Must You Abuse Us?

By Olatunji Bankole

Physical abuse now pervades. It is observed in public places and even at home. When it is public, it gains an outcry but when it is private (at home), its a domestic affair.

Since the typical way of raising a child in Nigeria is 'AUTHORITARIAN' in nature, then physical abuse is inherently embedded therein.

This parenting style gives the parents an inalienable right to raise their kids! It further covertly empowers them to correct their kids through spanking, yelling and bullying! These are forms of abuse. It is not right and can never be! The commonest form of abuse (domestic) is physical abuse.

Physical abuse has been understood to be the use of force, threats and even objects to inflict pain on an individual be an adult, child or teen. It is so sad to comprehend how growing up in an environment that favours physical abuse as directed towards children and teens was.

Beating can be a form of physical abuse especially through the serious serial slaps (SSS). I recalled my friend was beaten for least offences committed. He was flogged and caned for eating out and for being rude to adults. Nobody wanted to hear him out, he was always wrong! Could that be true?

Should he be reported for a wrong doing, he was punished especially at nights. His mother will sit on his stomach, turn up the volume of radio, so that no one hear he scream and yell out of pain. The next day, the dude pretends nothing happened, but went cold afterwards. The abuse altered his ego and self esteem and he did badly in school. He was beaten at that still.

Physical abuse will not only inflict bodily harm but will transcend into the subconscious to affect the mind and thought processes. Please, do not abuse a child.

I forget to add that my friend bed wets and so was ridiculed very early in the morning before going to school and in front of his peers. Although, his peers too had bed wet the night before. That meant that all of them must have been ridiculed at sometime for bed wetting. Could that be right? Please, stop the abuse!

An illustration of types of Serious Serial Slap (a form of physical abuse) is given in the proceeding paragraphs. Instance of Yoruba mothers is drawn.

Yorùbá mothers are the best when it comes to child upbringing. These mothers produce the best range of slaps:

IGBATI,
IFOTI,
IGBAJU,
IGBARUN,
IFORUN,
IFAKUN,
ILADI,
ABARA.
These slaps will make you think you were adopted.
IGBATI will make you correct your wrongs instantly!

The beauty of IFOTI is that you will confess your sins on the spot.

IGBARUN, IGBAJU and IFORUN will make you expose those you committed the crime without hesitation.

ABARA and ILADI will make you pee in your new pants.

Apart from all of these, we have an advanced one which is called IGBAJU OLOYI.

When you receive that one, you will lose balance and your head will go into "auto-search" as you will be looking for what hits you.

This will make you do all the actions of the other slaps aforementioned at once!

OH! IGBAJU OLOYI! It can reset someone to 3D (DEAF, DUMB, and DAFT). With this one, your mother will say let us go home and you will say it is in my pocket ma. All of these for raising a child. Too bad!

And in actual sense, can those form part of a good parenting style? I doubt it! It has however been argued that if you were brought up in Nigeria, regardless of your mother's ethnicity and how caring your mother seem, you MUST have encountered one of these slaps in the course of your upbringing! No Lie.

It is not a laughing matter.
That is mean and Sad.
I just shared an opinion.
Olubankole Olatunji is my name. I am a researcher, writer and social commentator. For comments and enquiries contact me on 08035593418

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