Use the rod

“Oya… commot am, Commot everything….. Mama Gbubemi flog am well well, im wan tief blackberry.. as u no get boyfriend wey go buy am for you we go help you advertise wetin you get make boy come carry go… foolish girl”

“See – she dey cover her breasts” Slaps her visciously on the face and she promptly removes her hands from her body, opening it all for all to see. “ehen.. na so we want am.”

The above scenario is not made up. It is fast becoming a norm in this country of ours – The beating and stripping naked of Girls for any offence committed. I say any offence because; even though it is mostly due to stealing, there have been a few other instances where the girl in question did not steal. She might have insulted a boy in or around her higher institution premises, or is indebted to another girl.

Before delving into the possible causes of this deplorable act, let us look at the act itself.

What exactly is it supposed to teach the girl? Is it supposed to help the girl? Wont the girl in question be scarred for life and posses a deep seated hatred for anyone who falls into the category of her assailants?  Then, has the purpose been achieved?

What exactly does this say about our society? How and when did we degenerate into using jungle justice as our first, second and last potions for discipline and correction? I was discussing this with a friend of mine some weeks back and he gave the standard answer of trying to teach the girls a lesson, and I hit him below the belt by playing the only trump card I could ever hope to own in this sort of situation – I asked him what his reaction would be if it happened to his sister and his response was that she wouldn’t steal, (sidestepping the question) but I persisted and he could not find any answer to the question.

Some ten, fifteen years back, Lagosians decided that the best punishment for thieves was to burn them alive, after beating them. I really cannot say if it has reduced the crime rate or prevented men from stealing, but one thing I can say is that there is the possibility that it has made the average armed robber in Lagos more ruthless because there is the certainty that if the same people they are robbing do catch them, it is the end of the road for them, I can also say with all certainty that it has reduced the people who burn them to ghouls. Some of you may dispute this, however, what then will you call yourself if you delight in ending another human’s life so ruthlessly? Who empowered you with the right to decide that this person has outlived his usefulness in this life? Most succinctly, who appointed you judge and executioner?

That, however, is not the original thrust of this blog post. I cannot say exactly when we transferred this viciousness to the female folk, It, nonetheless, is becoming alarmingly common place in our society. It is out rightly worrisome.

A second example is a particular video I was shown of two girls who came visiting a university of Benin Student and, being lesbians, did their do in the middle of the night. Come morning though, their room being adjoining to a guy’s, the young man brought other guys who were neighbours, and they proceeded to beat the girls terribly and force them to repeat the very acts they were doing the previous night in the privacy of their room, except they now had to do it in public and while being mercilessly flogged and videoed.

You get to ask yourself this question. Was the young man who instigated this act really angry that he heard their cries of pleasure the previous night, or was he just sexually frustrated? What exactly gave him the right to ‘discipline’ these girls?

Now, I am in no way supporting lesbianism, or saying what the girls did were right, however, isn’t there another way we could actually point out to these girls the folly of their ways and get them to change instead of beating them?

It is easy to say It will teach them a lesson not to ever steal again, or make them change their sexuality, But seriously, will it? Will the lesbian girl not hate the men who beat the hell out of her for doing what she liked doing, or will the thieving girl lose all hope and trust in the mother figure that disgraced her so heartlessly? What exactly are we doing to their psyche? A bigger fear is that, are we not hardening these girls?