Nigerian Literary Icon Buchi Emecheta Has Died

Image: Buchi Emecheta: Credit;ALAMYImage

Nigerian author Buchi Emecheta, whose works includes 'The Joys of Motherhood', 'Second-Class Citizen' and 'The Bride Price', has died at her home in London at the age of 72.

Emecheta's books were on the national curricula of several African countries including Ghana.

She was known for championing women and girls in her writing, though famously rejected description as a feminist.

"I work toward the liberation of women but I'm not feminist. I'm just a woman," she said.

The topics she covered in her writing included child marriage, life as a single mother, abuse of women and racism in the UK and elsewhere.

"Black women all over the world should re-unite and re-examine the way history has portrayed us," she said.

The president of the Association of Nigerian Authors, Denja Abdullahi, said: "We have lost a rare gem in this field. Her works would forever live to speak for her.

"It is a sad loss to our circle. She was known for championing the female gender and we would forever miss her."

Media captionNnedi Okorafor: Her work is one of the reasons I started writing

Lagos-born Emecheta had moved to the UK in 1960, working as a librarian and becoming a student at London University, where she read sociology. She later worked as a community worker in London for several years.

She left her husband when he refused to read her first novel and burnt the manuscript, a World Service series on women writers reported.

The book, In the Ditch, was eventually published in 1972. That and Second-Class Citizen, which followed in 1974, were fictionalised portraits of a young Nigerian woman struggling to bring up children in London.

Later, she wrote about civil conflict in Nigeria and the experience of motherhood in a changing Ibo society.

Credit: BBC

An assessment of her writing, published by the British Council, says: "The female protagonists of Emecheta's fiction challenge the masculinist assumption that they should be defined as domestic properties whose value resides in their ability to bear children and in their willingness to remain confined at home.

"Initiative and determination become the distinguishing marks of Emecheta's women. They are resourceful and turn adverse conditions into their triumph."

Source: BBC Africa

1,296 girls defiled, 335 women raped in 2014 – DOVVSU

Photo used for effect purpose only

Available statistics show that a total of 1,296 girls in the country were defiled, while 335 other women were raped in 2014 alone, according to the Police Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU).

Mrs. Christiana Ankamah, Ashanti Regional Director of the Gender, Children and Social Protection Ministry, who revealed the startling figures, said 17,778 gender-related abuses were recorded and studies had also established that a significant proportion of Ghanaian women – about 27% have in their life time suffered sex abuse.

She described the situation as unhealthy and completely unacceptable and rallied all to work together to fight it.

She was contributing to discussions at a forum held by the Ministry with support from the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA) in Kumasi to find ways of giving more protection to women and children.

“Men as change agents in ending gender-based violence in Ghana” was the theme, and in attendance were chiefs, faith-based groups and driver associations.

Also Read: http://cmcghana.blogspot.com/2017/01/vanity.html

Photo used for effect purpose only

Mrs. Ankamah noted that male chauvinism has been a major factor fueling gender-based violence and invited religious, traditional and opinion leaders to take lead role in helping to overcome this. People must be assisted to change their violent behaviors and deep-seated cultural norms that tend to discriminate and condone violence against women.

Read: http://cmcghana.blogspot.com/2017/01/the-broken-walls-of-my-vagina.html

Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Benjamin Dokurugu, the Regional Commander of DOVVSU, urged victims of abuse to be bold and report their cases to the police.

He urged the scrapping of outdated cultural practices like widowhood rites and child marriages.

Mr Samuel Kyei-Berko, the Programmes Manager for Ark Foundation – Ghana, an NGO, advised the people to learn to control their anger.

Source: GNA

The Broken Walls Of My Vagina

Photo for effect purpose

Broken, torched and stained,

how I felt after he took my "pride",

the pearl of my life,

every woman's "pride"

trampled with so much disdain,

leaving me in blood stains

from the broken walls of my vagina,

Heaven remained shut at my prayer,

so it seemed for I; crying, shouting, 

screaming yet no Helper

to pull me from underneath a man

whose lustful thrusts that afternoon

would leave me frightened

at the hearing of a male voice.

I am still yet to come to terms that it is a cross

I must excruciatingly bear,

here in a world that labels me a whore:

that says I am the cause of his failure

to keep his libido in check or listen to twerp 

talk such as "I must cover up

else I deserve whatever I lure" ~

such patriarchal nonsense

from persons who without shame,

continue to posit vain and lame

arguments as reasons he robbed

my innocence -

with brute violence

Also Read: http://crabbitamedia.blogspot.com/2016/09/patriarchal-nonsense.html

Photo used for effect purpose only

It was the year nineteen sixteen (1916),

I was only fifteen,

a blossoming young girl

with so much hopes of a well

tailored life for a towering future -

hardly would a girl my age dare

"think [herself] a bird" to share

a stage in a man's world so-called,

she must braze herself up for a cloud

of detractors should

she make it out of that village in Paga

where still, the boy-child is rather

the preference to some sort of education.

Pardon the digression,

PHOTO USED FOR THIS PURPOSE

at the silent afternoon of doom,

that rode with it black-dark-grim

spells in an attack greatly foul,

and left my pure soul

scared, spirit heavily broken

and my womanhood stolen:

he entered my room, locked the door,

held me brutally on the floor -

I can still remember myself say

in a faint voice - Jesus -

hoping that in my breathless

state Help would come my way

to rescue me from a man whose

d**k left more than wounds

in the broken walls of my vagina -

my very being crushed as the World Trade Center.

Read: http://crabbitamedia.blogspot.com/2017/01/vanity.html

Sadly you are part of the problem -

when you shift the burden of responsibility from

him, posit that we "cover up" or blame

our parents of failing to train us well enough,

designing excuses for psychopaths.

You are the problem when you make

the onus of controlling one's demons

that of the raped and not the rapists -

I hope you get it, if not check

yourself because we all have

the responsibilities to protect, save,

the boy-child especially the girl-child

from God forsaken deranged morons:

pedophiles, rapists and hobbyists

Not forgetting that I was only fifteen

with beautiful imaginations of a teen,

as your girl-child,who may not survive

the kicking, beating or revive

from a broken wall of her vagina.

By Crabbe Nathaniel - Journalist - Publicist - Blogger - Poet - Customer Service

For statistics on child rape in Ghana check: http://cmcghana.blogspot.com/2017/01/1296-girls-defiled-335-women-raped-in.html

Kati G Strikes Music Scene With A New Single.

Neo-soul and live-band maven, Kati G strikes the music scene with another endearing new single christened 'He Loves Me'.

And it's seriously cool!

Released on Monday, January 16, this year (2017) - the new single comes months after the songstress awed Ghanaians with her cover of Joey B’s ‘You and me’ and ‘Skin tight’ by Mr. Eazi.

The young multi-talented singer, who sings with so much soul, passion and emotion, would leave you spellbound - it's hard not to feel connected.

Hence 'He Loves me', an "inspirational song for Ghana to start the year with - Ghanaians need something fresh and inspiring", the vocal-goddess opined in a chit chat.

Of course this is Kati G - one wouldn't expect anything mediocre from a diva who has for sometimes now exhibited wits coupled with creativity - not only as a singer but also as radio producer and CEO of The Cake Fair brand.

Also Read: http://cmcghana.blogspot.com/2017/01/the-broken-walls-of-my-vagina.html

Speaking of brands - she's been associated with celebrated contemporary acts such as Okyeame Kwame and dancehall singer Epixode - mostly standing out for her soothing tone of vocal dexterity.

By Crabbe Nathaniel