De-abstracting God and Spiritual Experience in the Unchurched Era: Phenomenological Approach. A paper delivered at the 4th International Conference of Arts and Science, Cebu University, Philippines. By Lucas Nwachukwu

 

Nwachukwu Lucas and others Picket NERC Abuja Office Over Electricity Tariff Hike

 

MPAPE COVID-19 OUTREACH - LUCAS NWACHUKWU

Our Mpape outreach in a suburb of Abuja, Nigeria on 11th July 2020 was a success.
We gave food, clothes and cash donations to orphans, widows and homeless people.

SEXUAL VIOLENCE: ARRESTING THE SCOURGE OF RAPE NOW- LUCAS NWACHUKWU

Sexual violence is a major public health risk and takes many forms, with rape of women and girls quite common. According to The World Health Organization (WHO) sexual violence refers to “any sexual act, attempt to obtain a sexual act, unwanted sexual comments or advances, or acts to traffic, or otherwise directed, against a person's sexuality using coercion, by any person regardless of their relationship to the victim, in any setting, including but not limited to home and work.”  Rape happens to be one type of sexual violence and remains one of the most leading forms of violence perpetrated towards women and in rare cases, men. It has devastating effects on the victim as they are ostracized and the society loses its reputation.

According to the United Nation Women campaign against gender-based violence, Approximately 15 million adolescent girls (aged 15-19) worldwide have experienced forced sex (forced sexual intercourse or other sexual acts) at some point in their lives. Also, anywhere between 13 per cent and 45 per cent of women in sub-Saharan Africa experience sexual violence by a non partner or intimate partner at some point in their lives. UNICEF reported in 2015 that one in four girls and one in ten boys in Nigeria had experienced sexual violence before the age of 18. To further compound this startling figures, Mohammed Adamu, Nigeria recorded one rape every five hours between January and May 2020. A vast number of the cases of sexual violence in Nigeria go unreported. This is largely due to fear on the part of the victim of being socially stigmatized or blamed. For instance, in 2017, there were 2,279 reported cases of rape and incident assault with zero conviction.

Rape violates a number of basic human rights listed in international laws cum charters. The UN Action Against Sexual Violence 2007, considers gender-based violence, including sexual violence, as a violation of fundamental human dignity and rights. Considering that it affects children, as we have a handful of cases of children being raped, the Article 34 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, requires the state to “protect the child from all forms of sexual exploitation and sexual abuse” including “the inducement or coercion of a child to engage in any unlawful sexual activity.” Going by the definitions of rape and sexual violence based on force, threat of force, and coercion, Article 34 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, protects the girl and boy child because they are more easily targeted, forced, threatened and coerced than adults.

In recent weeks, as the country continues to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic, there has been alarming number of increased sexual violence against women around the country. On this heel lies litany of rape cases, with the chilling case of Uwavera Omozuwa, known as Uwa, who was brutally raped and bludgeoned to death. This is increasingly the reality for women and girls in Nigeria with little response from the government. Nigeria’s laws do not sufficiently protect the rights of women and girls. The existing laws do not adequately address sexual violence. The death of Uwa and others like her should act as a wake-up call for Nigeria legislators to pass a law against rape, and other forms of sexual violence. Also the government should investigate and prosecute all forms of sexual violence, and ensure appropriate sentences are given.

The lackadaisical response of the government to make laws and put stringent punitive measures to bring a halt to this menace only suggest a scratch on the surface of what a comprehensive response should entail. While the provisions of the law in sexual violence cases are as not clear and problematic as it can get in application, in that they permit very light sentences that are inadequate to genuinely deter or punish such grave crime. Stringent measures to combat sexual violence are all the more urgent in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic and beyond, because the lockdown occasioned by pandemic has been pointed at as a leading cause of high rates of violence, as evidenced by spikes in sexual and domestic violence around the world, including Nigeria.

It has been observed the justice system is hostile towards victims of rape and it is equally common that judgments lean towards fines over incarceration. Rape is an extreme form of abuse with long-term consequences for victims. Nigeria’s criminal law provisions need to reflect on that. The government needs to ensure that victims of rape can access the justice system in a meaningful and less complicated way. Victims who have been abused already still suffer from a hostile justice system. There are several accounts of survivors of sexual violence who make reports, but must navigate a dysfunctional system that discourages victims from pressing charges, coupled with judicial investigative procedures that are not gender-responsive, and can turn into a probe of the moral character of the victim. This can only lead to re-traumatization , and provides inadequate victim-support services.

In the bid to improve the legal landscape for women, girls, children and survivors of sexual violence, it is the responsibility of the government under international human rights law to come up with laws, punishment and accessible justice system to combat the menace of sexual violence. Our current laws falls short of international standards in several ways, the laws should make explicit provision that criminalizes every form of sexual violence. The government should communicate zero tolerance for sexual violence and ensure that support and other assistance are available to victims and survivors, or families to report incidences, and also set procedures to intervene, and assist victims and survivors by ensuring they are protected and they get justice at the end. It should not take another life for the government to address the issue of sexual violence, because failure to do so will cost more lives.

THE SHRINKING LAKE CHAD: IN NEED OF URGENT ACTION - LUCAS NWACHUKWU

The Lake Chad, is a source of water to millions of people in West Africa, has shrunk by nine-tenths due to climate change, and poor irrigation projects, which has been largely reported. The humanitarian disaster in the region is one of the world’s largest and most complex humanitarian tragedies.

The future of rapidly shrinking Lake Chad has weighty and far reaching impacts on human health, food security, socio-economic stability, physical infrastructure, natural resources, national and global peace and security in the Sahel region and corresponding action is needed to save it.

The shrinking of Lake Chad, which is bordered by Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, and Niger,is already an ecological catastrophe but it is fast becoming a very human disaster as well, forcingpeople around this region into ever-keener competition for this vital and disappearing resource. The drying-up of the lake water and deterioration of the production capacity of its basin have affected all the socio-economic activities.

In the villages, people complained there was nothing for young people to do, and it had become a perfect recruiting ground for insurgent group such as (Boko Haram). Of course, Lake Chad's decline is not the sole reason for the rise of violent extremism, a number of factors including poor irrigation systems have also played a role.

A scheme to replenish the water in Lake Chad is necessary, through channeling water from the Palambo, in the Central African Republic and Ubangi River in Central Africa Republic. The idea is to fill up Lake Chad and restore it to its former ocean-like glory by diverting water from Central Africa Republic.

However, a major setback emerging is that Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) opposes the project to transfer water to replenish the drying Lake Chad. The country fears dire consequences on the country's ecosystems. The Democratic Republic of Congo has long announced its opposition to the water transfer project to Lake Chad.

Their fears are hinged on foreseen abuse in management that may arise from the Transaqua project, which will make the Ubangi River suffer the same fate in a few years as Lake Chad. This will no doubt affect the livelihood of the people living around the River that depend on it for sustenance, because life is likely to get tough for the people who live around the River. But this fear has been allayed that the Transaqua project will use less than 8% of the water the Congo River discharges into the Atlantic and would not be a threat to the Ubangi or Palambo Rivers.

Ironically, the plan to replenish the drying Lake Chad has been approved in Abuja in February 2018, at a conference co-organized in Abuja by UNESCO and the Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC) where Cameroon, Chad Niger and Nigeria endorsed the Transaqua project which aims at transferring 100 billion cubic meters per year, from the Ubangi River, in the Central African Republic (CAR) to replenish Lake Chad, but the Democratic Republic Congo have not been duly consulted and consent has not been gotten.

This is a call on the affected countries to engage the DR Congo extensively and get consent to avoid international conflicts. Also, beyond the recharging of the lake, one of the solutions to this problem is climate actions through climate governance involving all concerned countries, this should reflect in policy documents to deliberately protect the protect the lake and drive for shared prosperity.

Also carrying out proper environmental assessment before irrigation projects are executed. It has been largely reported that poor planning and execution of large scale irrigation schemes contributed largely to the shrinking state of the Lake Chad, hence, proper evaluation of these irrigation practices must be checked to avoid further damage.