VOF Week 4: (WITH YOU BY MY SIDE, I AM ENROUTE)

I crave to be a legendary on sexual violence prevention, response and support, to be the voice for the voiceless in a society where raped girls must be silent or slander. A vision of a community, where children from my village can proudly come up to say these are the parts of my body, I am so proud of myself, A for anus, for B for breast, … P for penis V for vagina and they are not ashamed, where private parts are not given funny names, shroud in secrecy and perpetrators continually thrive with a child’s innocence and trust.

I envisage a world where women and men are just words that denote sexuality and not opportunity, sexual union is a show of love and not lost, reserved for willing adults not for molesting children, between agreed partners not aggrieved ones, a world where war will not turn a uniformed man to an animal who view women as prey for pleasure.

A dream of breeding a generation of new Nigerian men, whereby a woman will comfortably stand in a bus without fear of a man standing behind her, sitting in a car with no reason to cover her sides with her arms, riding a motorcycle with peace of mind where the rider will not intentionally bump into a pothole to feel the breast of a woman.

A country where response to sexual violence is budgeted for and the achievement a national celebration, sexually molested ones can access justice in a court chaired by well trained Judge, my Nigeria where a reported case of sexual violence is handled by an expert female police officer who will not trade the future of a child for paltry in the name of bribery and corruption, where a sex offender can be made to face the consequences of an action irrespective of the financial background of the victim, where there is true criminal justice system and victim advocates recognized.

I envisage a Northern Nigeria where a ten year old girl will not be forced to wash plates and cook for her husband closer to the grave than altar, a five year old girl numbering her days, a father busy eating the dowry of a toddler, where a woman can come out to challenge barbaric, outdated and dejected believes that are impediments to achieving her dreams.

Envisioning a Nigeria, where a world standard rape crisis centre with 24 hour service is available (revealed this week by Commissioner of Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation that at least twenty girls who hawk their mother’s ware were raped in March alone in Lagos, statistics from her department only), a nation with survivor centers where violated willing women and children victim are treated like human beings they really are, where healing stream flows, with offender’s rehabilitation centre not the Juvenile homes entrenched in the Prison services where children offenders go into become crooked irredeemable adults.

Let all imagine editions of World pulse featuring fathers who are exchanging daughters for herds of cow, actual numbers of uneducated girls even with the vision 2015 and the 7 point agenda Nigeria is not working towards yet expecting result, widow’s rite, gender inequality, child labor encouraged by Nigerian government perpetrated by Asian Industrialists, Nigeria’s children witches and wizards in Akwa Ibom State where children are tortured for misfortunes of guardians, supported by fake Pastors, denied by Minister of foreign affairs while we know these are facts, telling the stories as it is and forcing the government to take decisive steps about the toothless.

If availed the opportunity, the training will empower Nigerian women to speak out through me, to liberate my community from the clutches of insensitive policies, in all fairness: fair, fearless female correspondents are great asset to the emancipation of the vulnerable. My vision can become a reality when I unveil the mind of raped women, repair lives through words of encouragement, heal wounded women through articles written from a new angle: of a well trained correspondent, opportune by World Pulse, read across the globe.