Nigerian Justice is not a Lady - With Temilolu Bamgbose

Justista, the Roman deity that represents justice is female. She is the ancestor of the modern-day, double-edged-sword-wielding, scale-carrying, Lady Justice who stands (or sits as the case may be) outside every courthouse or institution saddled with the responsibility of upholding the law of any community.
Yet, many people agree with the view American feminist and lawyer, Catherine Mackinnon expressed in her essay Feminism, Marxism, Method, and the State: Toward Feminist Jurisprudence, that “the state is male and the law is an expression of a male point of view…The law sees and treat women the way the men see and treat women.”
Mackinnon’s assertion is particularly true in Nigeria, in view of the language used in the Nigerian Constitution, where “his and he” were used for humans, except for sections concerning women or children, and in most cases these references emphasise the fact that women are considered second class citizens, it makes women “the other”.
“Women” was used twice in the constitution (in connection with Social Services), women were, of course, grouped with children because it stands to reason that women need “nurturing” since they are in the same group with the “disadvantaged” and are considered “vulnerable” by the Nigerian State.
This assertion is proven under the law establishing Abuja as the Federal Capital Territory which states that “Social Services and Development includes the provision of a nurturing environment for women and children in the Territory, seeing critical social enablers such as the provision of microfinance for vulnerable and disadvantage groups...” (Establishment of Functionaries and Departments) and Ministry of the Federal Capital Territory (Dissolution) Order No. 1, 2004 S.I.4 Of 2005
The word “woman” also appeared in the Nigerian Constitution twice, the first was in Section 26, subsection 2(a) which says that a person may be registered as a citizen of Nigeria if the president is satisfied that the person has good character, shown a desire to be domiciled in Nigeria and has taken the Oath of Allegiance but the section only applies to -
(a) any woman who is or has been married to a citizen of Nigeria;
What the section says in essence is that only Nigerian men can bequeath their citizenship on their spouses. So, if a Nigerian woman marries a foreigner, he is not eligible for Nigerian citizenship (kind of similar to traditional marriage in some Nigerian communities, once a woman gets married, she is no longer considered part of her parents community).
It was used again in Section 29, subsection 4(b), where, in spite of the fact that the subject of renunciation of citizenship was being addressed, our lawmakers were able to sneak in the point that “any woman who is married shall be deemed to be of full age”, and since the Matrimonial Causes Acts (CAP 220 LFN) did not provide any minimum age for marriage, it means a girl married off at say, three years of age, is considered an adult in Nigeria.
The law specifically allows an under aged married woman to revoke her citizenship even when she has not attained the constitutional voting age and there is no corresponding provision treating a male married minor as an adult. A female minor is allowed to marry, but not allowed to vote... in Nigeria.
A Police woman must submit her prospective husband details for approval before marriage. As a “vulnerable” set of creatures, the Nigerian Police insists that women police must apply for permission to marry, in case she’s stupid (as women are considered to be) enough to marry a criminal or maybe someone just not “good enough” for her.
Police Regulation Act, 124. Women police to apply for permission to marry [L.N. 93 of 1968.]

A woman police officer who is desirous of marrying must first apply in writing to the commissioner of police for the State Police command in which she is serving, requesting permission to marry and giving the name, address, and occupation of the person she in- tends to marry. Permission will be granted for the marriage if the intended husband is of good character and the woman police officer has served in the Force for a period of not less than three years. [L.N. 93 of 1968.]
The Nigerian Police is your friend, and your father and your “big brother”, looking out for you because you are the “weaker” sex and cannot make sane decisions, particularly when you’re about to make a life changing decision, like ... marriage and because of their kindness they will not allow you to marry as soon as you join the force, you need to wait for a period of three years. Unfortunately, under-aged girls do not get to enjoy this luxury because they did not join the Nigerian Police.
No similar provision is made for men, therefore a male police officer can marry anybody, at any time, because, they are the more intelligent set of human beings.
Not wanting to be left out, the Nigerian Labour law states in Section 55 that:
‘...no woman shall be employed on night work in a public or private industrial undertaking or in any branch thereof, or in any agricultural undertaking or any branch thereof.’ (2) Subsection (1) of this section shall not apply to women employed as nurses, in any public or private industrial undertaking or in any agricultural undertaking, nor to women holding responsible positions of management who are not ordinarily engaged in manual labour’.
We believe that this is due to the fact that the primary “work” of a woman is done properly “at night” preferably “in bed”. Although female nurses are exempt from this wonderful clause, female doctors are not (or maybe they were left out because there are NO female doctors in Nigeria!)
The upside of this law is that since there are no laws in place concerning sex work in Nigeria - yes you read that right, sex-work is not illegal in Nigeria( not in the constitution, criminal code or penal code were they mentioned), sex workers are allowed to work during the daytime.
Section 56 of the Act also provides:
(1) Subject to subsection (2) of this section, no woman shall be employed on underground work in any mine.  (2) Subsection (1) of this section shall not apply to:
(a) Women holding positions of management who do not perform manual labour; or 
(b) Women employed in health and welfare services; or
(c) Women who in course of their studies spend a period of training in underground parts of a mine; or
(d) Any other woman who may occasionally have to enter the underground parts of mine for the purpose of a non-manual occupation.
Nigerian women are not allowed to be miners, or archeologists, or cave explorers, except when you’re studying to be a miner or an archeologist, but after your study you may “occasionally” enter the underground parts.
In the criminal code, the indecent assault of a female as a misdemeanour punishable by imprisonment of a statutory maximum of two years (see Section 222 Criminal Code Act Cap 38 LFN). If the girl is thirteen years old, the maximum imprisonment is three years, while the same offence when committed against a male attracts punishment with a term of imprisonment of more than three years.
The above code is the endorsement of the widely held belief that boys are more “important”, more “valuable” than girls, because assaulting a girl can only get you two years imprisonment but if you dare assault a boy, then you’re in for a long haul in the Nigerian prisons system.
In order to make no bones about the position of the ‘Nigerian People’ on domestic violence and child abuse the penal code Section 55. (1) states that “Nothing is an offence which does not amount to the infliction of child, pupil, grievous hurt upon a person and which is done-…”
(d) by a husband for the purpose of correcting his wife such husband and wife being subject to any customary law in which the correction is recognised as lawful.
This is an express permission for wife-beating insofar as it does not cause grievous harm (S55 of the Penal Code). The defence f:-) or reasonable chastisement is that the husband and wife are subject to native law and custom that recognises such corrections.
In Nigerian English, you may beat your wife or child, as long as you do not cause “grievous harm” to them, the question now is, who measures what “grievous harm” is, does it mean you may break an arm or a leg as long as it’s not totally detached from your victim’s body, or is there a specific amount of blood, considered “grievous”?
From the above, it is apparent that Justista has no business adorning our halls of “justice”, the law in Nigeria is blind to equality, Nigerian law is not a lady ... Nigerian law is not a gentleman.

#WhyIStayed – A case for Domestic Violence

One out of three women, worldwide, have experienced violence, and most often from family members ie parents, spouses etc.
Domestic violence was defined by Helpguide.com as “... when one person in an intimate relationship or marriage tries to dominate and control the other person... [using means which] includes physical violence...”
Earlier this month somebody posted on YouTube the recording of a Baltimore Ravens running back, Ray Rice, punching his fiancée, Janay Palmer (now his wife), so hard she became unconscious.
This video sparked outrage all across America, and Ray Rice’s contract with Baltimore Ravens was immediately terminated while the National Football League (ie American football not Soccer) placed him on indefinite suspension. The day following the incidence women across the world, who are (or have been) victims of domestic violence, took to twitter to explain to the world why it took them so long to leave their abusive spouses or why they were still with their abusers.
The debate took an interesting turn when Nigerians on twitter weighed in on the issue, using the hashtag #WhyIStayed #WhyILeft. There were voices claiming that most abused women deserved it and others (mostly women) saying that domestic violence is evil.
This is in face of the fact that a large percentage of Nigerian women aged 15-25 believes that wife beating is justified (91% in the South-West and 93.5% in the South-South *.) and in the penal code there’s a law which says “Women may be beaten as long as bodily harm is not caused.

Signs that you might be in an abusive relationship

The victims of domestic violence are not just spouses, the children of such marriages often experience emotional trauma which lasts into adulthood.
In an interview conducted with Ugo Chime(not-real-name), a public health and policy consultant, who, after the furore on twitter blogged about her experience as a child raised in a home where domestic violence occurred*, Ugo claimed she’d always been conscious of the fact that her parents quarreled a lot, but never saw her father hit her mother until she got to primary three. She also mentioned that her mother claims that was not the first time her father would hit her. Ugo says of her father, “…except for that one episode when it got physical, it was mostly the shouting matches that we endured, and those times it was very scary, we [she, her siblings and her mother] hid away… for the months he was around we watched ourselves, don’t laugh too much, he’d think we are having too much without him, don’t frown, so it doesn’t look like we couldn’t wait for him to go back [to Europe where he was working].”
When asked if her childhood experiences had affected her relationship with her father, she said “… there are so many phases to my relationship with my dad, loads of periods of not speaking and then reconciliations, it isn’t so much what he did in the past that causes the rifts, but what he keeps doing…very hurtful things and sometimes you feel you’ve reached your limit.”
Although Ugo’s parents are now divorced, they were married for thirty years (with a two year break), Ugo’s mother stayed because of her children.
Tokunbo Koiki, a psychologist who is currently a social worker and advocate for women and children’s rights in the UK, did not wait for thirty years before leaving her partner, a Nigerian man born and raised in England.
According to her “The first assault happened, I think after about 4months [of our relationship]. I remember we had gone out then went back to his place, as I often stayed over, he wanted me to cook stew and I didn't want to (can’t remember exactly why as I usually did) Next thing I recall is lying on the floor, in his room, with him using my own hand as a fist to punch me repeatedly. Tried to fight back and my screams were loud enough that a neighbour called the cops and he was arrested and charged ...but within a few weeks I had forgiven him and went for counselling as I was just finishing my psychology degree and about to go off on a gap year to help battered women in South Africa. The irony of life hey!”
“My memory of the whole relationship is hazy but I remember another time we were arguing in the car and he made me so mad I deliberately crashed into a pole (was very hot headed back then).”
When asked what made her decide to leave him she had this to say “... after another fight he was apologising and in the same breath telling me how his ex used to make him so mad he would beat her. I mean here I was, a recent graduate and he didn't even finish school. I knew I had prospects so it was easy to walk away. I cut him off completely and he never contacted me again. I remember next time I saw him was when I had to testify [against him] in court, but he got off.”
Ugo’s mother left after thirty years and Tokunbo’s relationship lasted for seven months, but there are women (and men) still living with their abusers for economic reasons, or are being threatened with more violence, some even believe they love their abusers and are afraid of being isolated or seen as a pariah in the society.
Abuse Circle

Says Tokunbo Koiki “Women need first of all to understand that they are not alone and that they decide to stay does not make them less of a victim nor does it make it okay for family and friends to abandon them.”
Presently, out of the 36 states in Nigeria, only Lagos State has promulgated a law on domestic violence.
Data from a study, published in a British Council report titled “Gender in Nigeria Report 2012: Improving the Lives of Girls and Women in Nigeria, Issues, Policies, Action” shows that in the South-West of Nigeria ,47.5% of 15-24y/o (unmarried) and 43.7%(married or separated) , while in the South-South 33.4% and 28.8% respectively. Which means 92% of women, living in the South-West, and 62% of women living in the South-South of Nigeria experienced violence in 2012.

Violence in the South-West and South-South of Nigeria, 2012

There are many NGO’s working to protect women from domestic violence, and one of the foremost ones is Women Advocates Research and Documentation Center(WARDC).You may contact them at 08180056401 (free and confidentiality is guaranteed) if you have any questions.


*2008 National Demographic Health Survey, NDHS
*http://knottypants.blogspot.com/2014/09/whyistayed-my-mom-stayed-and-for-this.html