What are Edo girls doing in Italy? By Hope Eghagha.

Sex Workers.

The immediate motivation for writing this essay is an old video which I re-watched recently from ‘A Night of a Thousand Laughs’ in which Comedian Basket Mouth referred to Edo girls as being interested only in the ‘International League’ with their corporate headquarters in Italy. He had lampooned Calabar and Yoruba ladies drawing from popular, street mythologies and ended with Benin girls’ penchant for prostitution in foreign lands. Of course the alliterative ‘doh sir doh ma doh papa doh uncle’ was amusing and the audience did not fail the performer. They broke into wild laughter – you see ashawo no be work!

It was a serious joke about an entire ethnic group, an ethnic group which has one of the oldest and strongest, respectable and very traditional monarchies in Nigeria, an ethnic group that confronted the imperial Britain in the twilight of its reign over the entire world. Often when a joke is at one’s expense it is not considered funny by the target. One of the attractions of comedy is that it pokes fun at serious issues in a lighthearted manner. Beneath the joke, the fun, and the laughter a message is passed on. One of the reactions is to change the existing conditions which stirred the barbs in the first place. On the positive side, I do remember that the First Lady during Governor Lucky Igbinedion years in Government House Benin initiated a project to repatriate girls from Italy. I don’t have any record that the Comrade Adams Oshiomhole administration continued with the project. So what went wrong? What has gone wrong?

What went wrong between 1897 when Oba Ovonranwen Nogbaisi boldly confronted European exploitation and 2017 that his future subjects have volunteered themselves as tools of pleasure in the hands of European sexual predators? What has compelled mothers and daughters to connive in the debauchery that is prostitution in faraway Italy and other European capitals? What has, what can the Edo State government do to clear this stigma from the once proud Edo people? What role has the Nigerian government in restoration? Why is Italy a preferred destination? These may be academic questions because as we ‘speak’ the dubiously profitable trade is going on between Benin and Italy!

In some major Italian cities and across Europe there are hundreds if not thousands of ladies of African ancestry who practice the night trade, subtly referred to as ‘commercial sex workers’. I am reliably informed that they are all over South Africa these days, working hard with their sexual organs in order to repatriate funds back home. It is a nice way of saying that they are doing ‘ashawo’ work! As an aside I remember Osita Osadebe’s 1970s hit song ‘Ashawo no be work’, a song which it made it clear that ‘ashawo na management! But our current ladies see it as ‘work’. A variant of it is euphemisms such as ‘runs girls’ or ‘call girls’, ‘pleasure ladies’, ‘pay as you go ladies.’

Sadly, a high percentage of them are from Nigeria, with the highest concentration coming from Edo State. All kinds of reasons have been adduced for the upsurge in the number of ladies who have ventured into this dubious trade. The major reason so far advanced is an economic hardship or lack of access to economic advancement opportunities. To be sure the prostitution network is a vicious and powerful one, with connections from major cities in Europe, Asia and America. It involves trickery and deception, inducement, fetish objects, intimidation, manipulation, abduction, exploitation, and sexual exploitation. It is a million dollar enterprise that makes the string pullers rich. But it is often done in the dark, just as the patrons and traffickers remain in the dark. The only people who never really get rich are the victims of sex trafficking, though some manage to break free and remit monies home to buy property or sell cars.

The madams who come soliciting for girls to work in Europe or wherever are not women of virtue. They are essentially businesswomen. The new dimension which the Edo experience has shown is that some mothers are in the know. They are privy to sending their daughters to make money and send back home in order to lift the family out of poverty. It is true that some gullible ones leave Nigeria without the correct knowledge about life in Europe. But judging by the level of information in the public space, the percentage of those who believe that decent jobs await them in Italy must be negligible.

The route to Europe is not a pleasant one. From when they take off from Nigerian borders by road through the desert till they get to North Africa and cross over to Italy there are different hazards. Some get killed by robbers. Some are stranded in North African cities, used as slaves. I got communication from a friend who lives in Mauritania that some Nigerian girls are a source of constant embarrassment to everyone. They are kept in chains by masters of the game.

In the prostitution chain human life means nothing, that is, it is easily expendable. The objective is profit. The cigar-smoking baron or the voluptuous Madame in a mansion in say Paris, London, Lagos, Benin, Brussels or Milan, does not do the dirty work. The foot soldiers who do not know the big bosses directly do the dirty job. The security men who give protection are also part of the chain. Invariably there is money for everyone. Everyone is happy but humanity is further debased and values destroyed.

In interrogating this subject of what Edo girls are doing in Italy I would like to reference Bernard Shaw’s play Mrs. Warren’s Profession in which the playwright argues that it is difficult to preach morality to persons who are disenfranchised institutionally. Certainly, the Bini ladies (along with their compatriots from other ethnic groups), must enjoy high patronage in Italy. Benin City in the 70s was a place to be in. Sporting activities, entertainment, and career jobs were available. It was the same in Nigeria generally. The term or the practice of ‘ashawo’ was taboo. But suddenly values were upturned.

Added to this, was the declining economic fortunes of Edo State and the rest of the country. Some powerful Madame emerged in Edo State and promoted the narrative of ‘making it abroad’. As they repatriated funds and opened car shops and hotels, it became fashionable to send girls abroad to learn the trade and get into the big league.

The Edo State government working with NANTIP should enter into a restoration projection. Some of the ladies are trapped in Italy and some other countries and cannot return. Special centres should be created for the returnees and the Edo State government should quickly respond by creating jobs for the youth.

Most of the ladies are indebted to the Madame who trafficked them. Repayment is a forever thing. It is the second stage of enslavement. It is a continuation of the exploitation which Europe perfected to build their cities and infrastructure. This time, however, our girls appear to benefit from the trade at the risk of losing their health and lives. Our governments at different levels should embark on a programme that would prick the dead conscience of our people. The message should be ‘Ashawo no be work!

Biafra: Convene Sovereign National Confab now – BIM.

ABA – Biafra Independence Movement, BIM, has called on the federal government to urgently convene a sovereign national confab to give an opportunity to component units in the country to determine their future.

The group accused the federal government of using brute force to keep component units in the country together against their will, adding that it is a matter of time before the nation disintegrates.

BIM’s National Director of Information, Sunny Okereafor, who stated this in Aba, lamented that the launch of the Operation Python Dance II exercise has exposed the federal government’s bias in handling issues concerning the South East and South South zones of the country.

“We cannot continue to be part of a forced union, the federal government should urgently convene a sovereign national conference to allow these component units determine if they want to be part of the federation or not. No forced marriage can last.

There can’t be different laws for the same people. From the launch of operation python dance II exercise, it is clear that the President Muhammadu Buhari is determined to use force to suppress the agitation for an independent state of Biafra.

“MASSOB/BIM will no longer accept this double standard where the murderous Fulani herdsmen and Boko Haram are tolerated while Biafra groups agitating for independence must be killed. Fulani herdsmen have wrecked havoc, killing farmers and raping women in Nimbo Uzo Uwani, Agatu, and other places, yet no operation python was declared.

“The entire Southern Kaduna was almost wiped off; there was no Army to declare operation python. There is no crisis in the South East zone to warrant the setting of operation python. It is all part of the larger plot by Buhari to continue to intimidate, marginalize, suppress and kill people of the zone.”

BIM warned Igbo youths to b

e cautious and refrain from playing into the hands of what it described as the enemies of Biafra, who will not hesitate to massacre them under the guise of keeping peace in the zone.

The post-Biafra: convene sovereign national confab now – BIM appeared first on Vanguard News.

STATEMENT BY SENATE PRESIDENT BUKOLA SARAKI.

Bukola Saraki

Following the clash between the military and members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), I hereby call for calm and restraint by all Nigerians so that we would all jointly find the right solution to the current problem rather than worsening the crisis.

Our brothers and sisters in the South-east, in particular, should continue to maintain peace and tranquility and go about their lawful business. This crisis will not benefit anybody but would only expose innocent people to unwarranted danger.

At this point, Nigerians outside the South-east who have worked to ensure that the crisis does not spread to other parts of the country deserve our commendation. I, therefore, call for continued efforts to sustain peace, unity, and stability in all our communities so as to ensure that all residents, no matter their religion, tribe, and creed remain protected and safe under the law.

It is also important that commentators and purveyors of information on all media platforms should be conscious of the need, at all times, to maintain the unity of the country. Therefore, they must refrain from circulating information that has the potential for aggravating the crisis. We should all realize, as individuals and as a collective, that Nigeria is all we have and it is in our individual and collective interests that we do not stoke the fire of crisis and fan the embers of discord through the message we are spreading. We must all protect and strengthen our country rather than contribute to her collapse and disintegration.

I also wish to state that the announcement of the proscription of the group known as Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) by Governors of the South-east states and the categorization of the group as a 'terrorist organization' by the Nigerian military is unconstitutional and does not follow due process. Our laws make clear provisions for taking such actions and without the due process being followed, such declaration cannot have an effect. I am sure the President will do the needful by initiating the right process. This will go a long way in demonstrating to the world at large that we are a country that operates by laid down process under every circumstance. So, those who have been hammering on this point should maintain their cool.

We must commend the military for their efforts in restoring peace to different parts of the country and sustaining the unity of the country. However, in the face of provocation, the military should allow themselves to be guided by their training which emphasizes respect for human rights, even in war. Also, giving the nature of this particular situation, the military has every reason to be hesitant in the use of force.

Also, it is my view that we should not over-stretch the military. We need to protect our military against dissipation of their fighting strength. And this means we need to strengthen the police and equip them with the capacity to deal with the civil crisis. That is why we, in the National Assembly, are already reviewing the Police Act and also looking at the possibility of enabling other para-military agencies to help in curbing civil unrest and maintenance of law and order.

I want to also make it clear that the National Assembly intends to embark on a fact-finding investigation aimed at determining what actually happened during the period of the military exercise in the South-east. We want to be able to sift the facts from the fiction and determine who did what. It is quite clear that all the facts are not yet known. We assure Nigerians that there will be no cover-up. We intend to lay the facts bare.

On a long-term, we want to remind Nigerians that the reason for embarking on constitution review by the National Assembly was to enable us to look into issues that are agitating the minds of Nigerians and creating tension among us. We have promised that the exercise would be continuous. We intend to keep that promise by further taking decisions that would strengthen and improve our structures. The Eighth National Assembly, on resumption, will play its constitutional role by addressing all those issues that are agitating the minds of our people and over which they feel so strong. I appeal to all our people to always direct their grievances to the right channels.

Let me further reiterate the need for all leaders of thought -political. religious and traditional- to continue to engage with our people on the need to maintain peace and be our brothers' keepers.