Arts/Literary
The Travail Of Nigerian Woman
Title: WOMEN EMPOWERMENT: Its Relation To National Development And Human Rights
Pages: 209
Author: Adanna Chinedu Madu
Reviewer: Sylvia ThankGod Amadi
The latest work in the stable of Adanna Chinedu Madu’s collections, titled Women Empowerment: Its Relation to National Development and Human Rights, could best be described as a voice for a maginalised folk. The 209-page documentation with eight chapters basically chronicles the plight of the Trans-Saharan woman in general and the Nigerian woman in particular. It is, to say the least, a compendium of all the problems and inhibitions faced by the Nigerian women.
The writer in this emotion-laden write-up x-rays and presents in its raw nature, the typical rural woman encompassed with a lot of handicaps and yet saddled with a task to survive with limited assistance. The pictorial representation on the book-cover summarises it all.
Adanna Chinedu Madu brings her high profile and experience as a lawyer and human rights activist to bear on this book.
In her introduction, the writer traced her memory back to 1948 when the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted. She pointed out that ever since, there had been many formal commitment such as treaties, charters, conventions and protocols at the global and regional levels to affirm the inherent dignity, as well as the equal and inalienable rights of all human beings irrespective of sex, race or class. Among these are gender-specific protections, which advance the dignity of women and put them on an equal standing with other members of the human community before the law.
The Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and the protocol to the African Charter on the Rights of Women in Africa respectively represent such international and regional human rights standards that have been willingly accented to and ratified by our dear country, “Nigeria”
However, Madu is worried that amidst all these ratifications, their domestication have remained a far cry, hence gender-based discrimination persists in Nigeria. Women in Nigeria continue to suffer domestic violence, widowhood practices, inheritance and property rights violations, women trafficking, child-marriage, male child preference, denial of rights to control women fertility, female genital mutilation and differential opportunities in education, political participation and access to justice.
Madu’s credit rests on her ability to use facts and figures accurately. The authority she commands and the patience she exhibits in her presentation leaves no doubt in the mind of any reader that she is not only writing for an academic archive but also poses as a practical crusader and an emancipator of the down-trodden majority.
The case of Miss Okere and Mr. Abdul-Azeez who were assaulted by four Naval ratings on the 5th of November, 2008, for allegedly delaying them in traffic on Muri Okunola Street, Victoria Island, Lagos while on the convoy of a Rear Admiral, and which was judged by Justice Oke in the favour of the assaulted was not a Nollywood movie but a true story of how the downtrodden majority, especially women are being subjected to degradation and inhuman treatment.
So also, the forceful ejection of women Police married to civilians from Police barracks, an initiative of the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Onovo through a letter dated December 15, 2009, which was later crippled following an order issued to the IGP by the House of Representatives in January 2009, to stop the ejection order, captures one of the travails of women in Nigeria.
The 209 page book also highlights some of the perceptions about women as: baby making machines, sex slaves, a folk inferior to men or second-class citizen. But the writer is of the opinion that women should vehemently refuse the place of the second-class citizen which the society has consciously placed them.
A thorough digest of this book leaves a picture of a woman troubled by her immediate environment, her religion, her culture and customs and even her own nature. The book also tells the story of how a woman is incapacitated by the conscious denial of obvious rights that would have otherwise assisted her to access her escape or breakthrough, and how Nigerian woman is eventually subjected and relegated to a mental arena of “cannot-help situation.” Even when the panacea to her situation is in sight, she lacks the will and courage to embrace it and bring about her eventual breakthrough.
However, the writer did not leave her audience without a hope. While she calls on the authorities that control the machinery of States to rise up to their responsibility and give credence to the resolutions of the afore-mentioned treaties which they were signatory to, by domesticating them, she dwells extensively on how victims of rights abuses can benefit from the new rules, even when they are too impecunious to hire the services of lawyers. She enjoins the oppressed women to take advantage of such facilities as the Lagos State Government’s office of the Public Defenders, Legal Aid Council, as well as free legal services of human rights organisations to seek redress in courts of law.
In all, working hard to bridge the wide gap between the Nigerian woman and her male counterpart is a cardinal issue in this book. Therefore, the author empirically states that “empowering women is integral and tantamount to the success and advancement of national development and human rights”.
The book is billed to be launched on November 25, 2010 in Port Harcourt by the Nigerian Bar Association, (NBA).
It is the idea of God that family should exit. Children form part of the family. God loves family so much that Jesus was born into the family of Joseph.
Everyone’s family is good and important. Children should not look down on their family whether they are rich or poor.
Children should respect and honour their family and foster love among their siblings. They should work together and make peace in the family. They should always stand in the gap. It is good for family members to carry all along since everyone may not be doing well.
The Christianity that children learn is practised in family. Faith-based organisations do a great job in moulding children’s character. Those are the behaviours that children exhibit towards siblings in family.
Every child born in a family is there for a purpose. A baby born into a family is supplying something. It may be joy, wealth and so on. Everyone is important in a family.
Adolescents who have graduated from school but may not be contributing financially can do one or two things at home. You can engage in preparing meals at home while parents are away for a job or business. Contributing in house chores will go a long way to relieve parents of stress after a day’s job.
What do you contribute to your family, especially during holidays both in nuclear and extended family?
The family you were born is constant but friends are temporary. You can decide not to continue in friendship but you cannot cut off your family. No matter how bad you think your family is and you decide to leave home, you must surely return. Your friends can harbour you for a while.
The child’s first identity comes from the family. What the child learns first comes from the family.
Family is the centre of love and care. People have started playing down on marriage because of neglect on basics of family. Marriage starts today and and the next few months, it is threatened. Respect for family plays a crucial role in marriage.
No child grows without parental control and influence. If a child refuses to grow without taking instructions from parents, he may grow up being wild. There are consequences when children do not obey their parents. There are those who want to be rebellious against their parents. They should know that their length of days are tied to their parents.
Your bioligical parents know you more than every other person. There is the wisdom and knowledge your parents have that you do not so it is proper to listen to them before choosing carriers both in academics and job. A young man or woman can choose who to get married to, but a greater role in the choice of who to marry and the marriage proper comes from the parents.
They know what is best for you. No matter how modern trends will influence you and prove it wrong, parent is the key. No one can love you more than your parents because they are your blood.
A lot of parents have been traumatised due to the fact that children they nurtured and trained turned their back on them at older age. Children should not abandon their parents for any reason.
As you grow up, situations may arise in marriage when you decide it is over with your spouse, but no matter the level of provocation with your parents, they will not despise you. Parents will also play a role in that regard. Problem arises in every family but how it is handled matters a lot.
Some children honour their mentors more than their parents. Although there are parents who shy away from their responsibilities. It is important that parents take full responsibility of their children. You cannot bring a child to the planet earth and refuse to perform roles as a parent. But parents may not quantify what they spent from childhood to adolescence. That is a blessing children cannot get from another person.
There are people who have attributed their failure in life to the fact that their parents, especially mothers are witchcraft. It is wrong to feel that your mother is instrumental to your failure in life. The only way to success is hardwork.
Let money not determine the level of love for your parents. Wherever a child goes, family is constant.
Eunice Choko-Kayode
Naturally, when a child is born, it is the role of the father and mother to decide a suitable name for the child. The husband and wife normally discuss and suggest the English or vernacular name of the baby.
But sometimes, when a baby comes into a family, grandparents hearts are usually filled with joy to the extent that they want to answer present, by giving their own names not minding the fact that the biological parents have given theirs.
This happens mostly when the marriage is an inter-tribal one. It also happens even in intra-tribal marriage. Grandparents want equal representation as far as naming a child is concerned. They also have special names as a result of circumstances surrounding the birth of the child.
This is still happening till date.
A lot of people have viewed this in different ways but there is nothing wrong about it. The most important thing is that the child bears as many names as he or she can. But one thing is certain, the child must bear one name in school.
Should circumstance determine a child’s name?
Women who are more emotional are always eager to name their children considering the circumstances surrounding the child’s conception and arrival.
The issue of grandparents naming a child comes up mostly when it is the first of the family.
In naming children by some parents in the olden days, they named their children according to the days in the week in which they were born, like Sunday, Monday, Friday and so on.
You may be shocked to hear that whether a child is given 10 names by parents or grandparents, when he or she grows up, will decide to change. There are several cases where some persons decided to change especially when they feel that the names given by their parents and grandparents do not give them joy. If they are not doing well in life, they may claim that their misfortune is caused by the name their parents.
Competition among children in schools be it primary, (kindergarten) and secondary come in different forms. It can be Mathematics , debate, quiz, spelling bee,competition, from organisations like Cowbell, multi-national companies, faith-based organisations among others.
They are organised mostly for selected intelligent ones, the best among their peers to represent a class, school or group. Prizes are normally set aside for the best as well as consolation prizes for runners-up at the end of each session.
The question is, are children willing to accept defeat when they fail? As parents, guardians, can you encourage your children or wards to accept defeat instead of shouting and comparing them with others who may be performing better either in schools or outside.
Some parents may be blaming their children for not doing well in competitions. They will like to tell their children if others who may perform better have ten heads. Those group of parents blame their children for every failure.
For your children to do better in competition, the parents too must have emotional intelligence. When you continue to blame your children for failure, how intelligent are you?
Some parents always want their children to be in the 1st position and unhappy whenever they secure 2nd position. There were instances where children smashed their trophies because they never got the position they wanted to get and their parents supported them.
Children should be able to accept it whether they win or not. They should be encouraged for every performance. Discourage the issue of “shame, shame, shame, shame”.
A parent says she always tells her children to win even if they will fail. Always give them the mentality that they can win. Children should be given the impression that they can win prizes and laurels in every competition.
Parents should not isolate their children from others in the neighbourhood. Allow them to play with others. Don’t threaten your children that you may not pay their schools fees if they fail. Comparing them with others may encourage or discourage them.
Coming first or getting award as a first class student from the university sometimes does not mean that the person is the best. And if the child does not merit any award in the lower classes, does not mean that he can not merit first class also.
It should be noted that coming first in academic competition may not really mean that the competitor will be the best at work place or business.
Accepting defeat is a way to move higher. Even if a child who competed with others did not come first, there are consolation prizes for runners-up. When you advise the child to accept defeat, you are encouraging her to win in next competition.
Remember all children cannot be on the same knowledge level Their learning abilities defer.
Eunice Choko-Kayode