By Donu Kogbara

I’ve been in London for the past five months, but I read Nigerian newspapers online every day and I am in regular contact with Nigerian friends, colleagues and relatives.

Seriously, positive news items are very thin on the ground; and almost every phone conversation or email exchange I have with folks back home is unremittingly gloomy because they are immensely upset about the lousy economy, the multiple security challenges in different geopolitical zones, the rising prices, the crazy foreign exchange rates, the annoying power outages, the stressful fuel shortages, etc.

Even from this distance, I frequently descend into deep depression about the state of our beleaguered country and wonder whether things will ever get better.

However, once in a blue moon, I hear something that gladdens my heart and lifts my spirits; and I can’t tell you how mightily relieved and grateful I was when I came across the following statement that Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the Minister for Information and Culture, made at a recent Town Hall Meeting in Abuja.

Lai Mohammed

“When we came in, many local governments in the North-East were under the control of Boko Haram. They hoisted their flags, they were even collecting taxes, but today not even a single local government is under the control of Boko Haram…and we’ve been able to liberate 16,000 captors from Boko Haram enclaves.”

This achievement is considerable and something to celebrate. And I think that we should all congratulate the army for gradually making the North-East a safer place.

A disgusting abuse of power

Talking about the North-East, I was very alarmed by a recent report in Daily Trust newspaper. Written by Shehu Abubakar, it highlighted the sexual exploitation of vulnerable women who have been transformed into refugees by Boko Haram attacks and live in camps for Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs, in Maiduguri.

Apparently, several female IDPs told Daily Trust, on condition of anonymity because they were afraid of being stimatized, that they are pregnant as a result of “non-marital sex” with male camp officials, including security personnel.

Most are widows, divorcees or youngsters who have never been married before. A case involving a 12-year-old girl is mentioned.

Various inducements

And some of these unfortunate females have already had babies for whom no man is claiming responsibility.

A single 19-year-old nursing mother at Dalori Camp told Daily Trust that she was not forced to have sex with the three camp officials who “befriended” her…and that she chose to sleep with them because they offered her various inducements.

According to her: “[There are] about 32,000 IDPs here, so it is difficult for anything meant for us to go round….So if a soldier or Civilian JTF personnel promises you soap, milk and food items, if you agree to go out with him, the temptation is high. But before you realise it, you’re pregnant. When I told the first soldier that took me out that I was pregnant, he almost slapped me.”

When she told another camp custodian about her predicament, he assured her that he’d help; but he just seduced her and took off when her pregnancy became visible.

The President of the National Red Cross Society, NRCS, Elder Akpan Anani, is quoted and describes the problem as “rampant” and says that NRCS staff advise female IDPs to avoid liaisons that will damage them psychologically and socially.

But these warnings are falling on deaf ears; and the problem is escalating. It is said that the sex that takes place in these camps is usually unprotected (no condoms) and that many IDPs now have Human Immunodeficiency Virus, HIV, infections.

This sad and sordid story appalled me. But it didn’t surprise me.

Prostitution is the oldest profession in the world; and a significant percentage of women have, throughout the history of the human race and in every country on the face of the earth, sold their bodies when they find themselves trapped in terrible situations and are desperate to survive or escape from extreme discomfort.

And there always have been – and always will be – predatory men of all nationalities who are only too eager to jettison chivalry and take advantage of suffering women.

The Daily Trust interviewees did not accuse their seducers of coercion. But it is obvious that they wish they hadn’t been enticed into succumbing to blackmail; and I do not regard sex that is exchanged for necessities as entirely voluntary.

As far as I’m concerned, the guys who roam around camps like wolves, abusing their positions of power by using food as bait to lure impoverished, hungry, homeless, emotionally stressed, pitifully fragile female IDPs into their beds – and spreading sexually transmitted diseases – are almost as bad as rapists.

They are very lucky that I am not in a position to punish them because, left to me, each and every one of them would be publicly disgraced and jailed for 20 years.

Please think again!

Last week, a gay 39-year-old Belgian man called Sebastien announced, on a BBC Television programme, that he wanted to die because he doesn’t want to be gay.
He was brought up Catholic and has submitted himself to 17 years of counselling and medication, in the hope of eliminating his preference for men.

But these attempts to force himself to be attracted to women have not worked and he says that he no longer wants to stay alive because he feels “like a misfit and prisoner in my own body” and experiences “a constant sense of shame.”

Most Nigerians are strongly opposed to homosexuality, regarding it as an immoral lifestyle choice. And our draconian anti-gay laws reflect this widespread prejudice.
But I happen to know many wonderful gay people and have always said that they should not be vilified for sexual instincts that are beyond their control.

Some religious leaders, including Pope Francis, the paramount leader of the Catholic church, have also recommended compassion on this front. And I hope that Sebastien’s tragic tale will persuade Vanguard homophobes to think again!