Issues
Eradicating Gender-Based Violence In Nigeria
Efforts towards the elimination of gender-based violence (GBV) in the country took a different dimension a few days ago with the launch of the National Gender-Based Violence Data Situation Room and Dashboard in Abuja.
A joint effort of the federal government and EU-UN Spotlight Initiative, the room with trained data officers, provides a register where perpetrators of gender-based violence can be named and shamed.
In the words of the Minister for Women Affairs, Dame Pauline Tallen, “Now the shaming should be the perpetrators not the victims and with more advocacies and getting more he or she to speak for us, we will get there.”
She said, “The National Data Situation Room is an innovation data management and visualization platform which is expected to use technology to enable government, decision-makers and programme managers view and analyze gender-based violence data with ease. The situation room is hinged on the pillar five of the Spotlight Initiative: theory of change on data management in Nigeria implemented by UNDP, Population Council and other partners in close collaboration with the state ministries.”
The prevalence of both reported and unreported GBV cases across the country which heightened during the Covid-19 lockdown is said to have made the establishment of the data room inevitable with the aim of eradicating the scourge by the year 2030. Recall that the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, recently disclosed that about 717 rape cases were reported within five months of Covid-19 peak period. Tallen, on the other hand, put the number of reported GBV cases across the country at 3600 with each state recording at least 100 cases.
A recent UNWOMEN report disclosed that as countries implemented lockdown measures to stop the spread of the coronavirus, violence against women, especially domestic violence, intensified – in some countries, calls to helplines have increased five-fold. In others, formal reports of domestic violence have decreased as survivors find it harder to seek help and access support through the regular channels. School closures and economic strains left women and girls poorer, out of school and out of jobs, and more vulnerable to exploitation, abuse, forced marriage, and harassment.
But the questions being asked by many remain, is the Data Situation Room panacea for the malaise which had persisted for ages? What else can be done to curtail gender-based violence in the country?
Lady Doris Onyeneke, the visioner of Mother of Good Counsel Initiative, Port Harcourt , whose organization has been in the forefront of the fight against GBV and other gender issues thinks the Data Situation Room or the Offenders Register, as some may choose to call it, will go a long way in dealing with the scourge. She said it is one of the measures many non-governmental organizations have been advocating for which will deter potential perpetrators of GBV, maintaining that if popularized, it will reduce the prevalence of GBV in our society.
She said, “Considering the level of impunity and insensitivity in our society, one could say that people might not care if there is any register or not. They will go ahead with what they want to do. But some people will definitely care and that way, it will reduce the cases no matter how little.”
Sharing her opinion on the causes of GBV, especially during the lockdown, she said, “the major causes for those that were reported is financial pressure. Businesses were shut down. There was no market. It just came without plan and lack of finance became an issue in many families.
“I also noticed that couples don’t marry their friends. Many don’t marry out of love. Such couples that have not always been together maybe because of their jobs, were forced to stay together and instead of seeing the lockdown as an opportunity to appreciate themselves and enjoy their relationship, it turned out to be quarreling, fighting all the way.” Onyeneke observed that poor cooking by some wives, poverty, lack of education, negative masculinity, and isolation also exacerbated the problem.
In the views of the National Deputy President of Nigeria Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ), Mrs. Lilian Okonkwo, creating a data situation room for GBV is a right step in the right direction. She said that for a long time victims or survivors of GBV have been the ones shamed and judged by the society and that it was high time the narrative changed, adding that such measures will expose the perpetrators, help deter other people and above all, give the victims a sense of justice.
Mrs. Okonkwo is, however, apprehensive that the National Data Situation Room, if care is not taken, might go the way of many laws and treaties entered into by the country that bear no fruit due to lack of implementation. “My challenge in this case is that as a people, it is easy for us to sign treaties and documents and make laws. It is the ability to carry it through that is our problem”, she said.
Both Onyeneke and Okonkwo were of the opinion that beyond the establishment of the Data situation room, states that are yet to adopt the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) (VAPP) Act, should delay no further in doing so; our justice system should improve on handling cases of GBV, by giving such cases speedy attention; those in authority, particularly governors’ wives, should ensure that justice prevails; there should be a gender bias free society; there should be equality for both male and female; the male folk should help in the campaign against GBV. “At the community levels, we have our chiefs, kings and elders, if they speak against GBV, it will go a long way to solving the problem,” the NAWOJ boss insisted.
For Onyeneke, parents have a huge role to play to ensure that their children are not victims of GBV. They should give both their boys and girls proper training, educate them, provide for them and do not abandon them for society. She further advised, “Men should get involved in the campaign. Stop the discrimination. Stop the obnoxious and harmful cultural practices against women. The security agencies and the society should stop blaming the victims or judging them. We shouldn’t forget that anybody can be a victim.”
Some analysts have also opined that beyond naming and shaming, it is imperative to educate the young men who are the major perpetrators of the act. “Young men and women must be educated on the evils of rape and the trauma that accompanies it,” they advised, maintaining that GBV is not limited to women, that in many cases, men are also victims of abuse but they hardly speak out.
According to them, there are cases of young men being sexually abused by older women, insisting that one major task of NGOs and other bodies championing the eradication of GBV in the country is to see how they can encourage men who had suffered one form of abuse or the other to speak out and get the help that they need. “They should also be encouraged to speak out, to name and shame their abusers,” they said
Some other people have also opined that actions to eradicate GBV should not be limited to the 16 days of activism to end gender-based violence (November 25 to December 10), when ministries of women affairs in the states and at the federal level, various gender-based organisations and female activists adorn orange colour fabrics in solidarity with the campaign. Rather, they say, it should be a daily affair.
For a lawyer, Emeka Ogenyi, a major clog in the wheel of progress as far as GBV is concerned in Nigeria is the very weak implementation of the laws. He noted that the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act which makes copious provisions with the aim of addressing issues like GBV is not being adequately implemented.
He pointed out that chapter four of the Nigerian Constitution makes provision for fundamental human rights, one of which is dignity of human person.”GBV is a glaring violation of this right but nothing substantial has been achieved in this regard. Consequently, the offenders have not been deterred. Our judicial system has failed and almost at the point of collapse. People believe that they can commit this crime and stay forever in court. The slow pace of justice in Nigeria appears to encourage GBV,” he posited.
He advised that for the dream of eradicating GBV in 2030 to be realized, the relevant laws must be implemented to deter offenders; courts should treat GBV matters with dispatch because it touches on one’s fundamental human rights; creation of a special court to try such offences may also be considered.
The Istanbul Convention (Council of Europe, Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence), frames gender-based violence and violence against women as a gendered act which is ‘a violation of human rights and a form of discrimination against women’, resulting in ‘physical, sexual, psychological or economic harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life.’
In the words of an international DJ, producer, author and motivational speaker, DJ Kyos, “When we fight each other. We will defeat each other. When we fight Gender Based Violence. We will defeat Gender Based Violence. Most women fight every man and most men fight every woman, thinking they are fighting Gender Based Violence. Until men and women choose to fight the enemy which is GBV instead of fighting each other. That is when we will defeat Gender Based Violence. It’s not certain people or celebrities who should fight this, but it is everyone’s calling.”
By: Calista Ezeaku
This is an open letter to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Chief Nyesom Wike.
Your Excellency,
Sir, ordinarily, I would not be writing an open letter to you, but like a wise man once said, “Silence would be Treason.” So I prefer to stay alive than face the consequences of silence in the face of crime. With each passing day, and as the socio-political tides continue to turn, it has become more pertinent that more people speak up in a concerted MANNER to prevent the death of our party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), as we appear to be, in the words of W. B. Yeats, “turning and turning in the widening gyre” heading for an end where the falcon will no longer hear the falconer
It is unfortunate that since losing control of the Federal Government, with the loss of President Goodluck Jonathan at the poll in 2015, our party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has continued on a downward spiral. It is much more painful, that where it is expected that leaders within the party should rise to the challenge and put an end to this decline of our great party, some have instead taken up roles as its undertaker.
It will be hypocritical to claim aloofness to what I believe is your grouse with the PDP and I am not a hypocrite. It will be uncharitable on my part to discountenance the role you have played in strengthening the PDP from 2015 up until the last Presidential primaries of the party. It is my belief that your grouse against certain members of the party who you perceived worked against the party and abandoned it in 2015 and then came around much later to take control of the party, is justified. Also know that your decision to remain in the Party and stifle its progress on the other hand, as a sort of payback, stands condemned. For a man of your pedigree and stature, it is a dishonorable act, highly dishonorable and stands as testimony against all you claim to stand for.
At least, it can be argued that those who you hold this grudge against, abandoned the party completely and did not sit back while actively working to destroy it from within. But what then can be the argument on your own part, seeing that those you are currently working with against your party are the same people who set in motion, and executed surgically, the plans that not only ended our Party’s leadership at the centre, but ended up dislodging the first Niger Deltan to occupy Aso Rock as Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces. Is this not akin to “cutting off one’s nose to spite one’s face?” That will be worse than folly. Let us not throw away the baby with the bath water because we do not like the soap used in bathing the baby. It will be a grave mistake.
Honourable Minister, sir, it is rather unfortunate that of all people, you have also decided to play the role of an undertaker not only for our party, but for our dear Rivers State.
I will like to take you down memory lane a little. Let me remind you of your emergence as Guber candidate of the PDP in Rivers State, against all fairness and justice in 2014. You will remember that despite the reality being that you as an Ikwerre man was poised to replace a fellow Ikwerre man in Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi in our multiethnic state, Rivers people overwhelmingly stood by you and pushed for your emergence as Executive Governor of Rivers State in 2015. I dare say that your popularity in the entire Niger Delta region was at an all-time high at this point.
I want you to understand why you were loved across board leading to your eventual emergence as Governor of Rivers State in 2015; it was because when it looked like all were against the second term ambitions of the first Niger Delta man to emerge as President of Nigeria, you became not just a pillar but a beacon of resistance by standing for Goodluck Jonathan. Rivers people, as grateful and rewarding as they can be, paid you back by ensuring your electoral victory against the incumbent All Progressives Congress (APC) led by your predecessor. On your emergence, where there were second term Governors in the region, you, a first term Governor, was seen by the people as not just the leader of the PDP, but the leader of the entire Niger Delta region. You earned it, and no one could dispute it.
In 2019, when your re-election bid was being challenged ferociously, Rivers people once again stood solidly behind you. Many were killed in the process of defending your votes. Do you remember Dr. Ferry Gberegbe that was shot and killed while trying to protect your votes in Khana Local Government Area? There are many more unnamed and unrecognised sons and daughters of Rivers State who sacrificed their lives so that you could emerge as a second term Governor of Rivers State.
In 2022/23, Honourable Minister, you oversaw a party primary across board that saw some candidates imprisoned and internal party democracy jettisoned for your wishes, leading to the emergence of flag bearers of our party all singlehandedly picked by you. You have on more than one occasion publicly stated that you paid for all their forms. Even those shortchanged in this process licked their wounds and continued to play their roles as party members to ensure the success of the party at all levels. In what will go down as one of the most keenly contested elections in recent Rivers history, with formidable candidates like Senator Magnus Abe of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Mr Tonye Cole of the All Progressives Congress (APC), and the vibrant youth driven Labour Party (LP), PDP emerged victorious across board except for Phalga Constituency 1 that was lost to the Labour Party. (Not that you did not loose in some other LGA’s but let’s stick to the official figures declared by INEC).
It begs the question, why then do you want to burn down Rivers State, when everyone who now holds political office emerged through a process designed and endorsed by you? Is it that you do not care about Rivers people and you are all about yourself? If so, I am forced to believe that those around you are not telling you the truth. The truth being that in a state where your words were law; where houses and businesses could be demolished or closed down without any recourse to legalities, where Executive Orders could be deployed to stifle the opposition, that your popularity is now at an all-time low. Probably because they are afraid of you, or of losing the benefits they gain from you, they fail to tell you that what you might perceive as a battle against your successor, has slowly but gradually degenerating into a battle against Rivers State and Rivers people. You know, there is a popular saying that, a man can cook for the community and the community will finish the food, but when a community decides to cook for one man, the reverse is the case.
LEAVE FUBARA ALONE
You have gone on and on about being betrayed by Governor Siminalayi Fubara. You point fingers forgetting that some of those same fingers quick to spot betrayals point straight back at you. It is not Governor Fubara that has betrayed the PDP by working against it in the just concluded General Election, and working with the opposition at the State and Federal level to destabilise the party. It is you, Honourable Minister. It is not Governor Fubara that betrayed Rivers people by instigating a political crisis with propensity to escalate ethnic tensions in Rivers State. It is you Honourable Minister. It is not Governor Fubara that has declared himself God over all in Rivers State and has no qualms with burning the state to the ground to prove a point. It is you Honourable Minister. It is you Honourable Minister who told the world that the APC was a cancer and you can never support a cancerous party. It is you Honourable Minister who ended up facilitating the emergence of the same “cancerous” APC that has accelerated the economic decline of this country and further impoverished our people with no remorse. All so you can be a Minister of the Federal Capital Territory? The lack of self awareness is gobsmacking.
Some days back I came across a video where you talked about death and how you do not cry when you hear about the death of some people because you have no idea what might have caused it considering many a politician swear “over dead bodies” and still go back on their words. Those words made me think, and I could see the reason behind them. You see, in chosing to be God in the affairs of Rivers people, you have closed your eyes and ears to reason; you see nothing and hear nothing that can cause you to rethink on the path you have chosen. In your quest to “show Fubara” you have unwittingly united a vast majority of Rivers people behind him, so much that even those who despised him because of you, now like or love him, because of you too. In your scheming, I will advise you not to forget that “the voice of the people is the voice of God”.
Note that the war which you have or are waging against Governor Fubara, has gone beyond being merely political as you might see in your minds eye. It is now one that, fortunately for some and unfortunately for others, has evolved into a war against Rivers people. It is good to point out that no one has taken a stand against Rivers people and won. No one has gone against God and won. In your defiant characteristic manner, it will be unfortunate if you believe your own hubris and that of those around you on the possibility of you being the first to successfully go against Rivers people. It will be a needless gamble; one where if you win you create more enemies for yourself than you can withstand on your political journey, and if you lose, your legacy becomes an inglorious and irredeemable one in Rivers State, the Niger Delta, and Nigeria at large. For your sake as regards posterity, it is my greatest wish that you have a moment of sobriety and a deep reflection and introspection on this path you have chosen.
Honourable Minister, sir, what is left of your legacy is on the brink of being completely desecrated and relegated to the dustbin of our political history, and it will be a sad end to what I will say has been a wonderful political career that many can only dream of. The ball is in your court, and may God Almighty have mercy on us all and forgive us for our shortcomings.
Gabriel Baritulem Pidomson
Dr Pidomson is former Chief of Staff, Government House, Port Harcourt and former member, Rivers State House of Assembly.
In 2015, I made a conscious decision to invest my financial resources, my time, and energy into supporting Nyesom Wike’s gubernatorial campaign. I poured my heart and soul into ensuring Nyesom Wike emerged victorious even at the risk of my personal safety.
Again in 2019, I doubled down on my commitment. I invested a significant amount of money to procure campaign outfits for all twenty-three Local Governments Areas of Rivers State. I spared no expense in supplementing Wike’s election efforts in my own local government, and once again putting myself at great risk to safeguard the fairness and transparency of the electoral process.
However, despite my unwavering loyalty and sacrifices, I found myself abandoned and forgotten by Wike. Throughout his eight-year tenure, he failed to acknowledge my contributions or fulfill his promises and agreements. Even as a former Deputy Governor, Wike denied me my severance benefit.
My investment in Wike’s governorship was not just financial – it was a commitment of passion, dedication, and belief in a better future for Rivers State. Yet, his leadership style of dishonesty, greed, drunkenness and rash abuse of senior citizens brought me nothing but disappointment, misery and losses.
By the grace of God, today I speak not as a victim, but as a hero. I have accepted my losses, and I have moved on. And as I reflect on my experience, I cannot help but urge Wike to do the same and allow peace and development to reign in Rivers State.
Nyesom Wike, when you speak of investing in Governor Sim Fubara’s election, remember those like me who also invested in you. Remember the sacrifices I made, the risks I took, and the promises and agreements you left unfulfilled.
It is time for you, Wike, to let go of the past and allow Governor Sim Fubara the breathing space he needs to lead Rivers State forward. Allow him to focus on the challenges of good governance and the aspirations of the people. Spare him these unwarranted and ill-conceived political manoeuvrings founded on personal agenda and not for general good of Rivers State and her people.
I may have lost my investment on Wike, but I have not lost hope in the future of Rivers State. And together, we will continue to strive for a brighter tomorrow.
Long Live the Governor to Rivers State, Sir Siminialayi Fubara!
Long Live the Good People of Rivers State!!
Long Live the Federal Republic of Nigeria!!!
Engr Ikuru is former Deputy Governor of Rivers State.
Tele Ikuru
