BETWEEN YARIMA AND PHILLIP akpan

To underscore his audacity, the culprit in this dark drama, a church worker called Phillip Akpan, is even entertaining the police and the wider public with a sub-plot. Having confessed to the sordid offence, he said he slept with his daughter “only twice”; and even then only because she seduced him by taking advantage of […]

To underscore his audacity, the culprit in this dark drama, a church worker called Phillip Akpan, is even entertaining the police and the wider public with a sub-plot. Having confessed to the sordid offence, he said he slept with his daughter “only twice”; and even then only because she seduced him by taking advantage of his vulnerability.

Disgusting! Repulsive! Abominable! Choose your adjective; chances are that you’ve heard of something similar in the past and sooner or later, you would get to hear about something similar happening again—or even worse! Sometime last year, an elderly man in Kano stood before a magistrate court and confessed to the same sexual perversion; there are arguably many more similar cases that were never exposed for fear that the victim might suffer social stigma which effect could even be psychologically deadlier than the actual physical assault. So the ones we know are perhaps only a fraction of the whole; the ‘unlucky’ ones that got caught.

So, if this terrible behavior that even some species of animals shy away from is becoming routine, why bother? Valid question; and here is the answer: Because of the controversy surrounding the marriage of Senator Ahmed Sani, the Yarima (Prince) of Bakura and former Governor of Zamfara state. A few months ago, Sani married an Egyptian girl whose age was put at 13 under very controversial circumstances. The details of the controversy of that marriage are so well known, are in fact still unfolding, to require repeating here.

But it is necessary to establish a connection between the Yarima controversy and the latest case of incest in Lagos. Both the girl violated by her own father and the girl Yarima married are under 18 years of age; so by legal definition, they are both considered as minors.  If Yarima’s Egyptian bride had been 18, or even 17 years old, few people would have cared whether he married her from Mars or from Egypt, or how much he paid for her dowry. In Nigeria, the Child Rights Act of 2003, forbids marriage and or sexual relations with minors. In that respect, both Yarima and the Phillip Ben have questions to answer before the law.

Timing is also of some consequence here; the Lagos incest story broke the same week that the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) was demanding that as part of atonement for marrying a minor, Yarima must leave the Nigerian Senate. The two cases are therefore, unfolding almost at the same time, that is at a time when public interest is high on the subject matter. It is also instructive that just as Yarima quickly ran and hid behind his religion, Mr Ben also has been calling on Jehovah to intervene between him and the daughter he has confessed to sleeping with and has admitted to impregnating.

But somehow and very curiously too, the amount of outrage that the two cases are generating seems to be at variance with common sense. Here is a man, 37 years of age, in full control of his senses, committing several heinous crimes simultaneously: Rape, incest and child abuse. For whatever reason, the entire nation which is being so vociferous, so merciless against another of its citizen for daring to get married to a 13-year-old is treating the incestuous father as if he has merely cheated on his mistress. There is something equally heinous about this national display of double standards.

For the record, this column had taken the position that even though Yarima’s marriage to a 13-year old girl is not unlawful in Islam, the senator could have spared himself and his religion the vicious flak they are getting by taking greater cognizance of his social status and the prevailing atmosphere under which the marriage was contracted. If he had sought the advice of some learned and honest Muslim scholars, Yarima probably could have done things differently than the way he did. Even though lawful, this column still maintains that Yarima ought to have taken account of another equally important Tradition of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) which says that: “None of you is a complete Muslim unless he likes for others what he likes for himself”. Does he, would he, marry-off his daughters at the age of 13 years?

A lot of readers had sent in reactions to the position taken by this column on the Yarima controversy, some moderate others extreme; in due course these comments will be published here. But in the meantime, it is necessary to inquire into the real motives of those who have risen in a loud and ruthless condemnation of Yarima and the religion that gives him the right to marry a girl as young as 13. When the Yarima case became public, dozens of civil rights and advocacy groups, individuals and non-governmental organizations rose up in a united, almost coordinated condemnation of what they variously described as child abuse, cradle theft etc.

Indeed, as of this moment, Yarima is in fact under investigations by the appropriate authorities and in danger of being jailed. Surprisingly all the groups that are threatening to roast Yarima alive appear to have lost their voices and their conscience in the case of Phillip Ben who repeatedly raped and even impregnated his own 12-year old daughter. Rightly or wrongly, the shameless attitude of these so called civil rights activists is giving substance to the claim by some Muslims that Islam, rather than Yarima, is the real target of their angst.

What a pity, if that were so. Even more worrying is the fact that this conspiracy appears to be present in all the critical sectors of the society, including the media which should otherwise, be the last resort of all men and women who have nowhere else to turn to. Is this Egyptian girl whom everybody is having tantrums over her future more important and more human than the helpless Nigerian girl that has been more grievously assaulted by her own farther?

Some may argue, even more hypocritically, that in both cases, the law is already taking its course; but the problem is not about what the law is doing or not doing. The problem is about the public reaction and influence on what the law should do or not do. There is very little doubt that the Senate, the House of Representatives, the National Human Rights Commission were all influenced in their reaction to the Yarima issue by the public outcry against what Yarima did. Why is there such a deafening silence even where a more serious offence has been committed?

No nation develops or progresses through hypocrisy; nations grow and develop through courageous and honest self-appraisal. It is common knowledge that as Nigerians, we have all indulged in various kinds of self-delusion; but by and large, we have been subtle about it. But now, our hypocrisy is becoming brazen. We no longer seem to be even embarrassed at being caught cheating in the way we judge each other. That is the real danger posed by the double standards with which we have chosen to view the Yarima and the Phillip Ben cases.