It is not enough that the Nigerian 1999 constitution only mentions the word ‘she’ twice, it has done more to show that the female folks in the country are less important. Here is one for you to digest:
Section 353 of the criminal code states: “Any person who unlawfully and indecently assaults any male person is guilty of a felony, and is liable to imprisonment for three years. The offender cannot be arrested without warrant.”
And here is what 360 states: “Any person who unlawfully and indecently assaults a woman or girl is guilty of a misdemeanor, and is liable to imprisonment for two years.”
An adage in Yoruba language postulates that, “it is better for one’s child to die than to go lost”. Only animals sleep out in the cold as I know but this country has left out her young girls in the cold for 2 years and still counting. We got ourselves leaders who blame one another for incompetence and fight themselves daily while the children are dying and getting lost. Outsiders see our weaknesses, think us less intelligent and tag us stupid, discriminate against us and kill us in diaspora knowing fully well that no one will fight back. The skin we carry has become our nemesis every single day we open our eyes.
Show some little compassion even if they are not your daughters. Ever since the Chibok girls went missing, we have had two ‘First Ladies’ who have not marched with those seeking justice for these girls. Oby Ezekwesili’s daughter is not among the lost ones but she has actively taken this up and, believe it or not, history will remember her stands. We do not need empty promises but those who will fight for us no matter the cost, and she has done that in a beautiful way. Our first ladies – mothers of all – cannot dig into the earth with their nails to cry for justice with other women. Sometimes I wonder if they have blood running through their veins or they so much don’t want to offend their husbands that they have to play the dumb game against their own kind!
Some say, “no girl is lost” – words that make their parents look crazy, like they do not know if their children are truly lost. Whether they will be found or not lies in the hand of those that think they know best how to govern this country, those who have passion for the masses, those who intend to fight for the integrity of this nation, not those who come to say they want to try. No, not those ones!
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