A CONFUSED GENERATION

A permissive sexual culture will give rise to gang rapes, argues Sonnie Ekwowusi

Last week one social media user by the name Michale Mathew alerted the public to what might have been a school gang-rape in which some students of Ireti Grammar School, South-West Ikoyi, Lagos were implicated. In case you missed the Michale sad story, let me briefly do a recap. Michale alleged that on May 4, 2017 she and her son encountered some students of Ireti Grammar School, Falomo, South-West Ikoyi, Lagos gang raping some students of Falomo Senior High School, Ikoyi, Lagos. The Ireti boys had earlier forcefully used scissors to rip off the skirts of the Falomo Senior High School girls before commencing their evil act. What shocked Mathew most was that the incident took place in a broad day light before a motley crowd of onlookers. As the gang rapes were going on in the various groups, some students of the school, Falomo Senior High School and other onlookers did not deem it fit to rescue the girl victims. Instead they were cheering the rapists. Anyway, the Lagos State Government has waded into the alleged rape incidents. At the time of writing, about four students of Ireti Grammar School had been arrested over the alleged rape even though some of the government officials are of the view that the offence committed might have been mere sexual assault and not gang rape.

The above is not surprising. We willed them. We bargained for them. So we should not be seen to be complaining. As long as we continue to promote a permissive sexual culture we would continue to be overwhelmed by teenage gang rapes. Recall that on March 16, 2017 six students of the University of Lagos who allegedly gang-raped their 17-year-old female colleague were arraigned in court. Already cases of teenage rape are now rampart in most family courts in Lagos State. But the tragedy is not the frequent rape cases: the real tragedy is that there is no solution in sight to the rape cases. We are a confused lot. Ours is a generation that seems unable to differentiate sense from nonsense. On one hand, the people of our generation promote teen sexual liberation, but, on the other hand, they complain that teenage rape is rampart. A society reaps what it sows. If our school children are taught in open classroom that self-control is unnecessary, repressive and impossibility and that casual sex makes them feel good all in the name of sex education, how do we expect the students of Ireti Grammar to control themselves? If the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) sees nothing wrong in exposing Nigerian children to TV pornography (even when the NBC law forbids it) why condemn the misbehaviour of these students? If the federal government funds and promotes adolescent sexual reproductive right aimed at luring the Nigerian young into “safe-sex” or telling them that casual sex is their right and therefore they shouldn’t be ashamed to practice it even if the different cultures and religions teach otherwise, why are we surprised that some students of Ireti Grammar School are implicated in an alleged gang rape? A few years ago, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) (which unfortunately has been authorised by the federal government to distribute condoms at NYSC Orientation Camps) went into the NYSC Orientation Camp in Lagos in the morning and distributed condoms to the hapless

INCLUSION WHICH HAS REMAINED ELUSIVE, MUST MEAN THAT HOPE RETURNS TO EVERY VILLAGE AND HUMAN SETTLEMENT IN EQUAL MEASURE. EACH WITH ITS FULL COMPLIMENT AS IT IS, WITH EVERY CELL OF THE HUMAN BODY

corpers there. Then, in the evening of the same day, a male corper and a female corper were caught by the NYSC security agents misbehaving with the condoms. The next day the NYSC Camp authorities met and expelled the two corpers from the camp. The logical question at that time was: If UNICEF gave the corpers the condoms, why expel the two corpers for misbehaving with the condoms?

Point is we are the cause of the damage being done to our children. We are the architects of the destruction of our children. So, we cannot be seen to be complaining. Volenti non fit injuria (To the consenting, no harm is done). A youth is a property of a generation, a possession of humanity itself. It is in young people that the hope and optimism of tomorrow is better lived and nourished. Secondary school education, in particular, is the core foundation of the educational system. But regrettably the Nigerian youths are wasting away under the watch of Nigerian political leaders and Nigerian parents. To begin with, most public secondary schools in Nigeria are in complete ruin. The alleged gang rapes involving students of Ireti Grammar School, Ikoyi, Lagos attest to the ruin that has overtaken public schools in Nigeria. As we speak, the teachers of 11 Federal Government Colleges including King’s College, Lagos and Queen’s College, Yaba, Lagos are on strike over non-payment of their four months salaries. The paradox is that the same government which complains that the school pupils lack character is complicit in the damaging of the character of school pupils. Why will the school pupils not lack character when the school is destroying their character? I remember now that a few years ago some teachers were hired and paid N20,000 each to move into public secondary schools in Nigeria and demonstrate to the students how to put on condoms with the aid of rubber penis and rubber vagina. So, you can see how deep we have sunk. We seem not realise that we have sunk so deep. In the past emphasis was placed on character-based education. Unfortunately today we are neglecting the character-based education despite the fact that many of the oldies were beneficiaries of a character-based educational system. The consequence of this gross negligence is that we are churning out school graduates who are rapists, armed robbers, kidnappers, ritualists, and so on.

Therefore in the light of the alleged gang rape involving some students of Ireti Grammar School, Ikoyi, Lagos, the federal government should reassess its role in education. Is it not true that oftentimes government pretends that it can offer quality education when in fact it lacks the competence to do so? Government should be sincere about its commitment to education. It should know when to hand over the schools to private hands or to the missionaries which can run them competently. In educational formulation including drawing up school curricula and syllabi government should learn to seek the advice and collaboration of education experts. Since education, especially primary and secondary school education, is the most potent vehicle for integral development of any country, government should invest heavily in qaulity education in order to remedy the present tragedy which has befallen our education sector.