By: Ademola Orunbon<\/p>\n
There is no doubt that rapists are really on rampage in Nigeria. More
\nworrisome is the frequent news of children and teenagers being raped
\nalmost in every nook and cranny of the country almost on a daily basis,
\nwith most of the cases going unreported. The situation is so bad that
\nthe notorious rapists are no longer strangers to their victims as they
\ncould even be members of the family or trusted neighbours and even
\ndomestic servants.<\/p>\n
Despite the fact that human rights activists are quite unrelenting in
\ntheir efforts at exposing the dangers our teenagers are being exposed to
\ndaily in the hands of these rampaging rapists and their collaborators,
\nthe situation has not really been brought under control. Enlightenment
\nprogrammes on sexual education and the rights of the child against all
\nforms of abuse should be stepped up and extended to even the schools,
\nchurches and mosques<\/p>\n
The most worrisome of the current trend is child sexual abuse which is
\nreally on the ascendancy in the country.\u00a0 According to The Cece Yara
\nFoundation, an international non-governmental organization, child sexual
\nabuse has become more prevalent than most people even realize. The
\norganization maintained that the menace is likely the most prevalent
\nhealth problem children face with the most serious array of
\nconsequences.<\/p>\n
According to the Foundation, one in every four girls experienced sexual
\nviolence in the country while one in 10 boys experienced sexual violence
\nbefore the age of 18. The Foundation also disclosed that one in eight
\ngirls experienced unwanted sexual touching just as one in 10 boys
\nexperienced sexual violence before the age of 18. Aside Lagos State
\nwhich really has a law against child sexual abuse and molestation, only
\na few States are really doing much to tackle this ugly trend. Many
\nreasons have been adduced for the rising cases of rape in the country,
\nespecially those involving children and teenagers. One of the reasons is
\nthe rising cases of unemployment and moral decadence in the society.<\/p>\n
The increasing intake of hard drugs by our youngsters is another
\ncontributing to the rising cases of rape in the country. We really want
\nto join other partners across the country, especially rights advocates
\nand non-governmental organizations which have taken the matter up to the
\npublic space with condemnation and advocacy. While condemning the rising
\ncases of rape in the country, we implore our government to take the
\nfight against the ugly trend beyond the level of mere rhetoric to real
\naction.<\/p>\n
Enlightenment programmes on sexual education and the rights of the child
\nagainst all forms of abuse should be stepped up and extended to even the
\nschools, churches and mosques. The campaign should start from the
\nindividual family with our young girls properly tutored on the need to
\nknow everything about their rights and how to protect themselves from
\nbeing abused. The Point is however happy that recent cases are
\ngenerating an unprecedented global wake-up call to the increasing rate
\nof child sexual abuse in the country and the world at large. We only
\nhope that the tempo will be sustained for the message to sink in foe all
\nconcerned to know the right thing to do as we join millions of other
\nadvocates against child sexual abuse and rape in the country.<\/p>\n
We also call for prompt trial and prosecution of all cases of violations
\nand abuse of our young girls as deterrent to others. Also, we implore
\nall other States in the country to borrow a leaf from Lagos State where
\na law is currently in place to take care of issues relating to child
\nsexual abuse and rape.<\/p>\n
Also, other rapists that are wrecking the country are political rapists,
\nthe way politics has been reduced to a trade shorn of every modicum of
\nmorality and respectability by some Nigerian politicians leaves much to
\nbe desired. Without a stretch of decency, our politicians appear to be
\ntravelling on the road to infamy. If their penchant to display hubris
\nand character flaws is anything to go by, and the knack to approbate and
\nreprobate or speak from both sides of the mouth is of major worry, the
\nAPC politicians have succeeded in sweeping baloney in their political
\nspace with their brooms.<\/p>\n
It is a pity that those who found themselves in the commanding heights
\nof leadership in Nigeria automatically transform themselves to semi-gods
\nthe moment they get power and position. Nigeria political office holders
\nare in the main arrogant, pompous, and irritatingly proud and
\ndisrespectful until death, the ultimate reaper, levels them. Let me
\nhasten to say that there are few exceptions, the reason I qualify the
\ndeclaration with the phrase ‘in the main’. And so, the average Nigerian
\npoliticians have raped and still continue to rape not only their
\npauperized followers but the entire citizenry on all fronts. To be
\nprecise, our contemporary experience under the APC-led federal
\ngovernment appears to be very worrisome.<\/p>\n
No man born of woman is so important that the world cannot do without
\nhis mortal presence. When politics is reduced to the level of
\ndeification of an individual whose credo is: “But for me, the world
\nwould collapse”, it needs to be expressly made clear that that is the
\nbiggest lie ever told. History is replete with carcasses of warriors,
\ngeniuses, inventors and charismatic statesmen and women after whose
\ndemise the world moved on to even greater achievements. It reminds me of
\nthe truism in the wise saying of an anonymous bard: “In life nobody is
\nindispensable or irreplaceable, including you. And your replacement will
\nalways be better than you. For every Queen Vashti there is an Esther
\nwaiting to take your place. For every Saul there is a David ready to
\ntake your place. For every Eli there is a prophet Samuel ready to take
\nyour place. Many people due to their position, their talent or their
\nbeauty think they are irreplaceable – how wrong you are!.\u201d<\/p>\n
It is time for us to begin discouraging men (and women) without a second
\naddress or known source of income in politics! There are those who pride
\nthemselves as professional politicians. There are those who have been in
\none appointive position or the other since time immemorial. There are
\nthose who have contested for one political office severally but failed
\nand have amassed stupendous wealth from selling out to the opposition.
\nPlease let them go and rest! They have contested in every imaginably
\nelection; give us a break please, or go home and find something to do.
\nOur tragedy in Nigeria today is that Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (rtd) tarred
\nlonger than necessary in seeking public office. Had he retired earlier –
\nor, better still, had he been allowed to retire earlier – we would not
\nhave seen today’s misfortunes!<\/p>\n
On the flip side, it looks to me as if there is a cycle of rejuvenated
\nevil residing in humanity in our present world. These days, we are faced
\nwith a serious challenge of how to manage our sanity in the midst of a
\nflurry of bestialities that keep erupting from left, right and centre.
\nThe orgy of violence perpetrated across all ages manifests the baloney
\nof insipid malfeasance that is capable of infecting the left-over values
\nwe hold onto with spider web. The incidence of rape has overshadowed
\npolitical discourses.\u00a0 It has displaced politics, economy and
\ninternational affairs from our chats and local gossip. This is a rare
\ndevelopment in our country. In most cases, in Africa and around the
\nworld, these are the three dominant topics people find engaging because
\nof their predominant impact on their lives. The two possible exceptions
\nto this fact are South Africa and India where rape cases are cyclical
\nroutine.<\/p>\n
What has been responsible for rape ascendancy in our national gossip are
\nthe tragic and incredible patterns of the reported incidents. When a 75
\nyear-old man is invading the undeveloped vagina of a 10 year-old girl
\nwith gerontocratic vitality, obviously this becomes a national news
\nhighlight. When a son (no matter his age) is desecrating the collapsing
\npudenda of his mother’s senior or age mate by exploiting the woman’s
\ndebilitating physicality to have a taste of “his route to the world”, of
\ncourse, it is of national interest. When a brother decides to forcefully
\nexpand the unripe vagina of his 5 year-old sister by pounding and
\njerking her to death, of course, this ghastly scenario is of national
\nsignificance. When five Yahoo-Yahoo boys, possibly excited by the number
\nof unfortunate idiots they have scammed in one day, organized a rape
\ncircus for a flirting teenager, of course. When Hussippupi, an internet
\nfraudster having over two million followers on Instagram, even much more
\nthan what Aliko Dangote and Femi Otedola had, in fact, this takes
\nprecedence in national debates.<\/p>\n
When a girlfriend plotted to have some of her friends raped by a
\nmonstrous gang of six – just to profane their virgin territories, which
\nalso is a serious case of national importance. And the list is endless.
\nThe lesson of homily in all of these sadistic sexual extravaganzas is
\nthat if the world is not coming to an end, then the end is coming to the
\nworld. The degree of sexual debasement, sexual harassment, sexual
\ndefilement, sexual perversion has attained an alarming crescendo to make
\nGOD to extend the timeline of Covid-19 or to even upgrade it to “Covid
\nFinale” so that we can all sing “Home, Here We Come” chorus.<\/p>\n
Orunbon, a journalist and political analyst, wrote in from Federal
\nHousing Estate, Olomore, Abeokuta, Ogun State.<\/p>\n