Matrimonial Battering

MATRIMONIAL BATTERING ON THE RAMPAGE

      

Battering is a pattern of bahaviour used to establish power and control over another person through fear and intimidation, which usually include the use of violence. In the same vein, Matrimonial Battering is a situation whereby a woman is battered by her legitimate husband.

Battering, which is indeed a criminal act, takes place when a person believes he/she is entitled to control another. In recent times, the most worrisome form of battering is the one that happens between married couples, which has degenerated into an alarming state.

Battering of a family member can take many forms. It may include emotional, economic and sexual abuses as well as isolation, use of male privilege, employment of threats and a variety of other behaviours used to maintain fear, intimidation and power. In all cultures, the perpetrators are most commonly the men of the family; suffice it to say that, women are mostly the victims of matrimonial battering or violence.

Among all forms of battering, it could be classified into two major types namely, physical battering and psychological battering. Physical battering is a situation where the abuser employs physical attacks or aggression, while psychological battering involves verbal abuse/harassment, excessive possessiveness, segregation of the woman from friends and family, deprivation of physical and economic resources, and destruction of the woman’s personal property. It is worth noting that physical battering, which is prevalent in most African particularly Nigerian homes, can also lead to psychological trauma.

Battering, which has taken a different dimension in several families in Nigeria, can be attributed to immaturity, alcoholism, hot temperament, infidelity or lack of love. Other causes include lack of male child, alleged barrenness, selfishness, influence and ignorance. Among these, the most prevalent factor that leads to battering is lack of love because if one truly loves his wife/partner, he can never make any attempt to hurt her even when he is under the influence of alcohol.

Survey shows that battering remains the major cause of the ongoing high rate of divorce or estrangement among married persons in Nigeria. Needless to say that if an adequate and drastic measure/approach is not taken towards curbing the anomaly, it is likely to render millions of our children vulnerable in near future thereby affecting their upbringing.

Acknowledging that marriage is the most intimate relationship two human beings can experience, second only to a relationship with God and that it is the only intimacy that brings out the best in someone, there is no gain saying that everyone has a responsibility towards preventing or eradicating battering or any form of domestic violence against women.

We can individually or collectively join in the crusade aimed at ending domestic violence or abuses against women, which has brought a colossal upheaval in various homes, by challenging any thought or attitude that allows such act to prevail in our respective societies.  

Let’s be conscious of the fact that, a woman who is suffering from matrimonial battering can do anything to protect herself with a view that such aberration would continue to repeat itself. In one of her books titled ‘Trauma and Recovery’, Judith Lewis Herman – an author and psychiatrist stated that, “The guarantee of safety in a battering relationship can never be based upon a promise from the perpetrator no matter how heartfelt. Rather, it must be based upon the self-protective capability of the victim…” She went further to state that, “Until the victim has developed a detailed and realistic contingency plan and has demonstrated her ability to carry it out, she will remain in fear and danger of repeated abuse.”

Considering the aforementioned primary attributes of marriage battering, it is obvious that anyone irrespective of status or age is liable to patronize the monster. To this end; first and foremost, parents or guardians must ensure that their children or wards as the case may be have attained a reasonable maturity stage before they would be encouraged to settle down or get married. In view of this, we ought to acknowledge that maturity is not only based on the age of the parties involved but including their level of exposure or experience.

As regards child bearing, acknowledging the tradition or desire of most men from this part of the world that a marriage that is yet to boast of a male child or a child at all is useless, our men must be meant to understand that a child is a gift from God and not by the making of their wives as they presume. In other words, anyone who is yet to have a male child should remain steadfast in his faith in God, and must note at all times that a woman cannot be confirmed or proven to be barren unless it is stated by her creator.

Inter alia, we ought to always have it at the back of our minds that marriage is “For better, for worse” as written in the Holy books. The religious organizations have a very vital role to play in this regard.

Above all, there is an urgent need for the law makers to enact a law that would assign a capital punishment to anyone found guilty of matrimonial battering or any form of violence/abuse against a woman. A stitch in time, they say, saves nine. Think about it!

 

COMR FRED DOC NWAOZOR

(The Media Ambassador)

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frednwaozor@gmail.com

+2348028608056
Follow: @fdnnwaozor or @fred_nwaozor

    

 

            

2015 World Public Service Day

ACKNOWLEDGING THE REWARD OF STEWARDSHIP AND ACCOUNTABILITY AS THE WORLD PUBLIC SERVICE DAY IS CELEBRATED TODAY TUESDAY JUNE 23, 2015

      

         

A public service is a service provided by government to the people living within its ambit or jurisdiction, either directly through the public sector or by financing provision of services. The term is associated with a social consensus usually expressed via democratic elections that certain services ought to be available to all, irrespective of their income.

        

Even where public services are neither publicly provided nor publicly financed, for social and political reasons, they are usually subject to regulation going beyond that applying to most economic sectors. More so, public service is a course that can be studied at the tertiary institutions of learning. Common examples of public services units include the schools, armed forces, paramilitary bodies, fire brigade, health centres, and paramedics.

        

Public services are regarded as very important services, that for moral reasons, their universal provision ought to be guaranteed. They may be linked to fundamental human rights such as the right to water and the right to electricity, just as ‘service’ simply implies helping others with their specific need or want.

        

The term ‘Public services’ or ‘Services of general interest’ often includes education, health care, environmental protection, security, public utilities, law enforcement, postal service, public broadcasting, public library, public transportation, public housing, social services, telecommunications, town planning, and public sanitary services, just to mention but a few.

        

Any public servant, regardless of his or her status, is expected to stick strongly and passionately to the basic ethics or modus operandi of public service. A public servant, in any circumstance, is required to be sincere, trustworthy, transparent, punctual to duties, humble, respectable, serious-minded, vision-driven, accountable, unbiased, hardworking, and above all god-fearing.

         

For instance, government officials serve the people thereby managing the resources of others as stipulated by the law. With respect to the nature of this kind of stewardship, there is an expectation from the public that in conducting daily activities, the officials will practise fairness and equity. They are also expected to maintain openness in their activities to ensure that they are operating within the public’s perception of what is right and in line with the mandate of the constitution guiding their services.

        

Public officials are meant to see themselves as stewards rather than masters, as well as treat their respective jobs as means of helping people instead of dominating them. Public servants ought to note at all times that even a small percentage of misbehaviour on their part can cause a vast amount of harm or damage to the society they are serving.

         

Most importantly, public office holders should understand that certain absolute principles, such as honesty and transparency, are meant to be obeyed regardless of the consequences. Honesty or transparency is the primary product of one’s conscience. It is obvious that one who has cheated on his/her conscience has equally cheated nature; needless to say that the person must surely be visited by the law of karma, which states that ‘every work/action has a reward’ or ‘as you sow, so shall you reap’.

        

It is appalling and pathetic that currently, several public servants in Nigeria, especially the political office holders are not just cheats, but wolves in sheep clothing. The persons/officers in question are yet to realize that stewardship and accountability, which have an eternal reward, are meant to be the watchword of any public servant at all cost. This set of people is not just cankerworm to the treasury of the society/community involved, but remains the only nightmare faced by the society.

        

Most disturbingly, they see embezzlement of public funds, truancy, or lateness to duties, as a way of life. They often consider time management as an unreasonable and inconsequential factor in their everyday life. Most of them parade themselves like people who are beyond punishment, forgetting that no one escapes the consequences of his/her actions. This action of impunity is the singular reason they invariably litter the workers’ payroll with names of nonexistent beings widely known as ‘Ghost workers’.

        

Today Tuesday June 23, the international community is celebrating the 2015 World Public Service Day. In its resolution, the United Nations (UN) General Assembly designated 23^rd June each year as World Public Service Day. The Day intends to celebrate the value and virtue of public service to the community, highlight the contribution of public service in the development process, recognize the work of public servants, as well as encourage young people to pursue careers in the public sector. The annual observance of the Public Service Day highlights the invaluable contributions of public servants and administrators in our efforts to build a better world for all.

        

As Nigeria joins the rest of the world to celebrate the World Public Service Day, I enjoin every public servant as well as the prospective ones in the country to acknowledge that the reward for unalloyed stewardship and accountability lasts for eternity, hence ought not to be overlooked for posterity sake. Think about it!

COMR FRED DOC NWAOZOR

(The Media Ambassador)

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frednwaozor@gmail.com

+2348028608056    

          

         

2015 World Refugee Day (Aired News-Commentary)

COMBATING CAUSES OF ALL FORMS OF CRISES AS THE 2015 WORLD REFUGEE DAY IS MARKED TODAY SATURDAY JUNE 20

      

         

A refugee can be described as a person who has been forced to leave his or her country due to persecution, which could be attributed to his/her race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or social affiliation, or as a result of disaster, either natural or manmade, such as massacre, genocide, war, inferno, earthquake, terrorism, climate change, and famine, just to mention but a few. In some cases, the internally displaced individuals within a certain country can also be referred to as ‘Refugees’.

         

Today Saturday June 20, the global community is commemorating the World Refugee Day. On 4^th of December 2000, the United Nations (UN) General Assembly in its unanimous Resolution decided that, from 2001, June 20 of every year would be celebrated as World Refugee Day. In the resolution, the General Assembly noted that 2001 marked the golden jubilee or the 50^th anniversary of the 1951 Convention relating to the status of Refugees.

        

Each year on June 20, the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and countless civic groups around the world host World Refugee Day events in order to draw public attention to the millions of refugees and people who are internally displaced worldwide.

       

Recently, the Bornu State government in Nigeria cried foul as well as sought for the financial assistance of the international community in regard to the alarming number of displaced persons recorded in the state owing to the ongoing insurgency of the Boko Haram sect in the area. Such incident is not only peculiar to Nigeria, but to many other countries in the world.

    

Statistics show that not less than forty-three million people worldwide are presently displaced as a result of conflict and persecution, which is the highest number since the middle of 1990s. More than fifteen million of the aforementioned figure are refugees who fled their home countries, while the rest are people who remain displaced by conflict within their own homelands and they are generally regarded as ‘Internally Displaced Persons’.

      

Worldwide, refugees have really suffered an untold hardship in the respective camps or localities they are being hosted or they found themselves; they mostly lack the three basic needs of mankind, which remain food, clothing and shelter. Most of them often feared killed by deadly diseases, or sometimes due to the unbearable hazards attached to the environment they reside in.

        

It is worthy to note that, most of the beggars found on the major roads or streets of most cities in Nigeria, likewise other countries, are refugees. A good number of them who hail from the neighbouring countries to include Niger Republic, Chad, Benin Republic and Cameroon, migrated to Nigeria in search of a lasting succour. This implies that more than half of the world’s refugees are in urban environments, not in camps. This set of people invariably fall victim to human trafficking, which is currently on rampage in several countries.

        

No doubt, displaced persons are found virtually in all the nations across the globe. Since refugees are mainly victims of either manmade or natural disasters, there is a compelling need to take appropriate and drastic measures that would thoroughly address all forms of disasters or conflicts witnessed by mankind.

        

It is noteworthy that, even the natural disasters such as earthquake, depletion of the Ozone layer, climate change, erosion, and what have you, are mostly attributable to human/manmade actions or activities. Needless to say that, any event that could lead to displacement of individuals from their places of residence or country of origin, can be averted by the concerned persons or authorities, as the case may be.

        

To this end, inferno for instance, which usually takes place as a result of man’s carelessness or lackadaisical attitude, can be prevented by sensitizing the public on the fundamental actions that could lead to such disaster. In the same vein, people ought to be professionally directed on where, when, and how to erect various structures both residential and industrial  as well as in the case of drilling of boreholes in order to help avoid future occurrence of earthquake and other related crises.

        

There is also need for legal backing in respect to prevention of the various uncalled attitudes or practices including discrimination, extremism, racism, ethnicity, human rights violation, et cetera, that can result to a life-threatening crisis such as insurgency, terrorism or war. Hence, the bill concerning prevention of terrorism acts that is presently lying on the floor of the National Assembly ought to be given a speedy hearing by the current law makers with a view to passing it into law in earnest.

       

As Nigeria joins the rest of the world to mark the fifteenth (15^th) commemoration of the World Refugee Day, I call on the various civil society organizations as well as religious bodies to embark on a massive and rigorous awareness crusade that would educate the entire public on the dangers of any form of crisis, which will go a long way to bring a holistic attitudinal change among the overall citizenry. Think about it!

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COMR FRED DOC NWAOZOR

(The Media Ambassador)

_____________________________________

frednwaozor@gmail.com

+2348028608056