FEATURES

FEATURES

Changing Times: Transgender Equality?

Transgender people are people who have a gender identity, or gender expression, that differs from their assigned sex. Transgender people are sometimes called transsexual if they desire medical assistance to transition from one sex to another. The degree to which individuals feel genuine, authentic, and comfortable within their external appearance and accept their genuine identity has been called transgender congruence.

Many transgender people experience gender dysphoria, and some seek medical treatments such as hormone replacement therapy, sex reassignment surgery, or psychotherapy. Not all transgender people desire these treatments, and some cannot undergo them for financial or medical reasons 

Most transgender people face discrimination at and in access to work, public accommodations, and healthcare. They are not legally protected from discrimination in many places, including the case in North Carolina, USA, whose bathroom law raises much concern as reported by Hattie Gladwell for Metro.co.ukThursday 28 Apr 2016.

14-year-old Corey, a young model who identifies as female, with the permission of her parents, Meg Bitton, a photographer who is taking a stand against a new legislation in North Carolina that insists the transgender community must use the bathroom that reflects the gender written on their birth certificate, posed the question: 

“If the girl in the photo above was your daughter, would you feel comfortable sending her into a men’s bathroom?” 

Meg answered the question herself. ‘She was born with male anatomy but identifies as a female. Under the new laws, SHE would be forced to use the men’s room. Therefore, I would not be comfortable sending HER into the men’s room if she was my daughter. Be fair. Be kind. Be empathetic. Treat others how you would like to be treated.’ This important message was posted along with Corey’s photo which was liked by over 40,000 people and shared by 27,000, many of whom were incredibly supportive of the message Meg was trying to send out.

Not all transgender are constrained by public criticism as the case of Mandy Candy, as reported by Naija News. Many is a Nigerian based in Europe, formerly known as Okwudili, who publicly flaunts her new sexy body in photos openly, not minding public criticism. 

According to Naija News, Mandy recently released a nude photo which went viral on the internet, and was quoted as saying that “If Melina Trump can pose nude and become First Lady of the United States, I can too.”

Melina Trump, a former model, had posed nude photos for top magazines around the world, before her husband, an American businessman; Donald Trump became elected the 45th president of the United States on the platform of the Republican Party. Mr. Trump has won 289 electoral votes, 71 more than her Democratic Party's challenger, Hillary Clinton, who has garnered 218 electoral votes.3 days ago.

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The Anti-Corruption War and the Common Man

By Amone Sunny Ajila

President Muhammadu Buhari President, Federal Republic of Nigeria

When President Muhammadu Buhari took over the reins of leadership in Nigeria over one year ago, many people expected that, given his antecedents, the retired General would fight corruption with all the deadly weapons in his arsenal, and they have not been disappointed. The President, who has severally said he would like to be remembered as the one who hammered the final nail on the coffin of corruption in the country, has been preoccupied with the fight against this social malaise right from day one when he stepped foot into Aso Rock.

Since May 29, 2015 when the President assumed office, the anti-corruption wind has blown on many Nigerians among them top-ranking politicians, military and civilian officers who served in the immediate past administration of Goodluck Jonathan, bankers and captains of industry. We have been inundated with mind-boggling tales of how they looted the country’s treasury with impunity to the detriment of the vast majority.

In recent times, however, the anti-corruption wind has shifted to the country’s Judiciary where serving judicial officers, perhaps for the first time in the annals of this country, were hounded, their residences searched and arrested on suspicion of graft. The Judiciary, that sacred arm of government whose responsibility is to sit in judgment over matters before it, convict those it finds guilty and hand out appropriate punishment to offenders, is today on trial itself.

However, while the veracity or otherwise of the stories of looting we are being told daily is yet to be known, it does appear the government is fighting this raging war against corruption with little or no thought to other challenges, some even more pressing, staring the nation in the face and threatening her corporate existence.

Corruption, as we all know, was one of the reasons adduced by Major Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu when the military struck in 1966, barely six years after Nigeria gained independence from Britain. The fall of the First Republic and the chain of events that followed the military putsch sadly led to a bitter 30-month civil war, the scars of which are still visible today.

When late General Murtala Muhammed forcefully took over the reins of government from General Yakubu Gowon in 1975 in what was generally believed to be one of the least bloodiest coups in Nigeria, perhaps for the first time since the 1966 coup d’etat some attempts were made to stamp out corruption, though not without abuses here and there. The same can be said of Muhammadu Buhari’s first appearance in 1983 as military head of state.

Unfortunately, apart from the Murtala Muhammed and Muhammadu Buhari military regimes, successive governments did little or nothing to stamp out the hydra-headed monster called corruption. Instead, the malaise was allowed to fester. Indeed during the Alhaji Shehu Shagari and General Ibrahim Babangida years at the seat of power, corruption became so institutionalized that no one cared anymore who stole what and from where it was stolen.

In view of the foregoing therefore, any government that comes to power with the aim of knocking corruption down to its knees and possibly eliminating it is indeed welcome. But should that be the only focus of such a government? This question becomes pertinent given the fact that more than fourteen months into four-year tenure, the average Nigerian, especially the impoverished vast majority, is yet to feel the impact of the Buhari administration.

It goes without saying that President Buhari rode to power for the second time on the crest of popular support based on the change which he and his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), promised Nigerians. The promises included the payment of a N5,000 stipend to unemployed and indigent Nigerians; payment of allowances to unemployed NYSC members who have completed the mandatory one-year service; the introduction of free feeding for school children; and the employment of the teeming idle youths, among other mouth-watering programmes. However, more than one year into this administration, none of these grand programmes appears to be on the drawing board let alone being implemented. All we hear about is who has stolen this or that amount of money.

Only few months ago, the outspoken former National Publicity Secretary of the APC and now Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, stunned media men when he said 55 Nigerians looted N1.3 trillion in seven years (presumably in the live of the immediate past administration). How he arrived at the figures he is yet to tell us. The minister said:“15 former governors allegedly stole N146.84 billion; four former ministers allegedly stole N7 billion; 12 former public servants, both at federal and state levels, were said to have stolen N14 billion. Apart from public officials, 19 persons in banking and business were indicted in this looting. Eight of these were banking officials who allegedly stole N524 billion, and 11 businessmen who helped themselves to the tune of N653 billion.”

With the spate of corruption stories being bandied about on a daily basis, some people are beginning to wonder whether Buhari’s anti-corruption war is not after all a platform to lambast, lampoon and totally discredit the immediate past leadership of the country and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the eyes of Nigerians and foreigners alike, and placing the APC and the government on high moral ground. Still many others subscribe to the view that the incumbent government and the ruling party are politicizing the fight against corruption in order to get at political opponents. This is so because in certain quarters, it is being darkly hinted that the anti-graft war is selective and is being fought against perceived enemies of government.

For instance, it has been argued that a large chunk of APC members came from the PDP fold. At one time or the other they held public offices and it cannot be said that they all left with clean hands, yet they are not being hounded by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). In the same vein, some of those at the top echelon of the APC are known to have acquired stupendous wealth through questionable means, but they are today walking free and are being touted as saints. So what fight against corruption are we talking about?

It is only too easy to point an accusing finger at others, forgetting that the other four fingers are pointing at us. Not too long ago, the mystery surrounding the non-passage of the 2016 federal budget was unraveled when it became known that the budget, officially presented to the nation’s lawmakers, was surreptitiously smuggled out of the National Assembly, padded and subsequently returned to the lawmakers for consideration and approval! Can we then say the present administration is itself corruption-free?

Another issue that is agitating the minds of Nigerians is that the Buhari government has at various times, at various fora and through its spokesmen said large amounts of money have been recovered from alleged corrupt public officials being investigated or currently facing trial. This is apart from large chunks of dollars recovered from the famous ‘Abacha loot’ stashed in foreign countries. The president himself came out the other day to say more than half the value of the 2016 budget has been saved through his brainchild, the Single Treasury Account (TSA).

Now that we are told the country is facing dire economic recession, the questions that readily come to mind then are, to what use are those recovered loots being put to cushion the hardships currently ravaging the country? How come the president is telling us that with the recovered money  and the one saved following the introduction of TSA, the federal government still goes cap in hand borrowing N600 billion monthly to run the administration?  The country has not run out of oil, even though we are told the price has fallen and militants are not helping matters by blowing up oil installations in the Niger Delta. However, in spite of these setbacks, the commodity still remains the country’s main revenue earner.

Today there is much gnashing of teeth in the country on a daily basis in spite of the ‘change’ promised and the grand programmes dangled before the electorate. This is unfortunate indeed considering that over the years, the common man has continually been made to bear the brunt of inept and gross mismanagement of God-given resources by successive governments. Each government comes to power ostensibly to better the lives of the downtrodden citizens, but leaves them even more impoverished than it met them! 

Unpopular actions or inactions of the government have made many Nigerians become disillusioned and to wonder whether they did the right thing by falling for the ‘change’ mantra which Buhari and the APC dangled before them and voted them into power. Right from day one when Buhari was sworn-in to oversee the economic and social wellbeing of Nigerians and lead them to the Promised Land, all we have heard from him and his apologists are the wrong deeds perpetrated by his predecessor, Goodluck Jonathan and his aides. It would appear Jonathan spent every day in office running the country aground. In the eyes of Buhari and the APC, Jonathan never did anything good for the country. But when will the APC government quit the blame game and do the needful to save the common man in this country from extinction?

Now that the anti-Jonathan forces have, to a certain extent, succeeded in maligning him, the stage is set for Buhari and his party to show us (not tell us) what they can do better. Otherwise they remain confined to the dustbin of history as public officials who rode to power on the back of falsehood and unfulfilled promises.

FEATURES
Cases of Child Abandonment on the Increase in Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria

Abandoned baby She was driven into the hospital situated at the heart of Jos city at about 10.35 p.m. on June 24, 2016 by one, Samson who claimed to be her husband. She was quickly admitted into the maternity ward of the hospital. By 3.48 a.m., according to the hospital record, she gave birth to a bouncing baby boy. By 7.30 a.m. the “husband” who had deposited N3,000 out of the N14,800 charged by the hospital authority (for the fact that she was not registered for antenatal care), left with a promise to return in an hour’s time with the balance of the money. After he left for about 25 minutes, the woman, according to an eye-witness, also left for the ladies’ convenience and that was the end of the story. After waiting for about four hours, it became glaring to the hospital authority that the child had been abandoned. On the 14th of August, 2015 at about 6.30 a.m., one, Mrs. Rahila (real name withheld) went out to fetch water from the tank at the back of their compound at Anguwan Alheri to have her children bathed preparatory for school that day when she heard the cry of an infant at the back of the fence of their house. At first, she thought the cry was coming from the house of one of her neighbours, but she quickly recalled that her neighbour were old couple and had no female visitor who was either pregnant or just delivered. This prompted her to call the attention of her husband who, after hesitation, decided to go to the direction where the cry was coming from. To their great amazement, wrapped in a white cloth, inside a carton, was a baby girl who has obviously been abandoned by her mother. They quickly reported their finding to one of the police stations close to them. The baby is today hale and hearty in one of the orphanages in Jos town. Abandoned babies at an orphanage These are only two cases out of many confronting our society today. The issue is becoming rampant these days most especially where it has almost become a daily phenomenon, prompting many to ask questions such as, why is it so? What is happening to our morals? What has befallen the values of our society? Why would a woman in her right senses carry a child in her womb for nine months only to abandon the same child after birth? Most of the respondents to these questions attributed this menace to poverty, illiteracy and lack of discipline on the part of teenage female children. According to Apostle Anthony Ngozi, “Some children were abandoned due to the reason of parents not having enough resources to fend for the child. In some cases, children are abandoned due to parental illiteracy and misconduct. Some parents are ignorant of their parental responsibilities.” In the words of Mr. Samuel Danboyi, a community leader in Hwolshe, “Mostly, the cause of the act is usually parental carelessness and ignorance due to probably their orientation, because the act is usually committed by unmarried ladies.” For Rev. Bupwatda Jeremiah, however, “The major reason for child abandonment is lack of dignity and respect for human life. I also want to add that many parents don’t cater for the needs of their wards, which has caused a lot of problems in the society.” The effect on the victims, according to Apostle Anthony, is negative as some of them are engaged in societal vices such as stealing and prostitution, thereby increasing the rate of corruption in our society. Zawan orphanage According to him, “The society has a lot of criminals today due to the frustration surrounding these victims.” On the role the church has been playing to help in curbing the menace, Anthony said the church has been praying for the victims to be of good behaviour despite the situation they found themselves. “The church has been involved in extensive enlightenment programmes to warn the youths on the dangers of premarital sex, because you find out that most people involved in child abandonment are young girls in primary or secondary schools,” he added. Another respondent, Mrs. Lami Kadiya, advised parents to give their children proper orientation by inculcating good values in them, using the word of God as a standard. She further advised parents to love their children no matter what condition and situation they found themselves because, according to her, “Some young girls abandon their children after birth for fear of being brutalized by parents, while others cannot simply stand the shame.” Her position was supported by Rev. Sister Justina Obanwonyi of the Zawan Orphanage who said, “Every parent should try to educate their children from teenage stage of life and follow up their education because some of them give birth and become hopeless.” However, an activist and social commentator in Jos, Mr. Johnbull Pwol, heaped the blame on the doorstep of government, adding that the social menace and vices we have in Nigeria today is as a result of bad policies by the government. “Naturally, no one was born a deviant. Deviation comes as a result of many factors, one of which is bad policy by government. It is unfortunate that we live in a society that the so-called leaders are far from the led. Our leaders are not creative and not in tune with the basic needs of citizens, even as it is enshrined in chapter 2 of our Constitution.” He continued, “The provision of basic necessities which include shelter, food and accommodation by government to its citizens are non negotiable, but a fundamental right which, if observed, will protect the dignity of the citizen. Unfortunately, our leaders have shied away from this responsibility which is the cause of all vices we are witnessing in the country today.”