Baba Ijesha and a million crosses 

A Few weeks ago, an issue which had become very controversial revolving around a popular comedian and a member of Nollywood, Olonrewaju James aka Baba Ijesha was drawn to a conclusion as the accused was sentenced to sixteen years in jail though he would spend only five years serving his term since his guilty verdicts are to run concurrently.

The judgement brought to an end an issue that dragged on for a while drawing both supporters and opponents each with different rounds of accusations, arguments and counterarguments. It was an issue that generated so much controversy perhaps because it was the first of its kind in the history of the entertainment industry in Nigeria, perhaps exposing some of the rot in an industry with a wide spectrum of patronage.

But Nigeria is a land of confounding ironies. The case for which Baba Ijesha went down has to do with allegations of having an amorous dealing with a minor. There was indeed a video clip in which the accused was caught on camera drawing the victim very close to himself in a sort of enforced romance. Another story has it that he had actually violated the same girl when she was barely seven years old. In short, the accused was found guilty by a court of competent jurisdiction and sentenced accordingly thereby laying to rest a case in which a large segment of the society had taken interest and also followed very closely.

It is doubtful if Baba Ijesha’s lawyers would wish to appeal the landmark judgement which caught almost everyone unawares. Most people had thought that the accused, due to his popularity, would be treated as a first offender and treated with some leniency. But it was also a case prosecuted by the state to send a strong warning to everyone on the state’s stance on the child rights law.

However, maybe what has happened in this issue is a case of someone carrying the cross of an offence committed secretly by millions of other people. The lesson of life is such that something others do and go scot-free easily becomes the albatross for those not so fortunate who is made the scapegoat. In this case, therefore, Baba Ijesha is no more than a pitiable scapegoat whose issue may now be a deterrent to others.

Most children are deflowered at very tender age by those in whom their parents reposed much confidence and trust, and the parents never ever get to know about it. Sometimes, the same uncle who is engaged by parents to assist their children and wards in private lessons arrangement are the major culprits and there is hardly anywhere to turn without such stories making the rounds even though in most cases, those really concerned are always oblivious until sometimes when the perpetrators are no longer within their reach.

Sometimes, those posted to schools either as ad-hoc staff or for national service are the ones defiling the minors without any consequences because the society overlooks such misdemeanor as normal and even most parents are too busy to find out whatever goes on around their children and wards.

The trend has gone on for too long and the only solution is possibly to start subjecting pupils to virginity tests before they cross to the secondary schools. Such practice, if adopted, will give children who fall victims the boldness and courage to disclose whoever their abusers are leading to their arrests and that will go a long way to deter those with such condemnable and reprehensible habit.

Sometimes too, poverty is at the root of what minors undergo regularly in a society like Nigeria. Inability of parents to provide basic necessities of life for their children and wards makes them susceptible to various traps and most of them get easily defiled by those who  exploit their poor conditions thoroughly. However, the same virginity test on minors will always expose all irresponsible adults behind such evil acts and such revelation will deal a devastating blow to their camp once and for all.

There is a particular region in Nigeria where it is almost a culture to feast on minors. Children are hardly weaned before they are married off to those old enough to be their grandparents and everyone watches on without batting an eyelid. Some years back, a governor who was also a major crusader for the implementation of sharia got married to a thirteen-year-old girl and none of his compatriots over there ever saw any harm in it. It’s a shame most of such violation of the rights of the child can go on unchallenged and it is now a culture. Most times, the unfortunate girls are later abandoned and forced into the streets as beggars and their babies swell the ranks of out-of-school children. Many of such vulnerable lot are easy recruits for terrorism and suicide bombings.

If Nigeria exists as a country, the same child rights laws should be applicable in every  part of the country and those in the habit of defiling minors, whoever they are, should be properly sanctioned. The prison term should not therefore be for Baba Ijesha alone and from now henceforth, all those found culpable must be brought to book.

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Oyewusi the coordinator of Ethics Watch International wrote in from Lagos