The National Assembly of the Federal Republic of Nigeria just passed some bills to become Law. I personally laud them for achieving such milestone because they were long awaited bills Nigerians have been yearning to be passed.

However, my critical attention was drawn to the rape and anti-inc.e.s.t bill that was passed. Let me clarify as a preamble that rape is one crime I immensely detest and even agree that rapists deserve grave punishments such as life imprisonment. Its an abhorrent crime that equals a man to a beast. Be that as it may, it becomes a slippery slope when we start passing bills that its content is ambiguous and the evidence of its existence is subject to manipulations.

Rape is a crime that is difficult to affirm if it really happened just by hearing the complaint of the acclaimed victim. What sophisticated method is in our disposal to detect that a woman was raped or sexually abused?. Checking her private parts for bruises isn't enough proof to affirm the crime happened since anyone can bruise herself and lay the blame on a man with whom unsettled scores exists. Besides, any woman can get bruised through a consensual rough sex and later turn around to declare she was raped. The fundamental flaw is that the conduct at issue is undefined: It is rape because the respondent says it is. Terms like “unwanted sex” focused the respondents on how they felt about the conduct rather than whether they communicated to the male involved that it was unwanted. And the burden on the judiciary is how to establish that there was no consent, whether active or passive. How do that law gets interpreted in a definitive context?. How then do we expect a person to recognize a certain conduct is wrong if that conduct is not properly defined in a context where tangible proofs can be acquired?.

Ince.st on the other hand is a moral affront in a sane community. But where do we begin to draw the lines between passing a law and denying citizens their fundamental human right as to their freedom of sexual choice. If two adult relations consensually agrees to engage in sexual activity, in what way is this the business of the National Assembly?. A conduct being morally wrong doesn't always mean is a crime if there is no element of harm and/or lack of consent involved. It is an abnormal conduct yet doesn't trample on anyone's inalienable right. Same goes for masturbation, homosexuality, etc. An adult should be free to share love, sex, residence, and marriage with any and all consenting adults without being subjected to prosecution, bullying, or discrimination by the state. What a people decides to do with their private parts shouldn't be the business of a National Assembly. When we start passing laws based on religious tenets, we inevitably enter a slippery slope. Even the constitution states it clearly that Nigeria is a secular state that is indifferent to all religions. So why make moral arguments steeped in religious convictions the reason we pass our laws?. This indeed is a new low. I can only advise the National Assembly to not throw caution to the wind when trying to flaunt their moral superiority in the corridors of law.

naija dey funny

In as much as i agree with your opening paragraph, your conclusion is not in conformity with my views. Its the responsibility of law makers to passs laws that will allow mutual coexistence.

mbizzy:
In as much as i agree with your opening paragraph, your conclusion is not in conformity with my views. Its the responsibility of law makers to pass laws that will allow mutual coexistence.

So how does I.n.cest rob humanity of mutual coexistence