VVF Disease, Child-Wives, and the Senator Yerimas of Nigeria.

Vesico-Vagina Fistula: Just call it what it is - Mutilation of the private part of underage children through unwanted, extorted, and indiscriminate sexual encounter with an adult, old enough to be their Grandparents. "Gbogbomushe" or no "Gbogbomushe" (sexual stimulant herbs), these kids, with an undeveloped and shallow cavity, cannot withstand the ceaseless violent thrusting of their vaginal by these pedophiles, masquerading as elders and political leaders. The disturbing aspect of the child-marriage saga in Nigeria is that in the event of ruptures of the internal organs through ceaseless penetration of the shallow cavity, these infants-wives would develop a peculiar symptom that makes it difficult, if not medically impossible, for them to urinate through the normal process – the vaginal. At that medical stage, the shameless Sugar Daddies, as well as all the Senator Yerimas of our world, would either abandon these kids or file for divorce. That is the sorry situation in the Northern part of Nigeria over the years about infant-wives/child-mothers. 

The worst part is that 99.9% of these abandoned child-mothers are wantonly lacking in basic education. They were given away under forced marriage arrangements before they could even learn to read or write. Worst of all, they don't have any sense of freedom or of self-worth. Human rights and justice are alien to them. The sad part is that they live among us, a supposedly free nation-state. People write about the development very often, but the practice is not abating because it is excused as a cultural or religious development.

Time and time again, we have seen some Governors in the Northern region arranging for group marriages as a way of assisting the young and the newly divorced child-wives to get back to marital status. These kids do not need another runaway lover or temporary financial support. They need sustainable rehabilitation through purposeful career guidance and counselling. The provision of quality education and job training to achieve economic and social emancipation overrides government-assisted or sponsored marriages. 

The absence of quality education, as well as the inability to be self-supporting economically, breeds social inequality. Forced or arranged marriage is not the way to go.

About twenty years ago, Frank Olize of NTA Newsreel (a Sunday Night Magazine Show) covered this same story, with details and disgusting pictures of underage girls, in and out of hospitals, with tubes connected to their navels for the passage of urine. I still remember vividly Mr. Frank Olize declaring in no uncertain tone that the solution to this sexually induced medical problem is: education, education, education. More than twenty years later, we are still talking about the same story and the same problem. Nothing has changed with respect to the educational solution proposed by Mr. Frank Olize on his magazine show.

Now, about Senator Yerima: According to a news report, he was once married to a 15-year-old girl, in addition to other wives, and divorced her when she turned 17. Then, he went ahead and married an underage (13 years old) Pharaoh’s Daughter, paying the Egyptian Father $100,000 (One Hundred Thousand US Dollars) as Bride Price. The same Senator was the one who introduced Sharia Law into the Nigerian political system when he was the Governor of Zamfara State. 

He is also a founding member of the yet-to-be-registered All Progressives Congress - my supposed party. The same Governor who did not 'give a damn' about funding educational institutions in his backward State is now masquerading as progressive. What a sad period in the progressive movement in Nigeria! This guy wasted funds meant for the development of his state on frivolities, and now, he is professing egalitarianism. 

Progressive is about egalitarianism, not feudalism. It is about equal rights and justice. It is a populist influenced philosophy, professing free education at all levels and availability of affordable healthcare delivery to those in need. Senator Yerima's profile as a Governor or Senator does not bear any semblance of a progressive mind. 

Zamfara State, if you don’t know, is one of the educationally disadvantaged states in Nigeria. Therefore, to secure admission, for instance, into one of our Unity Schools in Nigeria, a candidate from Zamfara State would have to score four (4) points in the entrance examination. Quoting The Guardian Newspaper of Nigeria, here is the breakdown of the pass mark or cut-off points for some other States in the same exam: “Abia (130), Anambra (139), Ebonyi (112), Enugu (134) and Imo (138). From a nearby geographical zone are Delta (131), Edo (127), Cross River (97), Bayes (72), Rivers (118) and Akwa Ibom (123). Also in the high scoring class are Ogun (131), Ondo (126), Osun and Oyo (127), Ekiti (129) and Lagos (133. There are also Benue (111), Kwara (123), Kogi (119), Plateau (97), Niger (93) and Nassarawa, 58.” I repeat: Zamfara State – Senator Yerima’s own State – is 4 (four) points.

Senator Yerima was the Governor of Zamfara State from 1999 to 2007. He was elected to the Nigerian Senate in April 2007, after completing the constitutionally allowed eight years of two four-year terms as Governor. He has been in the Nigerian Senate since then. Therefore, there is every justification for holding Senator Yerima responsible for the appalling state of education in Zamfara State. He places Sharia Law ahead of popular education, leaving it at the mercy of Imams and Sheikhs as principals and managers - a breeding ground for the almajiri syndrome. 

Senator Yerima of Zamfara State is not illiterate. He holds a Master's Degree in Economics from Bayero University in Kano State, Nigeria. He has been in Government since 19983. So, you cannot really find room to excuse his obsession with child-wives or cut him some slack concerning the backwardness of his state in terms of literacy and educational advancement.  He is very enlightened. What the heck he is doing with infant wives is beyond ordinary imagination.

In the same vein, his obsession with Sharia Law in Nigeria is nauseating and disgraceful. Recently, he was in the news again over Sharia and Child Marriage. He gave a diabolical interpretation to the age of consent or renouncement of citizenship and hoodwinked his colleagues in the process. The Amendment calls for 18 years of ripe age for anyone intent on renouncing his or her Nigerian citizenship. Senator Yerima prevailed over his colleagues, a majority of whom didn't really know what they were voting for, to change the wording to include a married woman. In other words, a girl who is thirteen or twelve years of age and is married can legally renounce her citizenship, whether or not she is 18 years of age. In the world of Senator Yerima, an underage child-wife, by that provision, is a grown-up woman – maturity is irrelevant, marital status is the deciding factor.

I have observed with dismay that some guys on social media are trying to justify the child-marriage craze in Northern Nigeria, because, according to the argument, fourteen-year-old girls in America do have kids as well. That is intellectually mischievous, to say the least. The fourteen-year-old Mother in the US is not in the same category as the thousands of fourteen-year-old child-mothers in Nigeria. About 99.9% of those mothers in the US were never given away in forced marriage like their Nigerian counterparts. In the US, such pregnancies, most often, result from rape or incest, or it may even be as a result of a one-night stand affair. In Nigeria, it is a culture, a trend. There is absolutely no basis for comparison, justification or juxtaposition. 

Senator Zamfara has no excuse for his obsession with underage infants. Above all, he has no excuse for the abysmal level of illiteracy in his state. He could afford to give away $100,000 for an Egyptian virgin, but popular education remains an aberration in his state. He could unilaterally introduce Sharia law to bamboozle and subjugate his helpless and predominantly illiterate subjects, without regard to the secularity of our federal system, but he just doesn't give a damn about the economic emancipation of his pauperized natives. Today, he is one of the new and emerging progressives. It is a very, very sad day for the progressive movement - a movement I spent most of the early part of this Blog writing about, campaigning for, and nurturing. 

This man should be in jail for his inexcusable child molesting proclivity. And for his participation in the underdevelopment of human resources in Zamfara State, he does not deserve to be in the Nigerian Senate. That he is still a Senator in Nigeria is a shame - a dent in our national character. He is an educated man, a supposedly reasonable and enlightened member of society. He is as guilty as charged because he is learned enough to appreciate the danger and health hazards inherent in his crude behaviour. 

Even though the State/Government, as of now, cannot legally prosecute the Yerimas in our society for devaluing these children, the Nigerian Government and the society at large should find ways to hold them accountable for the rehabilitation of these children as well as some form of lifetime compensation for the psychological trauma accompanying their medical state (vagina and intestinal mutilations. You enjoy the sex while it lasts; therefore, you should remain morally and financially liable to the victims for the permanent damage that you inflicted on their internal bodily organs. 

President Jonathan and the Decaying Nigerian Educational System.

Purposefully left blank to give President Jonathan time to resolve his differences with ASUU. We will re-publish the piece as originally written in the event of deadlock in the ongoing negotiation.  We want them to succeed. 

ASUU STRIKE: Nigerian varsities may remain shut for a long time to come — Prof Iyayi

ASUU STRIKE: Nigerian varsities may remain shut for a long time to come — Prof Iyayi

The problem with Nigerian Universities as revealed by Professor Festus Iyayi. I met him once in 1985, and he is a man of his words. I cannot wait for the day that this honorable and upright fellow will emerge as the Minister of Education in Nigeria. 

The Trial and Conviction of Trayvon Martin: A Common Sense Analysis.

THE 
To be continued - 

TR

Unity schools’ cut-off marks

Unity schools’ cut-off marks - The Guardian Editorial.

My Comment:

According to Professor Nwabueze, “The federal character principle enshrined in the 1979 Constitution is predicated upon the view of Nigeria as a house on four pillars, the four pillars being the Hausa/Fulanis, Igbos, Yorubas and the Minorities, and that the edifice will begin to wobble and its stability imperiled if the headship of the federal government is not made to move round these four groups. Nigerian unity demands an acceptance and commitment by all to the principle of rotation, i.e., that ordinarily no two persons from the same group should hold the headship of the federal government in succession. Unless the federal character principle is applied in order to rotate the headship of the federal government among the four groups, its application at the lower levels will not be effective to secure national unity. The danger of disintegration and of demands for a confederal arrangement will continue to stare us in the face.” “The Igbos in the Context of Modern Government and Politics in Nigeria: A Call for Self-Examination and Self-Correction.”, By Prof. Ben O. Nwabueze SAN, 1985 Ahiajoku Lecture. 

As conceived, the main objective of the principle of Federal Character was never to position candidates from some parts of the country less competitive in competitive exams or in employment placement exercises than other candidates. In practice and application, the political leaders of our time gave a diabolical interpretation to the concept to the extent that most Nigerian citizens now feel less of a Nigerian than some other citizens. In truth the principle was designed to ensure that the three dominant groups do not suffocate the hundreds of minority tribes and exclude them from the scheme of things at the federal government level. It is about equality, loyalty and unity. 

Section 14(3) of the 1999 Constitution provides:

“The composition of the Government of the Federation or any of its agencies and the conduct of its affairs shall be carried out in such a manner as to reflect the federal character of Nigeria and the need to promote national unity, and also to command national loyalty, thereby ensuring that there shall be no predominance of persons from a few State or from a few ethnic or other sectional groups in that Government or in any of its agencies.”

Without missing words, one cannot help, but blame the unabated education disparities on Northern Governors and their Commissioners for Education from time immemorial.  Since the introduction of Federal Character, Quota System and Geographical Spread principles in the Nigerian political system, the political leaders from the geographical north of Nigeria subscribe, without reservation or any sense of shame to the principles as if they are emblems of honor and dignity. And that has been the culture over the years. They imbibe the principles, live and grow with them, without taking the initiative to developing a concerted or regional framework, not just to bridging the education gap between north and south, but with a view to making regular/western education more attractive and mandatory to every child of school-going-age throughout the entire northern region. 

Over the years, northern Governors and their Educational Administrators have perfected or taken the Booker T Washington's "Talented Ten" philosophy to a disastrous level. They are willing to provide full scholarship to a significant few, send them overseas and provide them with obscene financial largesse to acquire the reviled western education, and in most cases, to study to PhD level, while millions are left back at home in a state of hopelessness and abject poverty. As always, these "talented ten" would come back home, armed with leadership perquisites and the same reviled western education taught by the reviled white men and not so white men to assume control of political power and industries from where their parents and family friends left off. That is the trend, and until it is reversed or substituted with mass literacy campaign, the situation will remain the same.

More than a year ago, we suggested an integrative model - that is combining Islamic Studies alongside regular subjects as taught in regular schools towards eradicating the almajiris social ills. In that case, those in traditional Quran Schools would have opportunities to experience both worlds. So the dislocated children (almajiris) trooping to Imams and Sheikhs in search of succor and the elusive or disappearing salvation would have the opportunities to learn as kids from other parts of the country. 

We should not forget the original mission of NYSC; as long as we are willing to accept Copers to our society, without regards to their cultural and religious background, and protect them and fend for them and be willing to offer them jobs at the end of their service as The Guardian Editorial is suggesting, that would go a long way to improving the graduation rate in the affected states. It requires concerted efforts and willing to accept divergent culture and lifestyle.

Few years ago, in an attempt to spite a Christian President who, by accident of birth, is a southerner, the northern Governors, without reasonable excuse - whether in law, social, economic, or moral - went and embrace Sharia Law hook, line and sinker, and made it the legal norm in the region. The idea was ill-conceived, insensitive  undemocratic and counter-productive. As we argued elsewhere on this blog, compulsory, free education at elementary and secondary levels in Nigeria should be the standard, not Sharia Law. Please read our opinion on the issue at http://hamiltonatlarge.blogspot.com/2012/09/northern-nigeria-disconnect-between-our.html

You cannot eat your cake and have it. Creation of states as well as creation of local governments are based on the imaginary concept that the geographical north is more populated than the geographical south. That development led to rejection of derivative formula as a basis for revenue allocation. In other words, the more populated you are or you purport to be, the more local councils and states you are allocated. And as expected, the more states and more local councils invariably translate to more revenue allocations from the federation account every month. 

Not so surprisingly, and in fact, time and time again, school enrollment and graduation rate tend to put a lie to that population superiority claim - almajiris or no almajiris. This is not an idle talk or a belief influenced by the latest vocabulary in the Nigerian social media world - sentiment.  It is a troubling fact. You cannot continue using these children to leverage or perpetuate your population superiority myth over other regions and at the same time, remaining unchallenged about improving their educational standard.

Few months ago, one of the Governors from the north was reported lamenting the appalling educational standard and low graduation rate in his state in comparison to the advanced level and surging graduation rate in Imo State. He stated further that his own State has millions of people more than Imo State, and while Imo State is graduating millions of children from elementary and secondary schools each year, his own state of millions of more people is graduating couples of thousands. Okay, as a patriotic Nigerian, you would want to sympathize with that Governor for the educational standard that culminates in the scant graduation rate in his state. 

But the unasked question remains: where are the remaining millions who are not in school? Are they in the farm? Or in the streets in the cities begging for alms? Where are they? They are nowhere, because they don't exist. In other words, our northern Governors and School Administrators enjoy financial resources sufficient to give every child in the north quality education at a standard comparable in any advanced country of the world. Unfortunately that is not happening; otherwise, all these noise about boko is haram would have been meaningless. 

The population superiority myth as well as the un-education of majority of northern children, in spite of the enormous financial advantage they have enjoyed over the years for educational use are troubling issues for SNC advocates who, with due respect, have not been able to frame one cogent argument for convening a Sovereign National Conference, except of course the usual noise of the dominance of our political system by the Hausa/Fulani elite. An argument that is dated and time-worn.

Indeed, the educational standard nationwide is falling, but the situation in the north demands national outrage and a radical overhaul. Seeing pictures of most of the villages attacked and ransacked by the Boko Haram sects, you would be prompted to ask about what happen to civilization and government presence or lack of it in those villages. All around, you see gloomy scene reminding you of medieval era. These are not members of riverine tribes where you could conveniently blame the lack of government presence on accessibility problem. The successive political leaders simply do not care. There is need for an explanation and accountability, because the level of abandonment is not only appalling,  but inhuman. Federal Character or Quota System is not the answer - it perpetuates the dominance of a select few. It is time for a new start. See concepts and approaches on this Blog at http://hamiltonatlarge.blogspot.com/2012/09/northern-nigeria-disconnect-between-our.html: "THE NORTHERN POWER ELITE AND THE DISAPPEARANCE OF ACCOUNTABILITY: THE WAY FORWARD", posted September 20, 2012.

 Alex Aidaghese.