Many years ago, I watched a movie called Majority Rule. It featured a US general returning home to a heroic welcome and calls for her to run for president of the United States (I guess because the American political system is tied to a warrior culture). Anyway, this decorated general joins the race and soon discovers that, in some instances, politics is more intense than war and that some of the greatest challenges she faces in becoming the first American female president are convincing women that they are the majority of the country’s population and rallying them to lead what was effectively a democratic coup to place the majority population in power.
Events in Nigeria over the last couple of weeks have highlighted how groups of people have continued to sabotage themselves and their country in both small and grand ways. These events have led me to reflect on the following: Is Senator Natasha Akpoti fighting a cause or sabotaging her political future? Has Senator Neda Imasuen, in his haste to suspend his colleague, torpedoed his own political future? Have the women in Nigeria, or at least some of them, continued to undermine not just their fellow women but also their futures and that of their children?
I wrote last week about the sexual harassment saga in the National Assembly. Since then, the saga has taken a bizarre turn, not for the better. Senator Natasha Akpoti’s sexual harassment petition against the Senate president was declared “dead on arrival” by the chair of the Senate Ethics Committee, Senator Neda Imasuen, who proceeded to submit a recommendation for the suspension of Senator Akpoti.
The terms of the suspension are, to say the least, brutal. Six months, total submission of all national assets in her possession, no salaries for her and her aides (although the NASS magnanimously decided to spare the aides), and neither she nor her aides should be seen anywhere near the NASS. Furthermore, she is not to introduce herself as senator for the next six months. It honestly sounded like the sort of banishment edicts that were prevalent in ancient kingdoms, not a modern democracy in which Senator Akpoti was elected to represent her constituents.
Moreover, the wording of those recommendations sounded severe but not entirely original. It seems that Senator Imasuen, whose committee submitted the recommendation after dismissing Senator Akpoti’s petition, might have been inspired by the language of the notice of his alleged debarment from the New York Bar in 2010.
Apparently, Senator Imasuen had been practising as a lawyer in New York until 2010. He is believed to have left New York in the wake of the alleged debarment, and has been living in Nigeria until he was swept into the Senate on the wave of the Labour Party’s popularity in the 2023 elections.
So, in essence, the man chairing the Senate committee on ethics, the one that refused to consider a petition against Senator Godswill Akpabio for sexual harassment, abuse of office, and malicious obstruction of the legislative functions of distinguished Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, was himself allegedly debarred in the US. As Jesus (alaihissalam) said to the religious leaders asking to stone a woman accused of adultery: “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.”
Senator Imasuen should have remembered that teaching. He may have inadvertently sabotaged himself with his actions that have drawn attention to his sojourn in the US. This has yet again raised questions about the leadership recruitment process in the country. How was he vetted? How was he elected if such record was true?
In the meantime, Senator Natasha has taken her complaint to the International Parliamentary Union, which has internationalised her allegations and the shocking attitude of the National Assembly towards them. The question has been raised as to whether she too is sabotaging herself, her political career, or even the nation. At least on the surface, it appears she doesn’t have many allies in the Senate. None of them appear to be openly siding with her. There could be many reasons for that.
While Senator Akpoti’s history of previous allegations of harassment and inappropriate advances might be undermining the credibility of this new allegation, what we all know to be true is that, often, there are very few safe spaces for women, not only in Nigeria but across the world. Places where advances are made, where they are sexualised or pressured for sex. This could be at school, at work, in public places like markets, etc. Most data reveal that the majority of sexual assault cases occur at or near the victims’ homes. So, where is safe for women? It is true that women are constantly harassed and unwanted advances are made towards them. The scale of the problem is far greater than we recognise.
One year at the Kaduna Arts and Book Festival, a panellist asked any woman in the hall who had been sexually harassed or made to feel sexually unsafe to stand up. To my surprise, nearly all the women in the hall, with hundreds of people present, stood up. Some were young, and some were elderly. Some were public figures; all were decently dressed. Some were highly placed women in society, while others were wives or sisters of highly placed individuals. The problem is pervasive.
Regarding this specific case, however, the reality remains that Senator Akpoti’s allegations are still allegations. Just because she alleges it doesn’t mean that Senator Akpabio is guilty. It only means that the allegations should be considered fairly, and if proven to be true, then appropriate sanctions should be applied. If found to be false, sanctions should be applied to her. This would help create safer spaces for women and men. The Senate has not handled this issue well.
Neither have the women of this country, whose acts of self-sabotage have also manifested in this week of International Women’s Day. Protesters for both Akpabio and Akpoti have suddenly appeared carrying placards. It was clear that, when interviewed by journalists, some of them had no understanding of the issues or parties involved. Some did not even know who they were protesting for or against. As long as Nigerians continue to allow themselves to be used as hired protesters to oppose causes that are detrimental to their own progress, no one, certainly not the scheming politicians, will take them seriously.
The worst case of self-sabotage I have seen, however, has to be those female legislative aides who chose this moment, of all the moments they could have chosen, to present an award to Senator Akpabio for being gender friendly. Another women’s group participated in a women’s day march that had nothing to do with women’s causes but with Akpabio. According to those protests, he was the messiah Nigerian women need and is completely innocent. At least, after I asked in my last column why he never sued Joy Nunieh, who accused him of sexual harassment years ago, reports now say he is planning to sue her. Perhaps the truth of that story will emerge in the end.
As for these women, it seems they are putting their own needs and the goals of International Women’s Day aside to champion certain political or financial interests. No one is saying they must show solidarity with Senator Akpoti, but at the very least, they should wait for the process to see itself through and for Akpabio’s innocence to be proven.
In summary, there seem to be several instances of self-sabotage occurring in this case. There are far too many people willing to allow themselves to be used as cannon fodder in a dispute whose outcome could shape not only gender relations in this country but the political futures of some politicians, who, in trying to push others out of the light, put themselves in the spotlight. What we are seeing does not make for an appealing view.
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