The Tragedy of Misorientation and Warped Values

In May, 2011, the then head of the IMF, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, was accused of sexually assaulting and attempting to rape a chambermaid at a New York hotel. The maid, a 32-year-old immigrant from Guinea, said that Strauss-Kahn attacked her in his room while she was cleaning.

In a written statement, Strauss-Kahn announced that he’d devote all his energy to fighting sexual assault charges against him. “It is with infinite sadness that I feel compelled today to present to the executive board my resignation from my post of managing director of the IMF," his letter to International Monetary Fund reads. "I want to protect this institution which I have served with honor and devotion and especially – especially – I want to devote all my strength, all my time and all my energy to proving my innocence," he said.

On June 9, 2016, the US Ambassador to Nigeria, James Entwistle, petitioned the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara, alleging that actions of three Nigerian lawmakers at the International Visitor Leadership Programme in Cleveland, Ohio, USA, from 7th to 13th April, 2016, brought disrepute to the parliament by soliciting for sex from prostitutes and grabbing a hotel housekeeper in a bid to rape.

Consider the dynamics in each of these two scenarios. In the first instance, a powerful global figure who commanded the respect of world leaders was destroyed by the accusation of a chambermaid on immigrant status. In our second instance, a lowly housekeeper and parking lot attendant received the attention and protection of a consulate, which has refused to back down and/or be intimidated by what they clearly regard as puerile threats from the accused lawmakers in the face of glaring evidence they purport to have. In both of these cases, existing societal values ensured that the endangered were protected while the delinquent were sanctioned.

The global historical political landscape is littered with carcasses of dashed hopes and ruins of veritably promising political careers which succumbed to the ravenous fiend that takes no prisoners – the monster of sexual scandal. Yet in Nigeria, that monster appears to have been tamed by a larger, fiercer one - the hydra-headed dragon of corruption. Too frequently when we speak of corruption, we think only of financial impropriety or fiscal irresponsibility. The corruption I speak of here, however, is the perversion of truth, the veering of a society away from the highway of sound moral and socio-cultural values to a purposeless wandering in the dark, back alleys of primal predispositions where vice is exalted over virtue, and might takes precedence over right.

The actions, or inactions, of the Nigerian Senate over the recent altercation between Senators Remi Tinubu and Dino Melaye will have a significant influence on whether Nigerians, as a people, will henceforward bother to accord them any modicum of respect. There is a civil code which is considered an irreducible minimum and, hence, must remain sacrosanct. This code protects our mothers, wives and daughters from direct conflict, or the threat of it. Somebody in the Senate clearly didn’t get that memo! Real men will comfortably challenge other men and, in cultured society today, the tool of preference is no longer bulging biceps, but clever concepts unless, of course, you're competing for a bodybuilding trophy. On the contrary, however, wussies prefer to bully women using the singular edge that they perceive they have over them … testosterone-driven terrorization.

For me, it’s pretty simple. When a serving Senator and wife to the ruling party’s strongman is threatened with rape on the floor of the once-hallowed chambers by a man who boasts that he will, one day, be President of Nigeria, and nothing comes of it … evidently, the gloves are officially off! This intra-senatorial handshake has extended beyond the elbow and the punches are landing far below the waist. It is indicative of what will eventually follow. A Senate which cannot (or will not) defend one of its own, most certainly cannot (and will not) defend the people it purports to represent. This is NOT the Nigeria we want!

The kidnapping of the Chibok girls was a rape on our collective sensibilities. But then again, we all conceded that Abubakar Shekau and his ilk were insane (the state of mind of his behind-the-scenes handlers is another matter altogether!).


The actions of the Honourable Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara, in swiftly ordering a probe into the alleged sexual impropriety involving three members was highly commendable, indicating a sincere desire to uphold sanity. While insisting that the accused trio deserved a fair hearing, the decision of the ethics and privileges and foreign affairs committees was to conduct a public hearing, insisting that "we are not going to shield anyone."


So maybe I’m just a tad bit early. Let’s give the Nigerian Senate the benefit of the doubt. Maybe someone’s preparing an official statement. Maybe someone’s about to get the boot. Maybe they’ll opt for sanity. Let’s give it till Monday…

Scourge of Decadence

Fool will hie with glee, where angel scarce would tread.

Jack and knave would fain assail the stooped baronial head.

Golden strands will shimmer, of webs spun in the night,

Deluding prince, and queen, and king; defining wrong as right.

How are the mighty fallen, as nobles are defamed.

Currish rascals boldly bray, while sage recoils in shame.

Raptor pecks with chickens, mules graze with unicorn,

Philosopher and scholar, ruled by boor, are guyed to scorn.

Paul Sawa