Child Marriage, Seriously?

It’s near impossible to have an act without both positives and negatives. An action that offends no one or that impresses no one. I have learnt enough from my time on this planet that there are two sides to every story and almost every deed would have some bit of applause and ridicule. Can there however be something wrong, just wrong? An action that is just plain wrong and no matter how much it’s beamed under the spotlight, the can be no shred of good sense in it. Well, step forward the Nigerian Senate and prove me wrong.

I don’t know which is worse, what they have done or what they have refused to do. The fact that they have refused to tackle the issues affecting the citizenry or the fact that they have chosen to legalize child marriage. No, you didn’t read that wrong, they made it legal for children to get married. Well, they should be in hiding then, right? They should lay low till it all dies down, ehn? Nope, not these shameless pot-bellied things. I read a quote attributed to the mastermind of this move recently. ‘His excellency’, Senator Ahmed Yerima. The buffon. If my memory serves me right, this is the same rag-skull that introduced sharia law. He was also the one who imported a 13 year old bride for himself. Hear him:

“..For those who wonder if I can give my daughter(s) out in marriage at the age of 9 or 13, I tell you most honestly, I can give her out at the age of 6 if I want to and its not your business. This is because I am a Muslim and I follow the example of the best of mankind, Muhammad…”

And the above, ladies and gentlemen is not from an interview in which he was rushed to give an answer, it was a press release. How sick can a public official be? How sick can anyone be as a matter of fact? He can give out his 6 year old daughter in marriage? This man is a freak. I mean freak. He makes Freddie Krueger look like Prince Charming.

Yerima: Do they get any more freakish?

I don’t know many things and my young head might not be aware of a lot of things, but I know child marriage cannot and should not be allowed in Nigeria. It should not be allowed among human beings. I’m not a medical doctor but I’ve heard of VVF and it’s a different kind of evil if these poor young girls suffer from it through vile rapists who commit these abominable acts in secret but to then legalize it and make it acceptable under the law? Come on! How can a girl who is barely a teenager have to make a decision on whom to spend the rest of her life with? Gosh, what demonic being has the effrontery to sleep with a girl whose idea of fun is ice cream while watching power puff girls? How can it be right for a girl to have to pick out baby clothes when her peers are picking out Barbie dolls?

What’s coming next? Legalize murder if I don’t accept your religious beliefs? Or maybe ban bacon because your holy book says I shouldn’t eat it? I can’t even think of anything viler than this unholy law this house of pain just inflicted on our country. Reverse this travesty now or the hottest parts of hell, the VIP section, next to Adolf Hitler’s apartment might just be round the corner as opposed to the seventy virgins you’re expecting. And oh what surprise that would be, ehn Ahmed?

Government of Pseudo-elites

I read Bode George, a political heavyweight in our dear country recently say the PDP had set some kind of record by giving the country uninterrupted democracy for 14 years. I didn’t know whether to smile or cry. We got independence from the Brits in 1960 and a public figure comes out in public to say his party should be lauded for having given us our longest streak of democracy of just over a decade. Reading the article further shows the only sense the old man made and that was pointing out the flaws of the alternatives to the PDP. The ex-convict was dead right on that one. If PDP was likened to taking a stroll in the Sahara and the ills that come with it, then the ACN was sunbathing at the gates of hell and who knows, maybe the APC would be chilling out in the hot furnace of hell itself.

Bode Gorge

We saw recently the show of shame that went on at the Rivers State house of assembly. A man who is meant to be representing the people hit a heavy metal material on another’s head in full public spectacle. Taking a second to ponder on it, isn’t that attempted murder? I’ve seen enough CSI (both fictional and real) to know he deserves to be in jail for that, but hey, it’s Nigeria. And this Chidi Lloyd person, I can almost be assured he will not be brought to book. So I get asking, do these our so-called leaders have any sense of decency at all?

Transparency International currently rated Nigeria the 8^th most corrupt nation on earth. Honestly, the only surprise to me and probably many people is that there are 7 nations on the surface of this planet more corrupt than Nigeria. So , putting it all into context, we are corrupt, our leaders are literarily trying to kill each other in front of camera, our social amenities are non-existent, the state of Security is alarming, unemployment is almost becoming normal and a public political figure comes out laying claim to credit as giving us the best we’ve ever had. Folks, I think the problem is bigger than we thought! The problem isn’t our leaders doing wrong, it’s our leaders not recognizing wrong! Shouldn’t they all be hiding their faces in shame? Should they be giving press interviews?

We seem to be a country where the ones with little or no sense of decorum make up the elites of the society. A first lady who according to what I’ve read used to be a lecturer in an educational institution can’t speak English to get an extra kidney. A federal cabinet that claims things are getting better. A senate that have allowances probably bigger than every other one in the world. A police that is.. well… scarier than robbers. Public officers that are more interested in getting to office than looking after the people. And worst of all, we’re getting used to all these. I feel scared for my country. The only sense of consolation I get is that there are good Nigerians out there. Everyday people that have it in them to do what is right for the country. Living in diaspora and within the shores of Nigeria itself. A Nobel laureate, Hollywood actors, business giants, academic heavyweights and the likes. The smart ones are called common and the crass ones are called elites. I call them pseudo-elites. Unfortunately these pseudo-elites are the ones governing us.