Leave porn and touch God
The Senate wants to cure Nigerians’ porn addiction
Good morning, Big Brains. If I start a petition to sack the present Minister of Power, would you sign it? Either you sign it or give me money to japa from this place. Something has to give.
- Margaret
Word count: ~ 1, 000
Reading time ~ 5 mins
Let’s get into today’s edition:
The Senate wants to cure Nigerians’ porn addiction
The Nigerian Police Force has finally scrapped its silliest law
The Big Deal
The Senate wants to cure Nigerians’ porn addiction
Nigerian senators are finally re-echoing the same message Nigerian parents have been trying to preach to the young generation since the internet became a thing— leave porn and touch God!
If your favourite adult websites suddenly become unavailable in your area, blame the Nigerian Senate because they’ve ordered an immediate suspension of all pornographic websites in the country.
The motion, sponsored by Dalhatu Tafoki, who represents the Faskari/Kankara/Sabuwa Federal Constituency of Katsina state, cited concerns over societal values and the psychological effects of pornography.
In Tafoki’s words, Nigeria is a religious country where nobody should be watching anybody else’s bum bum.
He pointed out that several countries across Asia, Africa, and the Middle East have already implemented similar bans, so Nigeria shouldn’t be left behind. According to him, cyber pornography is a growing problem, and the country has taken no real steps to address it until now.
Tafoki and his supporters also believe porn is ruining society, turning marriages into battle zones and leading people down a dangerous path of addiction, promiscuity, and desensitization. He listed other supposed effects of porn, including deception in marriages, a rise in adultery and prostitution, and altered family dynamics. In his view, experts around the world have confirmed these dangers, and Nigeria must help its citizens before it's too late.
The Senate has made no secret of how they plan to save Nigeria from the chokehold of porn— They are directing the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to make all internet service providers (ISPs) in Nigeria immediately block access to pornographic content. Any provider that refuses to act right will have to face the consequencesas contained in the Nigerian Communications Act and the National Information Technology Development Act.
The Senate’s Committees on Communications and Legislative Compliance is already in your business and working overtime to make sure this ban is enforced as soon as possible.
Why is this a big deal?
It’s hard to convince us that the Nigerian Senate has its priorities straight. Yesterday, we explained how the lawmakers instructed the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to stop its planned increase in ATM charges. It’s been over 24 hours since they gave the order, and we’re convinced that CBN officials are somewhere cackling at the Senate’s attempt at playing hero. And if you’re thinking, “But it’s still a recent order, anything can happen”, we’ve kept enough record of the Senate’s wrongs (and failed promises) to predict that order won’t be implemented anytime soon.
There is a clear similarity between the type of orders the Senate implements with the speed of light. Take the implementation of the old-turned-new national anthem, which happened overnight for no solid reason, for example. Many Nigerians believed that the implementation was intended to be a distraction. We agree because it was too convenient to implement a controversial change at a time when Nigerians were heavily criticizing the effects of President Tinubu’s reforms.
This ban on adult content follows the same pattern and looks like a plot to distract Nigerians from another pressing concern (Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan’s sexual harassment case against Senate President Akpabio, ALLEGEDLY).
Is it a bad policy? That’s debatable. In June 2024 alone, Nigerians visited porn sites over 91 million times. So, Senator Tafoki’s concerns can be statistically backed. But is the timing sus as hell? Yes!
The Nigerian Police Force has finally scrapped its silliest law
Next on our “You’re not getting any cookies for that” list is the Nigeria Police Force, which has finally scrapped laws that permitted the dismissal of unmarried policewomen who get pregnant while in service. Yes, that law really existed. Assistant Inspector-General of Police (AIG) Aishatu Abubakar-Baju confirmed this on Wednesday, March 12.
How it started
This law wasn’t scrapped because the Nigerian Police Force suddenly decided to attend a feminism workshop. It took years of pushback and legal battles to get here. Back in 2021, a police corporal, Omolola Olajide, was dismissed in Ekiti State for getting pregnant while unmarried. The case sparked outrage, and the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) dragged the police to court over the unfair regulation. That didn’t do much because the Federal High Court dismissed the suit, arguing that officers were aware of the rule before joining the force. But the NBA didn’t back down. They took the case to the Court of Appeal in Lagos. Finally, in May 2024, the court put an end to the discriminatory policy.
How it’s going
The AIG Abubakar-Baju is now trying to convince the public that the Inspector General of Police (IGP) is serious about gender equality but we’ll believe it when we see it. She also assured Nigerians that the force is evolving into an “equal opportunity institution” where female officers no longer have to choose between their careers and motherhood. Again, nobody is getting cookies because this law shouldn’t have existed in the first place.
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This Week’s Big Question
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Timi’s response - “This question is giving village people. I should tell you my plans and jinx it? No, thank you.”
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From frying pan to fire
We have worse problems than accidentally-conceived homo sapiens – a meningitis outbreak in Kebbi State and a diphtheria outbreak in Lagos.