No sooner had I written an article here on Sahara about the rise in the number of rape incidents in Nigeria only to learn that Nigeria's House Senate wants to literally legitimise paedophilia in Nigeria by altering section 29(a) of our constitution which stipulates that a woman shall not be qualified for marriage until she attains 18 years of age.
Nigeria's electricity deficits have been well rehearsed in the last few years. With approximate installed power generation capacity of just over 9GW and peak generation capacity fluctuating around 4GW, power generation remains grossly inadequate to meet demand many times in excess of availability.
The recent surge of rape and molestation in Nigeria seem to have sparked my interest, especially because I was a repeat victim of this societal degradation; yet the lackadaisical attitude with which this menace is treated is disturbingly sad. Culprits seem to have graduated from committing this act secretly to videoing the scene and broadcasting it for the world to see.
Barely a day now goes by without one reading the sad news report of yet another rape atrocity on women in Nigeria! This madness is now getting to such an extent that even the already pathetically useless, badly trained and incompetent Nigeria Police Force (NPF) who so happens "to be our friend" do almost little or close to nothing in prosecuting alleged suspects of rape. They just do not have the training even on how to handle victims. The male members of the NPF who attend to rape reports and thus victims are so crass it is unbelievable!
There is a malaria TV advertisement starring David Beckham. The great footballer soliloquizes about how he never misses a free kick when he is in the 'zone'. Placing the ball outside the 18 yard, he fires a shot which curves and hits a hapless stadium worker crossing the goal area. At the end of the advert, the words, 'we need nets appear boldly'. The ball obviously signifies mosquito or malaria and the hapless stadium worker the victim. Or the African.
by Ide Owodiong-Idemeko, NAS Cap'n, National Association of Seadogs
Pope Benedict XVI stunned the world's one billion Catholics and the entire world on 11 February, 2013 with news of his resignation! He had only been Pope for less than eight years; and here he was, giving up an office that he had the right to hold onto from the date of his election until his death!
Nation building is not a trivial issue. It is an enterprise that demands serious efforts borne out of deep reflection and reasoned approach by those entrusted with the onerous task of fashioning and designing a working and fully functional polity. Most of the mature democracies whose societies and political systems we attempt to copy brought out the best among them to structure a polity and governance mechanics that has stood the test of time.
The Sun, January 7, 2013
Recently, Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, scored another 'first' by being the recipient of the maiden Obafemi Awolowo Prize for Leadership, instituted by the Obafemi Awolowo Foundation for people, who have imbibed the core values that the late sage represented.
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