One of the things that makes Lagos, Lagos is the amount of publicity the city gets. You’d think Lagos is the whole Nigeria. This in turn means that a lot of happenings in Lagos: comedy, music, fashion and of course crime gets reported here more than anywhere else.
The number of rape cases reported in Lagos every week is more than alarming. Why do we hear of rape cases, especially against minors every day? We could attribute this to technology and social media. But what is the state doing to curb this menace. Look at India, it started like this now they are dealing with an epidemic. A teenage girl was raped and set ablaze.
Nigerian women went on twitter to talk about rape. While everyone condemned rape, some blamed the women. Indecent dressing is the reason for rape. You mean all the saris Indian women wear is not enough? Indecent dressing is the reason a father raped his own 10-year-old daughter? Indecent dressing is why a teenage boy raped the five-year-old daughter of his neighbour? Or why a pastor raped the seven-year-old daughter of his friend? The Ese Oruru story is still fresh in our memories. The stories go on and on like this. Of course the devil (poor guy) is to blame at the end of it. The devil made them to do it.
While other countries are putting laws in place to protect their women and female children, to make life easier for women, the Nigerian Senate threw out the gender equality bill. I was shocked. The bill was discarded in the most flimsy manner. Say Aye if in support, say Nay if not in support, the Nays have it. In 2016? Or is Nigeria in 2016BC? The senators who rejected the bill gave deep historical and biblical beliefs and the Sharia law as their excuse for rejecting the bill. Really? What is our business with the Bible and the Sharia law? Is our constitution based on either one of those?
The father who raped his 10-year-old was given only two years in prison. Our laws protect thieves and criminals. Children are forced to carry pregnancies from rape, because Nigeria is against abortion. Rape cases take forever in court.
Lagos State has taken a major step to curb rape by stipulating that rapists can get the maximum life sentence. Kudos Lagos, but let us see this law implemented. Let us see rapists jailed for life. That is the only determent. We cannot wait for the Senate to do anything; those ones are the problem with Nigeria. Other states, please follow Lagos, put laws in place, and implement them. Let us live in a rape-free world.