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    Sunday, March 02, 2008

    Indecent dressing bill...What's next!!!


    In a country, where 2/3rds of the population are poor, armed robbery is on the rise, community clashes escalate, and corruption is the word of the day, a senator claims that indecent dressing is the root of all evil.

    In Nigeria, Senator Eme Ekaette has proposed a bill on 'Indecent dressing'. She is of the view that ‘If you want to wear something, I believe that there are certain parts of the body that must be covered. You cannot go naked in the name of fashion.’ She goes further to say that her bill ‘will address issues of indecency and immorality’ and that she aims for the ‘preservation of cultural norms and values’. She added: ‘we are seeing a lot of moral decadence in the society today’.

    This idea is absolutely brilliant, send the indecent dressers to jail and preserve our cultural values...What has politics become? You'd think that a legislator would be pay attention to economic and development laws. This bill, if passed would be another means for women in Nigeria to be discriminated. This would lead to an increase in unlawful arrest and sexual molestation of women, I mean who decides what indecent dressing is.

    Well, what really amazes me here is, I'd expect Senator Ekaette to propose bills to protect our already vulnerable young women or propose bills on corruption, bad leadership and poverty which are the root causes of strife in Nigeria. While militants take over our cities and rural communities, Senator Ekaette is more concerned with indecent dressing rather than how to provide jobs and meaningfully engage our youths.

    Something to note here is, Senator Ekaette is from the Niger Delta region of Nigeria, a region that has experienced years of profound injustice from oil exploration and disproportionate allocation of federal funds. Or could it be that people just don't get it, 'indecent dressing' is definitely the cause of the hunger and strife in the Delta region. How could we miss that!!!

    There are laws, institutions and agencies and NGo's that tackle morals and value orientation, if they are not enough, we have countless religious institutions. I am sure that I am not the only one seeing the deception and inadequacies of this bill. If people want to make a mark, do something positive and creative, think your idea through before you say it, or even worse, propose it as a bill. Thank goodness we have Women in power who are tackling serious issues, there's Professor Dora Akunyii of NAFDAC, who is absolutely effective to name a few.

    This evening, I watched 'Footprints in the Sand', a new music video by 'Leonna Lewis', and I must have shed a tear. There are so many hungry children in Africa, Our continent is riddled with HIV, we need people who would wake up, make money and put their finances to good use. Build free schools, hospitals, orphanages, etc and help the less fortunate in your community.

    The solution is simple, VOTE JAMIE FOR PRESIDENT. Nigeria needs a revival, Africans need a revolution, and it is up to us, the young generation to make this change. Even Barrack Obama knows how important change is, I definately cannot be president right now, but I can start initiating change in my own way.

    WATCH THIS SPACE...