I expressed my concerns about
the issue of paedophilia and child brides in Nigeria quite extensively in an
essay that I wrote last week titled ‘’A Nation Of Perverts And Paedophiles’’
which was widely published and which attracted a lot of rejoinders and
commentries from other writers and commentators from both sides of the divide.
I do not intend to cover the same ground or repeat the same arguements here but
kindly permit me to make a final contribution to the debate in this piece.
The good news is that no matter what
anyone thinks or says and regardless of whichever side of the divide one is on,
when it comes to this issue, at least the Nigerian people are now talking about
a subject which, hitherto, had been regarded as being ‘’off limits’’ and taboo
and which had been essentially swept under the carpet. I commend the Nigerian
press, the website magazines, the bloggers and the electronic media for
standing firm, rising up to the occassion and bringing the matter alive and one
can only hope and pray that they will keep the fire burning by continuing to
reflect the heated discussions and various opinions on this issue.
I was particularly impressed with and
encouraged by the editorials of some of our leading newspapers on this issue
including ‘Thisday On Sunday’, ‘The Nation On Sunday’, ‘Leadership On Sunday’
and ‘The Sunday Vanguard’ which were all published on Sunday 28th July and
which were titled “In Support Of The Girl Child’’, ‘’No Cover For Paedophiles’’.
‘’Much Ado About Child Marriage’’ and ‘’Building Nigeria On Deceit’’
respectively. With contributions like that from very serious and credible
mediums like those there is still hope for the girl-child in Nigeria. I urge
all those that have not read these contributions to please find them and do so.
Yet despite the outrage expressed by
the overwhelming majority of Nigerians and indeed the wider world about the
plight of the girl-child in our country, on Sunday 28th July, a deeply defiant
and unrepentant Senator Ahmed Sani Yarima, who was the individual that sparked
off the whole controversy in the first place by insisiting that Section 29 of
the Constitution must not be removed, told the Sunday Trust Newspaper that ‘’if
the vote on the child marriage issue came up in the Senate again’’ he and his
supporters ‘’would win a million times over’’. Sadly, given the nonchalant
attitude that has been displayed by a large number of our Senators to the
plight of the girl-child, paedophilia and infant marriages in Nigeria and their
obvious reluctance to step on Yerima’s big toes and thereby upset his religious
sensitivities he may well be right. If not how does one explain the fact that
two female Senators, Aisha Jummai Alhassan from Taraba State and Zainab Kure from
Niger State, both of whom I gather have daughters, actually abstained when that
historical vote took place. To drive home the point, the Senate President
himself, Senator David Mark, only last week admitted that he and the entire
Senate had succumbed to Yarima’s ‘’blackmail’’ on the issue of the right of the
child-bride to renounce Nigerian citizenship and his deputy, Senator Ike
Ekweremadu, accepted the fact that the matter “needed to be revisited’’ in view
of the outrage expressed by the majority of the Nigerian people.
Yet many of us do not expect anything
to change in the near future simply because it is clear that the Nigerian
Senate and indeed the Nigerian political class generally simply do not have the
sensitivity, the courage, the wherewithal or the political will to do the right
thing and to not only delete the controversial Section 29 but to also revamp
and amend the constitution in it’s entirety and insert a clause that
specifically, clearly and categorically outlaws and bans any marriages that involve
anyone under the age of 18 in Nigeria.
Mrs. Roz Ben-Okagbue, in her article
titled, ‘’Is The Removal Of Section 29 The Answer To Eliminating Child
Marriage?’’ has made this point more eloquently than anyone else. I consider
Roz’s piece to be probably the most insightful contrbution so far in this
debate simply because she made all the relevant points and consistently hit the
nail on the head. It is the inability of the Senate and other political
stakeholders to introduce a new clause into our constitution and ban child
marriages and their penchant for continously pampering and seeking to
accomodate the strange fantasies and perversions of those that enjoy marrying
and having sex with 6, 9, 12 and 14 year olds that informed Pastor Tunde Bakare
to proclaim, in a characteristically powerful and explosive sermon, that
‘’Nigeria is suffering from the rulership of ‘PINPS’ “(by which he meant
‘’Paedophiles in Power’’) and that the issue of child marriage has divided our
country more than any other issue before it in our entire history. No-one could
have put it better.
Yet the debate continues to rage and
only last week the respected islamic scholar Professor Ishaq Akintola added his
voice by saying ‘’there is no age restriction in islamic marriage’’. Most muslims
would disagree with this because child-marriage is specifically banned by the
laws and constitutions of 90 per cent of muslim countries in the world today
but I respect the right of Professor Akintiola to hold his opinion about the
tenets of his faith. And regardless of his views and fervency I honestly
believe that islam, like christianity, is a humane and compassionate faith
which seeks to protect the weak and guide its adherents on the path of
righteousness and light.
I must however point out that Nigeria
is not a muslim state. And neither is she a christian state. She is a secular
state and she is governed by secular laws. Religious laws have no place in our
land or constitution.Our constitution is a secular document which specifically
says that the state shall not adopt any religion. This must remain so if we do
not want a divided country and if we do not want continued controversy, strife
and possibly even a fully blown religious conflagration and conflict. We should
all keep our religious sensitivities out of certain matters if we want
continued peace.
Paedophilia, child sex, child
slavery, child rape and child marriage cannot be justified under any
circumstances in any civilised country. It is not a matter of religion. It is a
matter of human rights, civil liberties and basic morality. There is nothing
more repugnant to the natural mind and wholesome soul than the prospect of a
fully grown man mounting, defiling and having carnal knowledge of a child that
is between the ages of 6 and 18.
Every child, whether she be a
christian, a muslim, a pagan, an atheist or an agnostic has the right to be
fully protected by the state and by the laws of our land from sexual predators,
sexual deviants, statutory rapists, unrepentant perverts and child molestors.
That much we ought to be able to achieve and we ought to insist on. We are
meant to protect our children and not bed them.
Like I said earlier on elsewhere in
this debate, even animals don’t sleep with their own infants. Some may hate me
for these words today but I speak nothing but the truth and tomorrow the people
will thank me for it. In the heat of this debate my dear wife, Pastor Regina
Fani-Kayode, made a pertinent assertion. She said ‘’knowledge comes to those
who seek it’’. This is wisdom and I would suggest that our muslim brothers and
sisters that share Yarima’s views on child marriage and that seek to defend
those views on religious grounds like my respected sister Dr. Zainab
Shinkafi-Bagudu, whose article titled ‘’Early Marriage?’’ I read with great
interest, learn a little from this deep truism. Perhaps they could also learn
one or two things from the following press report in a newspaper just
last week which reflects the views of one of the most respected leaders and
islamic scholars in Saudi Arabia. The report reads as follows-
‘’A member of Saudi Arabia’s highest
religious body has said that Prophet Mohammed’s (PBUH) marriage to a
nine-year-old girl does not justify marrying minor children today because
circumstances have changed in the intervening 14 centuries. The comments by
Sheikh Abdullah al Manie, who sits on the Council of Senior Ulema, follows
other recent public criticisms of child marriage, suggesting the government may
be preparing public opinion for legislation setting a minimum marriage age.
“They want to prepare the public to
understand that the old days are not like today,” said Mekhlef al Shammary, a
human rights advocate in Dammam. “It’s a crime to give a 12-year-old to be a
mother and wife. “This is ridiculous. Even in Islam it’s not acceptable because
the girl is not mature enough. She’s a child - she’s not ready for sexual
relations.” The marriage of young girls, often to much older men, has been at
the forefront of public debate in Saudi Arabia for a couple of years. It escalated
early last year after it was reported that a man had contracted to give his
eight-year-old daughter in marriage to a 47-year-old man in order to pay a
financial debt. The contract was annulled after a public outcry.
Sheikh al Manie is believed to be the
most senior cleric to unequivocally denounce the practice of child marriage.
Prophet Mohammed’s marriage to young Aisha “cannot be equated with child
marriages today because the conditions and circumstances are not the same”, he
said in remarks published in the Saudi Gazette and Okaz newspapers on Thursday.
“It is a grave error to burden a child with responsibilities beyond her years,”
the sheikh said. “Marriage should be put off until the wife is of a mentally
and physically mature age and can care for both herself and her family.”
Senator Ahmed Sani Yarima,
Professor Ishaq Akintola and all those that continuosly give the impression
that child marriage is acceptable in Islam and who erroneously believe that the
honest criticism of such an abominable practice is an attack on their faith
surely have much to learn from the contribution of this erudite Saudi Arabian
leader and scholar. As a matter of fact we all do and it is contributions like
that that make the rest of us appreciate what a beautiful religion islam really
is when its tenets are properly understood and applied.
According to our Minister of
Women Affairs and Social Development, Mrs. Zainab Maina, Nigeria has 800,000
cases of VVF today and we are adding 20,000 cases each year. All these cases are
situated in the northern part of the country. Such diseases, such suffering,
such illiteracy and such high levels of poverty of the mind and soul should
have no place in any part of our great nation in this day and age. Our people,
whether they be from the north or the south, christian or muslim, young or old
and men or women, surely deserve better than that. After all we are living in
the 21st century and not the 6th. Yet sadly these vices are more rampant in
Yarima’s own northern region and constituency than anywhere else in the country
and instead of attempting to improve on the lot, the education and quality of
lives of the good people of the north all he thinks about is marrying little
girls and bedding them. What a man and what a country. Outside of this
contribution I have nothing more to say on this vexed and contentious issue of
the horrendous plight of the girl-child and child marriage in Nigeria.
— Fani-Kayode is former minister of
Aviation
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