Sex palaces, mansions and Sharia

Sex palaces, mansions and Sharia

Saturday, March 5, 2016 2:35 pm


Asain

Asain

By Ebi B Asain

In the evolving Ese Oruru saga, the inconvenient truths about Nigeria tumbles like a fresh water fountain. The burning issues that drive the undecurrents speak for themselves. For a start we now know that Sharia is more powerful than the constitution and the Emir more potent and powerful than the Inspector-General of Police. In essence, one could make the case that northernisation is not only an ideology dreamed up, but steadily on course.

And because northernisation is on course, any attempt to instill true fiscal federalism in Nigeria is conveniently opposed by the northern establishment. The sad results is that Nigeria will continued to be dragged behind in all her developmental strides. What is development and progress when her core values are all screwed up in the name of religion and medieval era cultural norms and ethos? What is progress if the confluence of culture and religion doesn’t help to differentiate between the evils of sex slavery, paedophilia, child abduction and the society’s intrisinc human rights and freedoms? What is development and progress if our treasured palaces and traditional institutions become the bastions of child molestation and wanton abuse?

In an earlier piece, this writer challenged the staunch advocates of One Nigeria to make the case for the country’s continuing unity when our diversification is doing to us more harm than good. In Ese Oruru’s saga, we have come to see the painful realisation that one region runs a pseudo-government running parallel and at cross purposes to the rest of the country. Consequently, we must ask, what are the benefits to the nation when our structural imbalances or chasms are too wide to be abridged? What does Nigeria gain existing on a false sense of unity where one region has inculcated the belief her political invincibility trumps all?

No one person in Nigeria with a modicum of sanity will claim ours is an advanced society. But must we have to worship the norms and ethos of a demented society to be called a third world enclave? Sex palaces and mansions for paedophiles isn’t only our problems, they only scratch the surface! However, the sex palaces and mansions must tell us how our society is forever condemned to the narrow confines of our primordial instincts and our progress on the models of 21st century success stories become virtually impossible.

The private lamentations of Solomon Arase must be high-blood pressure inducing for some. Imagine, the country’s Inspector-General of Police says his hands are “tied” in performing his statutory duty as law enforcement officer because the Emir, one Sanusi Lamido Sanusi is “reviewing” the case of child abduction, rape and molestation of a minor! In the US, one former Speaker of the House was ducked for similar offences long after he left office. The law enforcement agencies didn’t have to litigate his situation to find out if he was above the law. In the advanced societies, no one is above the law, in Nigeria, you are above the law if you were lucky enough to be born-to-rule! So, again, we ask, what is the basis of the slogan, “One Nigeria”?

Asain is an author and public affairs analyst


Join The Conversation

What do you think?

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.