or should we say – notorious?), because both the old, young, celebrity and ordinary person danced enthusiastically and posts it on their various social media platforms.

    This song has spread like wildfire such that it has become the darling of wedding parties and youth events, not just in its place of origin (Ghana), but also in our beloved country – Nigeria.

    The question that readily comes to mind is – Is there a possessive spirit behind this song or is it an avenue for people to escape from the harsh economic and social realities that continues to stare them in the face like a one-eyed monster?

    Can we say that those who dance to this song in weird manners do so without any sense of reasoning? Please before you start to throw tantrums on the writer…HOLD UP!

    This should be an appropriate point for our regulatory bodies like the National Broadcasting Commission ( NBC ) to step up and take charge of the airwaves because apart from the fact that this ‘alien’ song has been surreptitiously introduced into our country, this song is gradually eating deep into the comportment and perceived sanity, especially among our youths and teenagers who have too much energy to burn.

    The One Corner song is powered by merriment dance, which is hilarious in its notion. It is a sexualized dance movement in the sense that you move your waist in a sexual form.

    Obviously, we (the youths) are already drowning in the ocean of ignorance and have thrown caution to the wind when it comes to ‘dancing.’

    Although culture (dance inclusive) can be a viable source of revenue for the country, however, it is also very expedient that we tell the narrative of our rich tradition in the right way.

    In Conclusion, Nigerians especially the youths should be more innovative and creative, and stop waiting for the chance to feed on another man’s creativity, especially when it is bereft of cultural ideals.

  • Ooni drums support for tradition, culture

    Ooni drums support for tradition, culture

    The Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi,Ojaja 11, has described the newly-appointed Cultural Ambassador of the National Museum, Ile-Ife, Oloye ‘Lekan Alabi, as a worthy promoter of Yoruba tradition and culture.

    Oba Ogunwusi gave the commendation on Sunday in his palace, while decorating Oloye Alabi with his insignia of office. He said he was not surprised by Alabi’s appointment because he (Oloye Alabi) had built a remarkable reputation over the years as a committed practitioner and promoter of culture, values and etiquette.

    The Ooni said for Alabi to have successfully and successively served four former governors of old Oyo State as Press Secretary (the late Chief ‘Bola Ife, retired Maj-Gen Oladayo Popoola, retired Brig-Gen Adetunji  Olurin and the late Brig-Gen Sasaenia Oresanya) from 1983 to 1989, speaks volume about Alabi’s professionalism, loyalty, integrity and popularity.

    Oba Ogunwusi added that Alabi’s appointment as Cultural Ambassador  did not come as a surprise to him and other paramount rulers in Yoruba land, if the  fact that Alabi is a trustee of the D.O. Fagunwa Foundation, Yusuf Olatunji Foundation, Duro Ladipo Foundation, Adekunle Fajuyi Foundation and Chairman, Adegoke Adelabu Foundation, among others, is taken into consideration.

    The Ooni, however, called on Nigerians not to abandon the promotion of their time-honoured traditions and cultures to enthusiasts such as Alabi, but to also join in the task of teaching and encouraging indigenous cultures such as mother-tongues, foods, music, dresses and others.

    In his acceptance speech, Alabi thanked the Ooni for accepting to host his investiture and presentation of the insignia of office.

    He promised not to relent in his long-time commitment to the promotion of Yoruba and other Nigerian traditions and cultures, buttressing the Ooni’s call for all to embrace our valued culture.

    Alabi’s investiture was attended by representatives of Governor Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State and Governor Rauf Aregbesola of the Osun State, Yoruba, Igbo, Hausa and Ebira traditional rulers, academicians and artistes, among others.

    They all endorsed Alabi’s appointment, describing him as lover of culture and bridge-builder.

     

  • TRADITION on trial

    TRADITION on trial

    Before now, women were widely believed to be portrayed as inferior to men. With the emergence of women’s liberation movements across the world, however, the situation began to change and the womenfolk started enjoying a measure of equality with their male counterparts. In communities in Imo State, however, the female gender is yet to be liberated from its second-class rating. INNOCENT DURU, who visited some of the communities in Oru West Local Government Area of the state, examines a weird tradition that prescribes severe punishment for women above their male counterparts in cases of incest and other offences.

    IN many parts of Oru West Local Government Area, Imo State, women appear to be living in the Stone Age, cut off completely from the feminist movements around the globe. In an age that women liberation movements are battling to liberate the women folk from the yoke of male domination and abuse, the female gender in communities like Mbgidi, Otulu and other parts of the local government are living with all manners of injustice that the male folk mete out to them in the guise of culture.

    Our correspondent, who visited some of the communities, gathered that from the Stone Age till date, women who are caught committing incest are banished, while their male counterparts are either fined or sent out of the community for a short period, after which they would return to enjoy their full rights as members.

    One of such instances of inequality occurred in Umuaru, Otulu in Oru Local Government Area last month when a young girl identified simply as Uchechi, who was suspected to have had illicit sexual relationship with a male relation named Ikechukwu, was banished and consequently stripped of her rights to free movement and association with her kith and kin. Her banishment was reportedly pronounced after she and the man involved in the amorous affair were publicly paraded and humiliated.

    One of the community’s leaders, Uche Nwaokoro, said the affected lady is a teenager, while the errant man is married with children but his family members live outside the state.

    Nwaokoro said: “Incest is a taboo in our community and Igboland in general. This fact is not hidden from anyone, young or old. Everybody knows that the implications are very grave, especially for females. The girl and the man you are talking about defied the laws of the community and paid dearly for it.

    “Unfortunately, it is the female who would suffer grievously because she has been banished forever from the community and nobody will have anything to do with her again. The unfortunate thing is that the tradition does not care if she was deceived into the unholy relationship or whether she went into it voluntarily.

    “The man was also penalised because he was also sent out of the community. But he will have the opportunity of returning to the community after some time.”

    Asked why such harsh treatment is meted out to women, Nwaokoro said: “I can’t really say why women are at the receiving end of the tradition. All I can say is that it was passed down to us like that by our forefathers. We are strictly following what we inherited from our forefathers. And as far as we are concerned, civilisation and modernisation cannot change the tradition, because it could be calamitous to do anything contrary to what tradition prescribes.”

    Another member of the community, who gave his name simply as Eke, gave a clue to why women are sanctioned more heavily than men in such cases.

    While admitting that the practice amounts to injustice for the female gender, Eke said: “The reason why women are permanently ostracised and men are allowed to return to the community later is that when you ostracise men, you are depleting the community. When you send a woman away, it is believed to have lesser consequence on the community because the woman will get married at a point in life and leave the community. If the woman is already married, she faces the same treatment.

    “Our tradition places a premium on males. You know that men were required to fight wars and defend the communities against external aggression in the past, while the women only took care of the home front. I feel that the perceived crucial role played by men in the primitive society engendered this practice. This is why the men have always been treated with kid gloves and the women are harshly treated.

    “We know that there is an element of injustice in this kind of treatment but there is nothing we can do about it, because that is the tradition.”

     

    How sanctions are imposed

    Describing the processes involved in the ritual, Eke said: “They are onerous. Some of the items required for cleansing are antiquity items that are extremely difficult to come by in modern times. The whole thing is handled by the custodians of tradition.

    “On the very day they are banished, the man and the woman would not wear decent clothes. Their faces are painted with white chalk and they are paraded round the community, followed by a large crowd of singing people. The custodians of culture will drag a lamb on the ground as they parade the culprits. The body of the lamb is peeling off as they drag it around on bare ground. The ritual is not deemed complete until the lamb dies. That also was what happened in the recent case.”

    He added: “The offenders are led in that manner until they get to the community’s boundary with Mgbidi. No member of our community is allowed to give them the clothes they could wear after the ritual.

    “To avoid walking about in such a ridiculous manner, the offenders would have made arrangements with members of other communities who will help them to carry their bags to where they could change after bathing in a bush.

    “After the exercise, nobody, including the immediate family members, is expected to associate with them, not to talk of eating with them within and outside the community. The belief is that anyone who does so would die.”

    Relations speak

    Lamenting the practice, a relation of the recently banished female offender, who gave her name simply as Ada, said: “Her mother cried all through the ritual. It was an unfortunate development but there was nothing we could do about it. The tradition and culture of the land is supreme as far as the community is concerned.

    “What annoys me so much is that the guy in question is married. He will obviously return to his family and continue to enjoy himself. And when the period of his banishment is over, he will return to the community and continue to enjoy every benefit that every other person enjoys. But that is not the case for our sister again.”

    The male victim’s brother, who gave his name as Uka, also lamented the incident saying, “The exercise was not a good sight to behold. Just imagine seeing your brother brought out half naked before a multitude and publicly humiliated and paraded around several communities, would you feel healthy that day and thereafter?”

    After the banishment, Uka said: “We had to carry out some cleansing in our family so that we could at least talk with our brother when we see him anywhere. We may not be able to eat together, but we would at least be able to stand at the roadside and talk. If we had not done the cleansing, something terrible could happen to anybody in the family.”

    To make sure the shame and stigma are limited to the community, Uka said: “We made sure that nobody took the pictures of the offenders while they were paraded. If we had allowed the pictures to be taken, it would have dealt more devastating blows to the images of the victims and the families by extension, because people would post them online and that would eternally tarnish the images of the offenders and their families.

    “But with the way it was done, the impact will be limited to the community. That level of damage is manageable compared to a situation where the whole world could identify our brother and the girl because they had seen their pictures while they were being publicly humiliated.”

    Before the recent development in Umuaru, several other cases of banishment were said to have been recorded in other parts of the local government.

    “This is not the first time that people are banished. There have been so many others. There was a case where the girl was already pregnant but the parents had to abort the pregnancy to prevent the family from having a child born out of forbidden sexual relationship.

    “While most of the men have long returned to their various families, the females dare not return. Even if some of them are offered money to come back home, they will never accept because of the stigma,” said Eke.

    Emeka Nze, a native of Mgbidi, said apart from incest, a woman also risks banishment in the area if she throws sand at her husband while they are fighting.

    Nze said: “Our culture places a huge burden on women. When a man and a woman quarrel, it is forbidden that the woman throws sand at the man even if the man beats her to a pulp and throwing sand at him remains her only means of fighting back. Even if it is the man that offends a woman and she angrily pours sand on him, she would be banished.

    “There was a man in one of our communities who had issues with his wife over food. While he was beating the woman, she parked some sand and poured it on him. That marked the end of her stay in that community. She had to do a lot of things to appease the land.

    “If your wife pours sand on you and you keep quiet, a grave danger lies ahead. In this part of the world, we adhere strictly to the traditions we inherited. I am not sure there is any penalty for men when they throw sand at women. But if a woman does so, she will pay dearly for it.”

    The injustice meted out to the female gender does not end there. According to Nze, “we also have a culture that banishes maidens when they get pregnant before performing certain rites. This has nothing to do with incest. It is just about a maiden getting pregnant before performing the rites called Ike-Ezi.

    “Many people wonder why the men who impregnate the girls are not equally penalised and that the men could be encouraged to impregnate more young girls since there is not enough penalty to deter them from perpetrating such acts. Unfortunately, the tradition does not concern itself with the men. Nothing has been done and it appears nothing can ever be done to reverse the tradition.”

     

    Protests over practice

    In some of the communities, the penalty for women who commit incest is said to have been changed from perpetual banishment to one that only lasts for a number of years.

    A respondent said: “Total banishment of women is not practised in some places. That was the practice everywhere in the past, but it has been modified in some communities in recent times because it is believed that perpetual banishment is no longer fashionable.

    “When a woman commits incest now, she will be banished for a number of years, but the man may be given fewer years of banishment. If a woman is banished for six years, the man may be banished for three years, after which they would be allowed to return to the community.”

    But some members of the communities who spoke with The Nation said they were not pleased with any form of banishment. They described the practice as barbaric and of no value to development.

    A trader who gave his name as Ekele Ofor, said: “We have to put an end to this practice that sees the female gender as inferior to the male gender. I am a male but I will never support a tradition or culture that promotes inequality. How can we continue to keep quiet when our sisters and daughters are remorselessly banished and the men who commit the act with them are given a slap on the wrist?

    “Experience has shown that such men don’t change after returning to the community. Instead of repenting and leading a good life, some of them even get worse in their sins of messing up innocent children.

    “Some of the men that are involved in the banishment rituals are not morally better. Some are chronic adulterers who would never allow other men’s wives to rest.

    “It is imperative that the government looks into this anomaly and stop the practice, because there is no justification for punishing women more than men when they have committed the same offence.”

    A clergyman, Ifeayin Nwachukwu, regretted that “much as efforts are being made to put an end to osu (caste system) in Igboland, some traditional practices are still encouraging it.

    He said: “When a woman is banished and prevented from having anything to do with her people, what do you call that? Has she not consequently become an outcast?

    “Whether we like it or not, the challenge of having people often referred to as osu in Igboland will persist. If public humiliation and banishment of offenders were panaceas to the problem, would people still be involved in incest?”

    Another respondent, Esther Nwaka, said it is injustice to mete out such punishment to women.

    Her words: “It is barbaric to hear or see people banished in the present age and time. I am not trying to support sexual perversion, but the truth is that we have the modern means of resolving such issues instead of the crude styles we apply here.

    “As a woman, I get more worried that it is females like myself that are often given bigger punishment. Even if they want to banish people, why can’t the two offenders be given equal punishment?

    “What is more annoying is that it is the men that are spared by the tradition that lure the females into such indecent sexual relationship.”

     

    Anxious parents, guardians

    The fear of banishment appears to have become the beginning of wisdom for many people in the area as parents have made it a point of duty to warn their children and relations against having any sexual relationship with blood relations.

    Oluchi, a young man who visited his village, recalled how he was embarrassed by his parents’ admonition against having anything to do with blood relations.

    He said: “I was thoroughly embarrassed by my parents’ caution against wooing blood relations. Each time I am going out, they will tell me to be careful not to have anything to do with anybody that is related with us.

    “If they see me with a lady, they will quickly come to remind me that she is a family member. They will spend time explaining how and where we are related. It was quite okay at the beginning. But as time went on, it became an embarrassment because the feeling I have is that they believe I am promiscuous.”

    A worried mother, who identified herself simply as Abigail, said: “Incest is totally forbidden in our culture. It brings a lot of evil to the land and the people in general. For me, I am always monitoring my children to be sure that they are not dating their blood relations. The moment I see my children with a relation, I am always quick to let them know that it is forbidden for them to have sexual relationship.

    “The children of today don’t know the implications, and if you don’t keep checking on them, they will one day bring untold shame to you,” she said.

     

    Gender activists, lawyers speak

    The Executive Director of Initiative for Sustaining Family Unity, Kate Ibeanusi, said the practice amounts to injustice for women.

    Her words: “It shows how partiality has dug into our society. Whenever a crime is committed in a community, the woman is not just the victim, she is also seen as the offender, and the treatment that is meted out to her is worse than that of the man who committed the offence with her. It is repulsive.

    “If an offence is committed all the parties involved are equally punished, there would be no human rights issue. But where the male gender gets a lighter punishment for the same crime, the whole issue about patriarchy, inequality will continue to arise.

    “I think the Igbo culture has a way of institutionalising this kind of inequality. Unfortunately, they put women as gatekeepers to make sure that this inequality is continuously perpetrated. The practice amounts to injustice if we are to use the modern day parlance. But deeply, it is inequality grounded in patriarchy.”

    Examining the psychological effect of the practice on a female victim and her family, Ibeanusi said:  “The practice disempowers the woman and makes it impossible for her to raise her head to speak in that society. Because anytime she speaks, that card is played back and she is reminded of her moral lapses and that becomes a burden she bears for the rest of her life.  Psychologically, she is broken, battered and highly disempowered.

    “In traditional Igbo society, we value the acceptance of our larger society. So, when a member of the family commits or is seen to have committed an offence in the community and a punishment is meted out to that person, it is not just the individual that bears the brunt, the family also bears it. They bear the shame and want to hide to avoid bearing the tag of being associated with the crime. It also disintegrates the fabrics that hold our society together.”

    She pointed out that such development fuels suicide and mental health problems among women. “Sure, it does lead to suicide cases. This has happened in the past and it is still happening, especially to women.  A lot of women have taken their own lives simply because they feel they could no longer bear the shame of an offence they committed.

    “The woman knows that she may not be able to get married if she returns to the community. And if she was married before the incident, she loses her marriage and her children are taken away from her. Without access to social network, economic power, she feels she has lost everything, and the next thing is to take her own life.”

    The Executive Director of Child’s Health Organisation, Victoria Urenma, described the practice as gender discrimination, saying that women movement groups in the area should stand up against it.

    She said: “Sometimes, it is out of ignorance that these people do these things. Such a woman would never return to the community even if she is asked to. She would move to another place after the banishment because she will never be the same again. She will be like a broken clay pot because her womanhood has been robbed off her.

    “Unfortunately, it is fellow women that are used to carry out this practice against their fellow women. In 2002, we were in Owerri to greet a colleague who had lost her husband. Her people said she must sit on the floor and even brought food for her in one funny plate. But we refused all that because she is a human being and must be treated as one.

    “We tried talking to them, but when they refused, we threw the food away and got her something else to eat. When they saw that we were adamant, they soft-pedalled.”

    In spite of the Violence Against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) Law, 2015, one wonders why the communities still resort to using traditional means to handle such issues.

    Bemoaning the culture of neglecting legal means in resolving issues, a human rights activist and lawyer, Barr Ben Odeh, said: “It shows that our judicial system takes a long time for a criminal matter to be resolved. That primarily has to do more with the confidence that our people have in our judicial system.

    “Another reason is ignorance. A lot of people do not even know that these laws are there. Most times, when laws are passed by the state and national assemblies, the government hardly sensitises people on those laws. A lot of people do not even know.

    “If you look at our legislation, there are a lot of laws that are existing but they are not being applied by the relevant government agencies.

    “If you accuse my brother of stealing and jungle justice is applied, I will report. It doesn’t matter that my brother committed the crime. The law did not say that anybody should take the laws into his or her hand. If you accuse somebody of committing an offence, the person should be reported to the appropriate places for investigation and subsequent prosecution in court.

    “A community does not have the power to banish anybody. If they feel that anybody has committed an offence, it behoves them to report the case either to the police or the relevant agency that is in charge of such issue. For them to do that is jungle justice. It amounts to taking the law into their own hands, which is completely anti-civilisation.”

    Odeh’s view was shared by a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Chief Ladi Williams, who strongly condemned the practice of banishing people.

    He said: “Freedom of movement in any part of the country is a constitutional right which cannot be abrogated. The community has no right to do that.

    “Any customary law that says that they have such powers, to the extent that it is inconsistent with the constitution, it is null and void. If a customary court supports that, then it is nonsense.

    “The affected persons should proceed to the Magistrate’s Court. Such a case can even go up to the Supreme Court. The banished persons can sue for the enforcement of their human rights and also claim damages for preventing them from going to their primary abodes.”

  • Man defies tradition, sits on Tor Tiv’s seat ahead of coronation

    A man, Stephen Nyitse on Saturday at the JS Stadium Gboko outsmarted security men and sat on the stool prepared for the coronation of the 5th Tor Tiv, Prof. James Ayatse.
    Speaking to security personnel under interrogation, Nyitse said he was prompted by God to cleanse the stool for the new king.
    ” I sat on the stool in order to cleanse it and make it comfortable for the incoming Tor Tiv.”
    Retired Brig.-Gen. Atom Kpera, the Chairman, Central Planning Committee for the coronation, who was present at the scene, ordered security men to take him outside and punish him.
    Officials, however, said they would investigate the motive behind the act.
    Some respondents who spoke to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) described the act as “strange and abominable.”
    Meanwhile security measures had been tightened both within and outside the stadium with roads leading to the stadium blocked, while dignitaries are being conveyed to the venue in buses.(NAN)

  • Child safety: Policy against Tradition

    Child safety: Policy against Tradition

    Like many Nigerians, I believe our challenge as a nation is not the lack of requisite laws, regulations or policies. But most of these laws fail at the point of implementation.  One of the reasons I believe this happens is the poor knowledge of the law by the implementing arm of government.

    Have you ever wondered why the national assembly would refuse to openly disclose its spending? Sounds like a complex irony. It was the same national assembly that passed the freedom of information bill, yet they would not comply with the provision of a law they enacted. My focus is not the national assembly; I only wanted to buttress the fact that as a nation we are weak implementers of law.

    The case in point is the child rights Acts.  If you test this Act for instance with the Nigerian Police who are supposed to enforce the law, you will meet a brick wall.  The average police desk officer sometimes ignorantly argues against the law. Again my focus is not the Police; my opinion is that the government must enforce a minimum degree qualification for entry into the police, because you cannot enforce a law you do not have the intellectual capacity to comprehend.

    Now let’s hit home with the point.  I was elated when the Ministry of Women affairs recently announced its readiness to work with development agencies to end child marriage. I felt happy as one who works with children across the country to empower themselves against sexual abuses, but sniffing through all the challenges that may confront that decision, I began to wonder how the ministry will confront and challenge all intractable traditions and cultural systems that may challenge that decision.

    Child marriage is a very disturbing trend.  It happens around us, we see it almost everywhere, it even resides in the national assembly.  One lawmaker married a 13 year old Egyptian girl.  When asked, he points to the privilege of his religion.  So child marriage is real with us, it lives with us and so the ministry would have to do more than rhetoric to end it.

    This is the 13th year of the enforcement of the Child Right Acts; there has really not been an enforcement of the law. Only 23 states have domesticated the law, none have tested the law, no arrest have been made, although there are glaring evidence of defaulters.

    Section 21 defines a child as a person below the age of 18 and frowns at early marriage. This Acts goes further to provide for punishment in section 24 of the Act for violators of section 22 and 23.  These questions the potency of our laws. Are laws just made and not implemented?, what is the use of the law anyway when it cannot be enforced? This where the ministry of women affairs must first address in the case of the child rights Acts.

    The Acts provides too that there should be institutions created for children living in difficult conditions.  I have not seen one institution addressing the needs of children living under difficult conditions. A few weeks ago, a United Nations agency raised a disturbing alarm over the devastation malnutrition is causing in the North-East, according to the report more than 270, 000 children could die of malnutrition.

    Where the child rights Acts is enforced, there will be response from institutions created to address difficult conditions of children as provided by the acts itself, but this was not addressed at the level of enforcing the content of the child rights Acts. It’s up to you to judge if our laws are truly potent.

    If the ministry pushes for the implementation of the full content of the child rights act, it must be ready to whip traditions aside.  I do not know what strategies or actions the ministry of women affairs would implore, but am glad anyway for the courage to dive into the trouble water. I think there should be some seminar of sort to discuss how tradition affects temporary legislation and find a common ground. There are still a lot of traditions and culture that cuts at variance with existing laws. These traditions sometimes even affects health and well being.

    For instance, female genital mutilation and the obstetric fistula, a condition caused by early marriage, these are traditions that society must review against its attendant damage to the health of children. Traditions like laws cannot be dogmatic; they have to be reviewed under prevailing advancement in knowledge.

    As much as it is laudable for the ministry of women affairs to want to end child’s marriage, we must view this action beyond trying to score political points; it must thoroughly engage the traditional institutions in a bid to reviewing traditional or cultural knots that will make a rubbish of the lofty goal to end child marriage.

    I think the minister should review her strategies.  It is my opinion that she should call for a high stakeholders delegate to first discuss a plan of action for complete compliance of the child rights acts.  At full compliance with the act, there will be no need to end child marriage, the act already took care of that in details.

    Njideka Obi, lawyer and a child safety advocate.

    1. safersmarterchildren@gmail.com
  • Imo tackles old tradition

    Imo tackles old tradition

    Ancient and discredited but still widely practised in Imo State, Female Genital Mutilation has an influential opponent, reports OKODILI NDIDI

    It was once thought normal and commonly practised. The girl-child, sometimes as young as one month, had parts of her genitalia cut off, with the active participation of her parents. Newly-married women who escaped the ritual in their early years, were made to go through it usually before they had their first babies.

    In those days it was called circumcision, a procedure believed, among other things, to curb sexual waywardness.

    Nowadays that practice is called female genital mutilation or FGM. Its new name suggests some crudity in method and even violence on the subject.

    It is also believed to be unhealthy, causing infection, lifelong trauma, retardation in sexual functions and even death, in some cases.

    Old and largely discredited as the tradition may be, it  remains rife across the states of the federation. with Imo reputedly posting the highest rate of prevalence, 68%.

    Why this is so, considering that the state is also said to be quite enlightened and educationally advanced, is difficult to understand. One thing that is sure, though, is that someone is leading the fight against the age-old ritual. That someone is Mrs  Nneoma Okorocha, wife of the state governor.

    The practice is predominant in four local government areas of Ohaji-Egbema, Ngor-Okpala, Ikeduru and Oguta.

    But respite has come. Mrs Okorocha in collaboration with the United Nations Population Fund Agency (UNFPA) has launched an intensive campaign against FGM and other practices that are inimical to the wellbeing of the girl-child.

    The governor’s wife who anchored the campaign under the auspices of her pet project, the Women of Divine Destiny Initiative (WODDI), noted that she keyed into the passion of the wife of the President, Aisha Muhamadu Buhari to end the barbaric practice that has resulted in the avoidable deaths of women and children, especially in the rural areas.

    The governor’s wife who decried the prevalence rate of the practice in Imo State, during launch of the anti-FGM/C campaign at the Imo International Convention Centre in Owerri, called for a collaborative efforts to end the scourge.

    She observed that the practice does not only violate the rights of the girl child but makes it difficult for her to live up to her responsibilities as a wife, as well as endangers her life.

    Mrs. Okorocha lamented that despite global condemnation of the practice, Imo State is still leading in the barbaric act, adding that the campaign will be taken to all the nooks and crannies of the state to create awareness on the dangers inherent in female circumcision.

    She hinted further that part of the measures she has adopted to eliminate the menace in the state, is to criminalize the practice through an Executive bill she has presented to the State House of Assembly.

    According to her, “Female Genital Mutilation is a form of violence against women which is perpetuated by unfounded myth and baseless traditions. It is a practice that is very rampant in our region and unfortunately Imo State was found to have one of the prevalence rate of 68 percent.

    “In Imo State, intervention by UNFPA through the Ministry of Health, Women Affairs and Social Development has focused on four Local Government Areas of Ikeduru, Ohaji/Egbema, Ngor-Okpala and Oguta.

    “In spite of this intervention, it is noted that this practice is undertaken in our communities throughout the state and has been continuing unabated, parents especially mothers have been secretly indulging in the act, leaving the victims in perpetual agony and regrets.

    “This can no longer be allowed to go on. It has therefore become imperative to end this harmful traditional practice.”

    The state Attorney General, Barrister Miletus Nlemedum, while commending the governor’s wife for the initiative, assured that the judiciary will take the matter seriously.

    He promised to assist make the war against FGM a success in the state.

    Similarly, the State Chairman of the Council of Traditional Rulers,Eze Sam Ohiri represented at the occasion by Eze G.N Ejiogu, assured of the support of traditional institution in eradicating the practice in the State.

    He said, “henceforth, we are going to keep watch on the women to find out those who are still engaged in the practice. it may not be an easy task but we are going to do everything possible to check the practice in our domain. it is not part of our culture and we will no longer allow it”

    Giving bite to the campaign, the state governor Rochas Okorocha, warned women who still engage in the practice to desist from doing so or risk imprisonment.

    The Imo governor disclosed that as soon as the bill against Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is passed into law by the State House of Assembly,the punishment for offenders will be several years of imprisonment as will be specified by the establishing law.

    He described the practice as barbaric and unacceptable.

    According to him, “barbaric cultures which are not beneficial to the people should be abolished”.

    He urged the State Assembly to expedite action on the passage of the bill into law, to enable a permanent solution to the problem.

    In her speech, the country representative of UNFPA, Mrs Beatrice Mukta, commended the wife of the Governor for her relentless fight against FGM.

    She noted that the battle against the practice will not be an easy one and therefore appealed to traditional institutions as well as women in the state to support the move by the Governor’s wife.

    Meanwhile at the launch of the campaign, which was preceded by a road-walk, the participants were moved to tears as they watched the emotional clips of the horrible practice.

  • Talking about tradition and talent

    Book Title: Visions and Recollections
    Author: Abdul R. Yesufu
    Publisher: Deaconry Press Limited
    Year of Publication: 2016
    No of Pages: 95
    Reviewer: Sunday Osinloye

    After over a three-decade experience in the vocation of researching, writing and teaching literary writing in English Language (in Africa and the United States), Abdul R. Yesufu has graciously published his long overdue volume of poetry.

    Before identifying the cosmopolitan motifs in the text, I wish to appropriate the title of T.S. Eliot’s essay, Tradition and the Individual Talent (1916) to briefly review the form and order of Visions and Recollections (2016). In his essay, Eliot opines that: “No poet, no artist of any art has his complete meaning alone. His significance, his appreciation is the appreciation of his relation to the dead poets and artists… I mean this is a principle of aesthetics… Poetry is not a turning loose of emotion, but an escape from emotion.”

    This position is reinforced by the author’s commentary on the form and meaning of the collection. In the preface, Yesufu excuses the widely held notion of the “academic and highly allusive tenor of the pieces” in the light of his exposure to “an extensive diet of poetry of all kinds and qualities – from the oral of several climes and ages to the highly symbolic variety of the High Modernist Mode of the Western tradition, and several other types in-between” (X). The poet also says: “the poems are steeped in the socio-political realities and encompassing Weltanschauugen of the environment they attempt to recreate” (X).

    In view of this background, Visions and Recollections appeals to the reader as a work of art inspired or envisioned by poetic impulses of a highly talented artistic word-smith. At another level, it is a composition from the various deposits of literary conventions of the verse mode.One striking aesthetic appeal of the poems is the heightened, almost spontaneous, expression of the language. For example, the first poem “The Year’s End”, which foreshadows the writer’s Visions and Recollections, showcases condensed poetic craftsmanship.

    Another attribute of the verses in the collection is their inter-textual appeal. This comes out very strong in “The Weaverbird (A Tribute to Okot, after Laban Erapu)”, “Who Made the Hills of Roma (After William Blake)”, “The Illusion of Renown (After James Shirley)”, “Viande – Ronge et Blanche (After T.S.E)”. “The Machine of Islando (After J.P. Clark)” and several others. For instance, in “The Weaverbird”, the poet quizzes: Did you say that the bird is gone/Weaver of songs and mirth/Never to be seen or heard again?/That it has taken wing on the wind/And flown into the ‘unreturnable’ distance?/But distance is not absence/Except measured by span and sight…/unflagging in their voluble disputations/Lawino, Ocol, Prisoner, Malaya/Proxy voices of eternity now/Speak to us in their master’s voice (8).

    Moreover, Visions and Recollections is also remarkable for its eclectic Romantic ethos. This is well signified in poems such as “The Full Moon”, “Circles of the Seasons (Nigeria)”, “An Afternoon Rainstorm (After Rubadiri)”, “The August Break”, “The Hills of Roma” and “En Route Main South I at Night”. In these poems, natural phenomena are invested with various shades of philosophical worldview. We also note that the volume is spiced with Haiku poetic modes. This perhaps demonstrates the artist’s affinity with the Japanese literary convention.

    Above all, Abdul R. Yesufu may have been a Nigerian-born, African-bred scholar and writer, yet his vision in this collection is clearly cosmopolitan. The poetic personae wears the mask of cosmopolitan narrator, observer and societal gadfly. And like the Mask’s camouflage of the ancient city of Benin “…confluence if ancient and modern/where the musty and the glossy/like two master wrestlers/Are locked in a perennial duel…”, Yesufu’s lyricism is Romantic, yet elegiac about Man’s rites of passage and seasons of life. His use of language, like “The Full Moon”, is ripe and well-rounded by “Fecund Time/Like a plump pumpkin.”

  • Enduring relevance of tradition

    Enduring relevance of tradition

    My recent column calling for a truce in the altercation between the Alake of Egbaland, Oba Adedotun Aremu Gbadebo and the Awujale of Ijebuland, Oba SikiruAdetona as regards the ranking of Yoruba Obas received mixed reactions. A respected, cerebral and highly principled trade unionist argued that my piece should have been more aptly titled ‘Needless institution’ rather than ‘Needless controversy’. He pointed out that the traditional institutions not only collaborated with our colonial conquerors but still constitute veritable parasites on society today. A highly respected elder statesman cautioned me against ‘intellectualizing’ an outmoded and irrelevant institution at a time when most parts of the world have moved from monarchical rule to democratic forms of governance.

    I too strongly held to this perception of traditional institutions many years ago. It is a position that in my view can no longer be credibly sustained. Did traditional rulers in pre-colonial Nigeria readily collude with the colonial intruders? The evidence does not support that position. As Dr Patrick Heinecke, formerly of the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) notes of the North, for instance, “Transition to colonial rule was a prolonged and bloody struggle which lasted in some areas until the mid-1920s. The Hausa-Fulani violently resisted invasion by the British, and several Emirs were killed or exiled before their emirates were finally forced into submission”.  We are aware of the complete and ruthless razing of the capital of the almost 500-year old Benin Kingdom in 1887 and the banishing of the reigning Oba Ewuare into exile. The same fate of forced exile befell Oba Kosoko of Lagos. The situation was similar across pre-colonial Nigeria. The colonial conquest was thus more a function of a confrontation with a superior technological military civilisation rather than the complicity of traditional rulers.

    And those countries that transited either through evolution or revolution from absolute monarchies to democracies at least did so organically within the context of the internal dynamics of their respective societies. In Africa, the modern Nation-State is an alien imposition. That is why the late historian, Basil Davidson, described the Nation-State as a curse and ‘the black man’s burden’.

    In recent times we have had the installation of new monarchs in various parts of the country including Ile-Ife, Ibadan, Warri, Iwo, Kano and Borgu to name a few. The contestation for the positions among qualified ruling houses has often been fierce and intense but once a choice is made by the king makers, the community rallies behind him. Of course, modern political science teaches us that the legitimacy and authority of government is a function largely of regular, free and fair elections. But the reality is that most monarchs across the country enjoy greater legitimacy, commitment and loyalty from their people than their elected officials. And despite the undeniable greed and grovelling of many traditional rulers, there are those like the Awujale of Ijebuland, the late Olubadan, Oba Samuel OdulanaOdugade, the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba LamidiAdeyemi, the Oba of Benin, Omon’Oba n ‘Edo Uku Akpolokpolo Erediauwa and the Alake of Egbaland to name a few who have maintained the dignity and integrity of their offices. Equally noteworthy is the fact that no matter the partisan political leaning of a reigning monarch, he enjoys the respect and loyalty of his people across party lines.

    It would amount to intellectual dishonesty not to recognize and admit the sheer resilience, durability and continuing influence of the country’s traditional authority institutions. As I said in my previous column, our forefathers must be credited for devising creative systems of governance to cope with the challenges of their peculiar political environments in the pre-colonial era. The tragedy is that the colonial intrusion interfered disastrously with the natural evolution of the pre-colonial traditional institutions into the modern era and replaced them with a strange post-colonial Nation-State contraption that remains a major obstacle on the path of Africa’s progress. Unfortunately, most of us behave as if there is no redeeming feature whatever in our political past that can add value to our current political development preferring to seek our political salvation solely in foreign models.

    Even the highly enlightened and accomplished Chief ObafemiAwolowo wrote in 1947 that “only an insignificant minority of Nigerians have any political awareness”. Basil Davidson described this as an astonishing statement “given Yoruba political history over the previous several centuries”. In the 1969/70 session, Professor James O’Connell, Head of Department of Government and Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at ABU delivered a public lecture in which he defined government as a small group of people who coordinate the affairs of the larger community with its members “usually divided into three branches: those who make rules (the legislature), adjudicate rules (judiciary) and implement rules (the executive)”.

    In a trenchant review of the lecture, the late Dr BalaUsman described this definition as “insulting in its colossal arrogance”. According to him, “The division of government into legislature, judiciary and executive evolved in some states in the northern part of Western Europe from the 17th and 18th centuries. It cannot by any stretch of imagination be described as ‘usual’ for the overwhelming majority of the world’s political systems…The governments of Bornu, Benin, the Bachama or any other Nigerian peoples one cares to name, have never been divided in this way either in theory or in practice”. Whether one agrees with Dr Usman or not, the valid point he is making is that our theory and practice of politics and governance must be informed not just by received doctrines but also our own historical experience.

    This is why it is commendable that in their 2005 edited book, ‘Beyond The State: Nigeria’s Search For Positive Leadership’, Professors Adebayo Olukoshi, Adigun Agbaje, Hussainah Abdullah and Cyril Obi, devote the first part to locating the country’s leadership challenges in historical perspective. The chapters in this section critically examine traditional leadership in the Sokoto caliphate as well as among the Idoma, Igbo and Yoruba in pre-colonial Nigeria. Contending that it has not always been the case that good leadership has eluded the country, the authors submit that “going by the rich pre-colonial experience of the various communities in Nigeria, there is every reason to find some encouragement in history and in contemporary reality for the identification and nurturing of a culture of positive leadership and the institutionalisation of such a cadre in the country”.

    In a seminal essay in which he examines what he calls the co-existence of ‘dual authorities’ – republican and traditional – in African states, Professor Richard Sklar makes the same point: “The African national governments are fragile, and there is great need for authority based on consent of the governed. In this circumstance, a separate source of authority, embedded in tradition, could powerfully reinforce social discipline without abandonment of democratic forms of government. The rejuvenation of traditional authority would not, then, imply a resurgence of either “feudalism” or political oligarchy”. The simple point is that we can tap into the strong legitimacy, loyalty and commitment that the traditional institution enjoys among millions of our people to reinforce democracy and good governance.This would, however, be a function of ensuring that only men of the highest character and integrity ascend to these traditional positions.

    Development lessons from Cuba

    The restoration of diplomatic ties with Cuba by the almighty United States under the Obama presidency represents a major triumph for the tiny Island. For over five decades, America had not only imposed an economic blockade on Cuba but several American Presidents had even tried to eliminate the iconic Fidel Castro. Cuba boasts no great wealth or mineral resources. She is not your model of global prosperity. Yet, she has achieved near 100% literacy for decades and its health statistics continue to marvel more developed countries. According to an analyst, “In Cuba, the extremes of opulence and misery are banished in favour of a generalized level of wealth, best described as “enough to get by”.  Cuba has offered more than 460 doctors and nurses to help combat Ebola in West Africa and more than 50,000 Cuban health workers are working in 66 countries around the world. Former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide of Haiti obviously had Cuba in mind when he said his country was not seeking grandeur but the more limited ambition of moving out of poverty with dignity. I have never really understood why Nigeria aims to be among the top 20 largest economies by 2020. Will that necessarily reduce poverty and inequality or promote general wellbeing of the vast majority? I think we have a lot of developmental lessons to learn from Cuba.

  • Ebonyi community revives dying tradition

    Ebonyi community revives dying tradition

    The Ezza Community in Ebonyi State has revived a circumcision custom through which men and women were welcomed into adulthood. It was last celebrated 20 years ago. JOSEPH JIBUEZE reports.

    In the yesteryear, adult circumcision was a practice every household in Ezza Community of Ebonyi State was proud to participate in. It was somewhat a status symbol for whoever had gone through the initiation rites. It also makes he that had been initiated be regarded as a fulfilled man. Contrarily, those unable to perform the rite were seen as efulefu (good-for-nothing or layabout). That was when men were said to be men.

    Every family endeavours to ensure that every of its male child underwent the initiation.

    Unfortunately, this tradition was abandoned owing to misconceptions that it is not in conformity with Christianity and modernism as the last ceremony took place 20 years ago.

    However, 20 years after the last adult was “circumcised”, the Ishinkwo Community in Ebonyi State has revived the dying custom.

    It held the traditional circumcision for its men (ibiugwu in Ezza dialect), which is a ceremony marking the transition of the persons observing it from youth to adulthood.

    It is the beginning of independence from parental restrictions and accommodation, and indicates that a man is ripe to live in his own home, take a wife or wives and have a family.

    In traditional Ezza society, boys and girls of marriage age were not permitted to marry until they had gone through the ceremony.

    It used to be a thing of pride for one to go through the initiation when one’s parents were still alive.

    The celebrator was to do no work during the month-long event, but stay indoors and eat sumptuous meals, especially pounded yam with egusi soup washed down with fresh palm wine.

    The man is usually dressed in a wrapper, bowler hat with beads and neck chain (iyagba) to match, accompanied by a chaperon. The celebrator entertains his numerous visitors and well-wishers with a local guitar (ibekwe).

    As a new warrior in town, the man also needs a gun as a symbol of his readiness to defend his household and the community against external aggression or threat from enemies.

    The event then ends with the celebrators making public appearance at the Eke Market Square, with spectators admiring and appreciating them with gifts. Elders prayed for and blessed them and their future.

    However, the custom was abandoned for years and subsequently went into oblivion.

    President, Ishinkwo Youth Assembly (IYA), Mr Innocent Elum, a graduate in law, said the custom suffered due to ignorance, Christianity and modernism.

    He said some Christians misconceived the custom, which is a significant part of the established way of life of the Ezza Ezekuna people of Ebonyi State, as being devilish, which he said is not the case.

    The custom was held over 20 years ago, long before most of the youth who witnessed the event held in November last year in Ishinkwo, were born.

    It is usually an opportunity for merriment and for families and parents to rejoice at their children’s attainment of manhood or womanhood.

    For most of the adults, the event brought back fond memories of a joyous occasion which, once upon a time, everyone looked forward to with eagerness.

    A woman is allowed to participate as long as she is of marriage age. In the past, it was mandatory for a man or woman who intends to get married to undergo the circumcision.

    “There was jubilation in the community when the ceremony was held. You needed to see the smiles on several faces, especially the older generation. We should not let our culture die,” Elum said.

    The event is usually held every November, and has the potential of being included in the tourism calendar if well harnessed.

    There is no special requirement for those who wish to get “circumcised”. No monetary demands are made. All the person needs is to buy the needed materials for the ceremony, including a gun, which symbolises strength.

    “The yearning of Ishinkwo youth to revive the custom became deafening and I offered to provide leadership, participating fully in the event. We were three in number. But indications are that we may record more than 20 people this year.

    “I call on the Federal and the Ebonyi State Governments should  pay serious attention to customs and ceremonies that are not repugnant to justice, equity and good conscience. For where there is no culture, there can’t be taboos and nothing can be held sacred. In such society anything goes and nihilism is a way of life,” Elum said.