WHILE I LEVITATE

He beckons to me with the eyes of the serpent,
he hisses me on eagerly with his sweet lips,
he leads me assuringly by the hands,
I don't want to go, but I can't stop walking.

He offers me the sweetness of the fruit,
the fruit I must think not of,
he does the ritual dance of seduction around me,
while the fruit he holds to my eyes.

I swirl and twirl in estatic anticipation,
my tongue yearns for the savour of the fruit,
I reach out to take it,
he pulls back from me,
he beckons with his eyes to follow him
farther into the night.

I want to not go with him,
I know the poison of the fruit will kill me
but I yearn to go,
for he dances the dance of seduction.

"Just levitate and live...", he says to me,
"think not of what I am, or what I shall be to..." he sings to me,
"just live.."

And live I shall.

FOR THE ANGELS WITHOUT WINGS

Toluwani loved her Uncle. Uncle Shola made her feel special all the time. Each time he came to the house, he would lift her and throw her in the air. He would tickle her endlessly till tears ran down her cheeks from excessive laughter and her sides ached. She trusted her Uncle Shola totally. He could never hurt her.

So she kept thinking until that dark afternoon. Toluwani’s mother had to run extra errands that afternoon after she picked her from school so she thought her brother who was really fond of her daughter and always offered to babysit her could help her look after Toluwani. After she dropped her with Uncle Shola and left, he started with his tirade of friendly gestures again.

Then he started telling Toluwani that she was a special girl and the most beautiful girl in the world. Toluwani kept blushing at these sweet words from her most favourite and trusted Uncle Shola. Then he asked touched her bum and told her she had a beautiful body. He asked her if she would love to have boobs as big as her mom. She giggled shyly and nodded. Then he told her to take her clothes off so he could confirm if this would be. She innocently obeyed. Then he took off his own clothes too and then the nightmare started.

He made her touch him in places. He also stuck his fingers inside her. Then he told her to put his member in her mouth. He said she would be helping him feel happy, just the way he always made her happy too. She naively did as requested. Then he made her lie down and spread her legs and kept trying to get his member into her and even when she cried and told him it hurt her, he didn’t stop. He went on and it hurt. It hurt her pretty bad. She cried and begged but Uncle Shola didn’t listen. She could not believe that he could hurt her ever, but he did. She didn’t understand how but then it was happening and there was no one to help her. Not her mummy or daddy.

Toluwani was only five years old, but she never forgot.

This is the story of one of the several million children, male and female who get violated everyday by heartless but sadly trusted relatives. The truth is that when a truly wicked man sets to work, his victim can barely escape him. Many questions would pop into the mind when one hears such horrible stories. How could anyone ever think of hurting innocent children? Why didn’t the parents suspect a thing? Endless questions that never receive answers.

It is even more terrible in Nigeria where women and female children are treated as not better than properties and the men are expected to always ‘man up’ in the face of tough situations and must not be heard to complain. Most times, cases like this one never get reported or prosecuted at all. They are treated as family issues and the victims are never put into consideration at all. The family’s honour and name suddenly become way more important than finding a closure for victims It is important to state that from a personal survey I made from discussions I have had with male colleagues; at least two out of every ten was violated as a child. The consequence being they grew up becoming sexually hyperactive and insatiable. Some people will say this is a blessing, but then it has also been scientifically proven that excessive sexual drive could be a result of depression. How is this beneficial to anybody?

It is time we took this fight into our own hands and become our children’s vigilantes. Most importantly, closure must be found for the unfortunate victims by ensuring that the evil people who harmed them are handed just and equal punishment. I am I total agreement with the National Assembly to increase the sentence for rape to life imprisonment from fourteen years. More importantly, I insist that they can start by legislating entirely new laws to regulate violence against children. The we can truly say that we can begin the war which has already fallen upon us.

Follow Olayinka on twitter @rubyxion.