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Tuesday, 02 December, 2008 03:48 am
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| The Nudity Bill and Women’s Rights in Nigeria |
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| Written by Zik Gbemre | ||||||||||||||||||
| Wednesday, 30 July 2008 | ||||||||||||||||||
     That is how best we can describe the situation of the Nigerian woman, and to a large extent, the African black race. Part of this can be attributed to our long standing cultural bearings. But the major problem is basically lack of understanding and differentiation between a man’s role and that of the woman, in the home, and the society at large. And unfortunately, because of the confusion, the women folks in their bid to have a voice are now using the wrong instruments, in the name of Nudity Bill, to limit (further) their place in the society. The Nudity Bill, which was first introduced for debate in the Senate on February 6, 2008, is beginning to generate mixed reactions around the polity to the extent that Nigeria’s image was somewhat embarrassed at the recently concluded one day conference of the United Nations General Assembly with world delegates. The desperate move and attempt by Senator Eme Ufot Ekaette; to get her proposed (Nudity) Bill for an Act to Prohibit and Punish Public nudity, Sexual Intimidation and Other Related Offences, to gain some international attention and acceptance suffered a major set-back at the said United Nations General Assembly when it was criticized and dismissed by committee experts across the world. The issue was not just that among all the world delegates that attended the conference Nigeria had the largest turn out; described as the largest in history by the UN, the country was highly criticized and roundly ridiculed both for the number of delegates and triviality of the Nudity Bill at the National Assembly. Surprisingly, despite all the bickering the Bill has generated in Nigeria courtesy the Women behind it, the Nigerian delegation to the UN Assembly led by the Women Affairs Minister, Saudatu Usman Bungudu, and the presenter of the Bill, Eme Ufot Ekaette, could not explain and defend the proposed Bill on nudity or even argue it out with the critics. Infact, it was reported that Senator Ekaette, who formed membership of Nigeria’s 73-member delegation at the occasion, could not utter a word in defence of the Bill she vehemently pursues at home. Even when she had the chance to speak, Ekaette, who is of the committee on Women and Youth Development in the Senate, was said to have spoken on other issues pertaining to women but was loudly silent on her pet project on nudity. The issue of the Nudity Bill was also said to equally have been loudly ignored by other experts from different parts of the world who chose to speak on more relevant issues like violence against women, rape, female genital mutilation, women and children’s rights and proper representation of women in politics and economic life of Nigeria. We strongly believe these are far more important issues that should be a point of focus rather than the Nudity Bill, which if allowed to be passed into law, will definitely limit women’s rights of expressing themselves the way they like. Looking at the contents of the said Bill, one would understand what we are trying to say here. No wonder it has made two unsuccessful outings on the floor of the Senate. The Bill prescribes three (3) months imprisonment for ladies who display their belly buttons, breasts or wear mini skirts in public places. And since the Bill was introduced for debate in the Senate, there has been mixed reactions both on the floor of the Senate and outside; to the extent that Nigerian women, civil society groups and other members of the Senate rose up strongly against the Bill. Even Media reports across the country were strongly opposed to the Bill. With all of this opposition, one begins to wonder what must have made Senator Ekaette and others to think that they will gain the support of the Western World who is actually the proponents of women’s freedom of expression in fashion, which is more like their culture that Nigerians virtually copy. There is no way these advanced societies will accept or pay attention to such a Bill. Our women leaders should not confuse laws that govern the society as different from moral or cultural values that are upheld by our belief. Such moral teachings as regards nudity and the way women should dress at all times should be left for Clergy, Pastors and Biblical teachings. They forget that we are in an African society, where there are diverse cultures and ethnic groups, some of which even encourage nudity in women. Besides, every woman that has come of age should be given the freedom to decide what she likes to wear in public. That right to choose what is good and bad for her taste of fashion should not be denied her. From the words of those who are not favourably disposed towards the Bill, one would understand that the Bill is somewhat discriminatory. The Senate President, David Mark in his remark during the debate on the Bill in the Senate, expressed thus; “laws are different from moral teachings. We must not mix the two. Morality, we must leave for our religious houses. We must establish why it is that a man can dress in pants and walk all over the place but a woman cannot dress the same manner and walk all over the place. I think the legally minded will decide whether it is discriminatory or not.” Considering the report of the Nigerian delegation at the UN conference, presented by the Women Affairs Minister in a draft legislation titled A Bill for an Act to Provide for the Enforcement of Discrimination against Women in the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Purposes Connected Therewith 2005, one cannot help but ask, are they not placing the women folks on the path of discrimination with their Nudity Bill? This was the impression that was shown by some of the international delegates at the UN conference when they spoke. The first salvo at the Nudity Bill was fired by Glenda Simms, an expert from Jamiaca, who expressed her disapproval over the proposed Bill and asked rhetorically “What was that about nudity? Would the police go around with a tape measure to check the length of clothes or see if a breast was exposed? Women have a right to the aesthetics of their bodies and the right to present themselves any way they want. A woman’s body is the only piece of real estate on which she owes no mortgage. Dress codes were about power and dressing women from head to toe was a form of rape” she said. And she is right, this Bill if passed, will subject women to all sorts of embarrassment and further harassment by some mischievous law enforcement officials. Besides, some men are actually copying the Western world in their fashion and dress codes with plaiting their hair, piercing their ears and so on. Are we saying this is different from that which is practiced by women? Although, kudos were given to Nigeria’s efforts to close the gender gaps, committee experts lamented that despite promises announced in the past to increase to 30 percent, the percentage of women in legislative posts, men still account for 90 percent of the country’s legislature. In as much as we are strongly opposed to violence against women in Nigeria, which we strongly urge that more should be done to curb such harmful traditional customs as genital mutilation, legal wife beating, degrading widowhood practices that deny widows their inheritance and sometimes force them out of their homes, and others like; harassment and discrimination in the work place, particularly practiced by the banking sector against unmarried and pregnant women, rape, etc, we still want to establish the fact that the women, rather than engage in these struggles of closing the gender gap, need to understand and come to terms with their established roles in the home and society at large. It is the lack of this understanding of roles between men and women that is causing all the abuse and discrimination in our society. When the man and woman does not understand their separate roles, and how these roles are meant to complement each other (which is where purpose is established), abuse becomes inevitable. Theses roles have been established by God, the creator of all mankind, from the beginning of time. To deny or neglect this fact, is to do so at own peril and cause chaos and confusion. To buttress our point, we would like to go Biblical here because whether we like it or not, this world can only be understood and is governed by the principles enshrined in the Holy Book. From the book of Genesis 2:18, after God had created everything including Adam; “And the Lord God said, it is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper (in some versions; help meet and not mate, as confused by many) comparable to him. Verse 21 “And the Lord God caused a deep sleep fall on Adam, and he slept, and He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh in its place. (Verse 22) Then the rib which the Lord God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man.” And verse 23 reads “And Adam said this is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called woman because she was taken out of man.” And in the area where the roles were more established, the book of 1st Corinthians 11: 8 - 12, it reads; “For man is not from woman, but woman from man nor was man created for the woman, but woman for man. For this reason the woman ought to have a symbol of authority on her head. Nevertheless, neither is man independent of woman, nor woman independent of man, in the Lord.” It was more general in 1st Peter 3: 6; “Even as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him ‘Lord’, whose daughters (referring to all woman) you are if you do good, and not afraid with any terror.” These are (spiritual) principles that should govern the way we do things. We should not get carried away with Philosophies and Academics of man and seek equality (Quotes from NKJV). So, the bedrock of what is causing some of these abuses is lack of understanding the fact that the man is head, and the woman is meant to complement that role so that the two would “become one” to achieve a “greater purpose”. Men on their part, is admonished to “love and respect women (wives), since they are also ‘mothers’”. However, agreed that the African society with some of its cultural affiliations and traditions has over the years brought about some element of abuse of women, which Western civilization have been able to eradicate considerably, the issue of gender gap will take a lot of time in Nigeria to be bridged. But our women ought not to use the acquisition of Western Education, to start brushing shoulders with men. Though they say “what a man can do, a woman can do better”, but that does not displace the role(s) of the woman as established by the Creator. Despite the advancement in the civilized western world, it was just a few women like Margaret Thatcher of Britain, Hillary Clinton of the USA and others alike that could rise to the top of having Executive powers and playing major political roles in their society. And even Clinton could not make it through for the Presidency. If that is the case over there, how much more the Nigeria society, that is bedevilled with different stringent cultural bearings. Even the Islamic world establishes this fact. But we believe the current democratic environment has given rise to a vibrant civil society engaged in promoting and protecting the rights of women and girls, as well as preventing and eliminating discrimination against them. But most importantly, we believe more needs to be done to lower Nigeria’s maternal mortality rate, which is the second highest in the world. This is a serious issue that the Federal Government needs to tackle by improving the nation’s ailing Health sector. But the women should understand their place and roles in the home and in nation building and the men on their part should acknowledge this fact, to avoid abuse and discrimination. But above all, we believe the Nudity Bill is being given too much attention than is required. Our lawmakers should concentrate on enacting laws that would ensure good governance, law and order, provision of basic needs of modern society to the common man on the street. Laws that will make the government more accountable and responsible to the larger society (like the Freedom of Information Bill, FoI that needs to be passed soonest), that will ultimately improve the lives of majority of Nigerians to afford three decent meals a day. This should be their focus because it is the reason why they were elected into public offices in the first place, rather than waste public funds on trivial issues. Even the huge number of the Nigerian delegates at the UN Assembly is absolutely unnecessary. How can 73 delegates go for a one day conference? Is this not a waste of funds? Or do the Nigerian women think that their outrageous number will drive home their points? It simply suggests that they do not have their priorities right. There are far more important and pressing issues which Senator Eme Ufot Ekaette and others should be addressing in the country rather than all the efforts they are wasting to push a Bill that would attempt to limit women’s rights. We need to get our priorities in order. This we urge.  Quote this article on your site | Print | E-mail
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