Senator Ekaette's speech

Below is the transcript of Nigeria's answer to Mary Whitehouse, Senator Ekaette's speech to the Senate last week. All spelling and grammatical errors are in the original.

Lead debate on the Bill for an Act to Prohibit and Punish Public Nudity, Sexual Intimidation and Other related offences in Nigeria

By Senator Eme Ufot Ekaette, MFR

Restoring Human Dignity

Mr President, Distinguished Colleagues, I sincerely express my appreciation for this honour to lead the debate on the general principle of the Bill for an Act to Prohibit and Punish Public Nudity, Sexual Intimidation and, Other Related Offences in Nigeria. This bill was read the first time in this Chamber on the 17th October 2007.

Over the years, I have watched helplessly as our society degenerate from a community of people with very high values, morals, self-esteem/respect, dignity of the human person, upright family values/upbringing etc to a state of near-madness, collapse of moral values, tolerance of immorality and all forms of decadence of social ethics which uphold the dignity of the human person. I am happy that now, GOD has given me the golden opportunity to steer the partnership with you, Distinguished Senators, on the project for the RESTORATION OF HUMAN DIGNITY.

As a woman and a mother whom God Almighty has given special privileges, I have tried at every opportunity to emphasize a regeneration of societal moral values which guarantee dignity of manhood and indeed womanhood. Religious organizations day after day have preached and reiterated the need for the obedience to the laws of the Almighty God particularly with respect to public decency. Yet what we see every moment is a total negation of the injunctions as contained in our Holy Books.

Recently, we have received reports of arrest and harassment of females and males on account of indecent dressing by our security agencies. While we cannot condone acts of jungle justice, we appreciate the near state of madness to which public lewdness has attained. Today, even the most disciplined Clergyman could have his/her conscience polluted by acts of indecent dressing or public nudity in every place in our society. The hearts and thoughts of our young men and women are polluted also with images and scenes of public lewdness at everywhere we do turn to, such that at every minute, they are seduced and have to battle with reflections of obscenity in their mind.

If the prevalence of public nudity is allowed to completely annihilate our age-long values of very high morals, we would be forced to all wear iron jeans trousers with padlocked belts to avoid being raped or sexually assaulted. God forbid!

In my desperation to find a redress for these moral decadence, I was forced to examine the laws of various advanced democracies of the world and other highly religious nations. The laws of the United States of America, the Great Britain, Canada, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Israel, Germany, India, China, etc. It was surprising to note that all these countries have laws prohibiting and punishing public nudity or lewdness. For example, there exist in the law of the various countries status which prohibit lewdness and public nudity viz:
a. Public Lewdness and Indecent Exposure Act in Texas, Dallas – the USA;
b. Public Lewdness (Class B) Misdemeanor (State of Florida)
c. Offences against Public Sensibilities (New York City Penal Code 241)
d. Prohibition of Public Lewdness Statute (India)
e. Offences of Public Lewdness and Indecent Exposure (England)

The Bill we are considering today, contain clauses directly lifted and blended to suit our peculiarities. I took the pains to examine our laws and penal codes in force, and I could not find a prohibition or punishment for the social crime such as public nudity, public lewdness or nakedness. As the saying goes, where a practice is not prohibited, those who engage in the practice have not erred. Because there is not law against public nudity, public lewdness or public nakedness in Nigeria, people could decide to go naked in the name of fashion. This law is not intended to do any new thing; rather it is intended to arrest the ugly situation of public nakedness that we have all condemn. Let us please pas the law.

I have had to stop and think very soberly on the implication of this Bill on our Constitutionally guaranteed human rights – our right to personal liberty and all other fundamental human rights. However, I discovered very interestingly that we stated unequivocally at the beginning of the preamble of our Constitution 1999 as follows:

WE THE PEOPLE of the Federal Republic of Nigeria:
HAVING firmly and solemnly resolved:
TO LIVE in unity and harmony as one indivisible and indissoluble Sovereign Nation UNDER GOD….

We are a people under God Almighty; we should therefore live under his laws, commandments, injunctions and statues. We – Distinguished Senators of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, in this Hallowed Chambers, are Christians, Muslims or Traditionalists, all subject to the Almighty God. All of us are on the side of the Almighty God. Let us please pass this Bill to reinculcate the morals in our society, to stop the negation of our family values and restore the dignity of womanhood and indeed the dignity of manhood.

Do I need to debate on the necessity of the sexual intimidation clauses contained in this Bill. We hear on daily basis the cries of our daughters and even our sons who are sexually intimated at the Tertiary Institutions and even at other levels of education and the workplace. We send them to school, labour with sweat to pay their fees, they study hard only to fail because they refuse to make their bodies sex machines to satisfy the lust of some irresponsible lecturers. They suffer to write employment test, pass with flying colours only to be dropped because they refuse to give in sexually. Some of us who were Lectures know how many times we have been sexually seduced by our students and made to rubbish our hard earned reputations.

Many people suffer sexual harassments. It includes all unwanted and offensive behaviours, whether physical or verbal, in which an individual uses sexuality to violate another’s liberty and dignity. It expresses itself through verbal intimidation, embarrassing attention, unwanted physical contact and demands for sexual favours. As a result most men and women have had to leave their jobs with much bitterness, while others have had to lower their standard of morality and indulge in humiliating acts of sexual gratification just to keep their jobs or be promoted.

Should such ugly incidents and practices continue? NO, IT SHOULD INDEED NEVER CONTINUE.

We need this law, our children need this law and the generations yet unborn will be grateful to us all. Thank you, Members of the hallowed Chambers of the Senate.


Senator Eme Ufot Ekaette, MFR
Chairman
Committee on Women Affairs, Social Welfare and Youth Development
Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria