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Bride Burning

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 BRIDE BURNING Yes, it is as gruesome as it sounds.  Yes, it is real. Yes, a bride is doused with a flammable liquid and set alight. According to Wikipedia, Bride burning is a form of domestic violence practiced in countries on or around the Indian Subcontinent. e.g India, Pakistan, Bangladesh e.t.c. However, the highest number of cases are recorded in India. You might be wondering, ‘ Why would anyone want to burn his bride?’ The short answer for this is MONEY . So, a young woman is murdered by her husband or his family due to her family’s refusal to pay additional dowry. Hence, the common term ‘ DOWRY DEATH’ . You might be wondering what a dowry is. According to the Oxford dictionary, a Dowry is an amount of property or money brought by a bride to her husband on their marriage. Payment of dowries have long been prohibited in India (since 1961) yet families still pay and expect to be paid them. Dowry harassment is a form of torture or abuse in an attempt to earn more money or goods fro
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The Weaker Vessel

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 You've probably read or heard about the famous Bible verse ' 1 Peter 3:7'  and if you haven't, well this is what it says: "Husbands, likewise, dwell with them with understanding, giving honor to the wife, as to the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers may not be hindered" (NKJV) Many people have interpreted this Bible verse to mean that Women and weaker than men. But what did Peter really mean? Peter calls wives “weaker vessels” because he wants husbands, not necessarily to pity them, but to be more understanding with their wives.  Ancient women were, with few exceptions, disadvantaged economically, legally, politically. They had less power and fewer rights in society than men. Peter wanted husbands to be considerate of the more vulnerable situation of their wives so that they would take care not to exploit them. He implied that wives should be treated with great care. The same way you would treat something delica
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The 'Superior' Gender

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 I remember the stressful days of Chemistry practicals when I was in secondary school. After the practical, the teacher in charge (let's just call him Mr. Jide) would ask us to stay back to clean up the laboratory. Mr. Jide would divide us into groups of five and he would give us specific apparatus to return to the storeroom. We would do this. All of us. Girls and boys alike. Then came the issue of sweeping the laboratory. Mr. Jide, ignorant as he was, would ask the boys to leave, and when he was challenged by us, the girls, he would say  "Boys aren't supposed to sweep. That's a girl's job. Have you ever seen your father sweeping?" This happened every time we had chemistry practicals. This experience made me wonder what made boys better than us, than me. Most of the boys would agree with Mr. Jide and would go back to their classrooms smirking. A few would however beg to differ and would even sweep the laboratory. I still remember this and it saddens me that mo
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The Sad Reality of Child Marriage

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  Child marriage. This is sadly not an unfamiliar topic.  In fact, as a Nigerian, I hear about two cases of child marriage per week (on the average), but how common is child marriage, globally? According to the UN, 37,000 girls under 18 are married EACH DAY and 1 in 3 girls in the developing world are married before 18 and 1 in 9 are married before 15. This is heartbreaking........ Suddenly, a girl is forced to make an impromptu transition into adulthood and most of the time, motherhood. She is denied the joys of childhood. A child has to nurse a child. Her education comes to an abrupt end and she loses her voice. She is at high risk of domestic violence and frequent, life-threatening pregnancies. But what can she really do?  Her custodians know "what is good for her" and she gets no say in the most important decision of her life. Her health dwindles, her child or children are left motherless and if female(s), she/they are thrust into "marriage", continuing the vic
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The Fate of The Girl Child in a Prejudiced Society

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 What is the fate of the girl child, and in the midst of this lawlessness, what hope does she have? How sure is she that she wouldn't be raped on her way to school or maybe the market, or even in church? Or what assurance does she have that her parents would not decide to take her out of school simply because 'a woman's education ends in the kitchen'. She's constantly told that she is worthless.  Maybe not pointedly, but her teachers and even parents tell her she's supposed to be seen and not heard, she's supposed to always be behind the boys, her life has no meaning if she doesn't have a man in it. What does Nigeria have to say about the countless girls, ladies and women it has failed? Vera Uwaila Omozua would never get her degree. Azeezat Somuyiwa did not get to meet her baby. Barakat Bello , Umoren Iniobong,Ngozi Eze, Becky Mahmud ..... the list goes on and on. And countless others who are too scared to speak up because society would probably blame
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