By Zainab Suleiman Okino
In the past, society placed considerable value on decency, particularly for women. The reverse is the case today. A combination of Western influence, social media, the internet, and our digital world is redefining what constitutes modesty, decency, and morality.
That same society now appears obsessed with undressing women in public arenas while cheerleaders upload such incidents on social media, making them viral within moments. The people who watch, share, and make ordinarily private videos go viral are members of this society, who then turn around to preach moral compass and decency.
Two recent cases—Comfort Emmanson, the Ibom Air passenger, and Jennifer Elohor, the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) member publicly undressed in the name of searching for internet fraudsters—illustrate these assertions. Comfort might not have been modestly dressed—that remains a matter of conjecture. She might not have acted appropriately, as she acknowledged in her later apology, and she may not have been lady-like—whatever that means. Some went as far as excavating her social media accounts and private pictures as evidence of her indecent exposure and nudity.
However, none of these should excuse her molestation, manhandling, and the naked exposure of her private parts, among other offenses, which are increasingly becoming “public shows of assets” either by the “owner” or those who perpetuate or share with relish.
What you do to yourself is your prerogative. In other words, if you expose your body, it is your concern. Only you know the motivation behind it, and only you should bear the consequences. However, when airport security personnel paid with taxpayers’ money intentionally expose a woman’s nakedness regardless of her infractions, this constitutes an inexcusable offense that must be sanctioned. Taking delight in women’s nakedness should remain a private matter between consenting adults.
Almost immediately, while Comfort’s case had barely subsided, the Jennifer Elohor incident jolted a nation that should be eternally ashamed of publicly shaming women. What did Jennifer do to Governor Charles Soludo’s enforcers operating under Anambra State’s security outfit codenamed Agunechemba, who assaulted and stripped her naked after storming the NYSC lodge where she resided while searching for internet fraud? Armed and masked “security men” without uniforms and identification cards unleashing violence on innocent citizens constitutes harassment and intimidation, not peacekeeping.
The Comfort Emmanson and Jennifer Elohor cases are not novel. This behavior is common among men with diminished egos who feel the only way to settle scores with women is to strip away their dignity—the same individuals who insist on decency for women, the same men who stripped Comfort Emmanson bare and spat on what remained of her dignity. Otherwise, what was Jennifer’s stripping meant to achieve?
These shameful acts merely reinforce toxic masculinity and societal approval of stripping women naked. Jennifer’s LGI’s reaction and reluctance to act validate this obsession. In a recent interview with The Punch, Jennifer was shocked when the official said: “What has happened has happened. Some of you ladies are going to get married to men who beat women. This is training for you.” For such men, recklessness against women is normalized and carries societal endorsement. Need I warn ladies to flee from such men?
Punishment for offenses like the above examples might not be well-articulated in our statute books, but the time has come to criminalise such acts. With these two cases and others hidden in closets, we need to test the law by pursuing legal redress for both Comfort and Jennifer. I hope gender activists are exploring that possibility. For the former, I hope she has learned to go and sin no more.
Beyond the morality and human rights abuses inherent in these cases lies the political factor surrounding the Agunechemba security outfit, which, instead of confronting criminals terrorising the state, chose soft targets by attacking NYSC lodges that are usually visible wherever located. Even neighbors around NYSC lodge precincts can inform security operatives whether inhabitants are internet scammers or corps members. Internet scams, to my knowledge, fall under EFCC jurisdiction. What technology does Agunechemba possess to trace and combat internet scams?
Meanwhile, serious questions should be raised about security outfits created by governors in this country. We have witnessed how some “security outfits” became outlaws, transforming into election riggers while others became terrorists and insurgents. In other words, governors use these operatives to advance personal ambitions while providing “jobs for the boys” amid biting poverty and unemployment, which they consistently fail to address.
…And the Paternity Sin Syndrome
The revelation that one in every four DNA-tested men is not the biological father of the child in question is deeply troubling and embarrassing. For the women involved, integrity and trust are at stake. I believe the paternity issue represents the most reckless situation a woman can subject her children and family to. For me, it debases womanhood and everything we hold sacred.
It calls into question our claims to being godly, religious, cultured, and morally upright in a country with more religious centers than schools and hospitals, where at least 99% of the populace professes allegiance to either Islam or Christianity.
For a country that takes moral codes seriously and boasts numerous religious centers as proof of spirituality, quick to judge others and visit parents’ sins upon innocent offspring, this revelation is a bombshell that should question everything we stand for and claim. The contradiction is apparent, and its effect on affected families is devastating, thanks to one act that can easily be avoided.
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This behavior cannot be attributed to illiteracy because most involved parties are well aware of the implications. However, some women’s consciousness remains questionable. Although it is often said that only a woman knows her child’s father, I would wager that it might be difficult for women with multiple sexual partners to be certain about their child’s paternity without scientific assistance.
Women in such compromised situations need to reexamine their consciences and consider the harm they could inflict on children conceived under such circumstances. We live in a country where adoption is derided in some quarters, and having biological children is considered a badge of honor.
For a man to raise a child only to discover the child is not biologically his can be suicidal for some and emotionally devastating. The solution lies in what Smart DNA and similar services provide. As a man, if in doubt, verify your child’s DNA at birth rather than waiting until that child becomes an adult. For the women in this display of shame and double standards, I wish you luck, because even if we advocate for compensation, nothing compensates for emotional trauma and eroded trust.
In the Western world, where illegitimate children don’t exist, women can choose to be reckless, having children without anyone questioning paternity, but not here, where people trace and celebrate their ancestry and family genealogy. Women should reconsider: losing integrity for sexual or monetary gratification, causing emotional trauma, and forever psychologically damaging children and families are hardly enviable legacies.
Zainab Suleiman Okino (FNGE) is Chair, Editorial Board of Blueprint Newspapers. She can be reached via zainabokino@gmail.com
