The Cambridge Advanced Learner’s
Dictionary offers three different definitions of rape against which the current
situations in Nigeria could be considered. First, it defines rape as the crime
of forcefully having sex with someone against the person’s wish. Despite the
stigma attached to this sexual crime, which has resulted in under-reporting of
incidents, a recent study indicates that the rate of the crime has gone up from
12.5 per cent to 80 per cent in Nigeria.
There are several cases, which are very
irritating. Now and then, it is reported that a teacher has raped a student. A
religious leader has raped his flock. Robbers have raped a victim. A man has
raped a sister-in-law or daughter-in-law. A master has raped a housemaid. A
security man has raped his master’s wife. A boss has raped his staff. A father
has raped his daughter. A young man has raped a grandmother. A minor has raped
a fellow minor. A traditional ruler has raped a subject. An 80-year-old man
recently raped an 8-year-old girl. What is really happening?
One unfortunate thing about the crime
of rape is that cultural constraints and other factors in this clime all work
against female victims and restrain them from reporting the incident when it
occurs. Besides, the Nigerian Criminal Code needs to make it easy to prove an
allegation of rape. In other words, the rape laws of Nigeria need to be
re-written to match contemporary realities.
There is also need for adequate sex
education. Sexual lust is a thing of the mind and when the human mind is being
fed with pornographic pictures and materials all the time, there is a tendency
to get desperately lustful and commit this heinous crime. Therefore, it is
important for people to begin to guard their thoughts as instructed by the holy
books.
The second definition of rape according
to the same dictionary is “destruction of the natural world, often for profit.”
Day after day, the natural world of the nation called Nigeria is being
destroyed for the benefit of a few people in its leadership. This explains why
the nation was recently ranked as the 35th most corrupt nation in the world by
the global corruption watchdog, Transparency International.
Over the years, the nation’s natural
and financial resources have been destroyed, mismanaged, looted and in some
instances, laundered by those privileged to be in the corridors of power. For
example, according to the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission (EFCC), Mr. Ibrahim Lamorde, over N40 billion was laundered out of
Nigeria between January and August 2012.
The destruction or rape of the university
system is equally on-going. Apart from the fact that the Federal Character
Principle is making it difficult to recruit fresh quality PhD holders as
lecturers at various tertiary institutions, professors are constantly retiring
without replacements because comprehensive academic research activities are no
longer being sponsored and conducted.
On a regular basis, Nigeria’s human
resource nucleus is being destroyed as quality medical doctors, lawyers,
engineers and other professionals are continuously relocating from the country
as a result of unfavourable conditions of the environment for their existence
and professional practice. The quality of graduates produced by the tertiary
institutions is getting more watery by the day while many innocent workers are
dying from criminal attacks such as terrorist bombing, armed robbery and
assassination.
Insecurity is on the rise and foreign
investors are leaving the country as people die unnecessarily on daily basis.
The country is being raped and is seriously bleeding. The punishment for rape
in the 1999 Constitution should be extended to the incumbent and past leaders
of Nigeria who have participated in gang-raping the nation and its poor
innocent masses with the organ of corruption.
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