This untamed feral desire for instant sexual gratification in our country and communities is totally scaring. The Rape Archives of Premium Times reeks with the news of over 48 cases from January to June of this year. Some weeks back, in the street on the other side of my street, a 20-something-year-old guy used his thumb to break the hymen wall of a four-year-old-girl. The little girl's reproductive organ had started decaying before her parents could do something about it. They guy was later deeply stabbed on the chest with a scissors. Many people felt that was poetic justice. Several weeks back, two corp members in Plateau State NYSC camp were caught having sex in the gutter. Imagine! The degradations and atrocities caused by this beastly sexual passion is endless. They are now a commonplace. We see and hear of them every day. Everywhere.
This daily-increasing problem is specifically because the duo- Almighty Popular Culture and rugged social liberalism- have given us an uncommonly abnormal society where no one cares about how you use your body so long as whatever you do with it is not a crime. Even if it's a crime, no one cares as long as you are not caught. This new dangerous social attitude pivots on the big fat lie we are daily force-fed that: whatever we do in secret places with our reproductive organs has no impact on the larger society, and therefore should be nobody's headache. After swallowing and properly digesting this terrible lie, ours today, is a society where traditional wisdom on sex and sexuality is totally useless. Nowadays, celibacy is a perversion; premarital sex is fun; virginity is a disease; having just one boyfriend or girlfriend is stupidity; homosexuality and Bondage/Discipline/Domination/Submission/Slave/Master/Sadomasochism (BDSM) are not perversions.
Let it be clear as light that what each of us do or did not do in private with our special organs has significant impact on the larger society. That was the everlasting truth that created the traditional wisdom on sex and sexuality that we have now dumped or trying to dump into the dust bin of history. But the same history shows that, strong commitment to upholding sexual morality was one of the import social values that led to the emergence of the 19 greatest human civilizations. And among other reasons, 16 of them later crumbled away due to moral decadence.
Unchecked political ills and the insouciant social attitude of leaving the door of sexual immorality wide-open are two great problems that can, and do stop a society from progressing. The former problem is being combated in various ways every day, but the latter seems not to be of concern. It should be. The first fact to know is: uncontrolled burning sexual urges directs creative and social energies of people towards only the transient pleasures of sex. That way, people (especially youths) have a worthless one-track mind that cannot contribute any meaningful thing to the society. This is a universal truth that is never absent in any human civilization. Really?
In 1934, J .D . Unwin a prominent British Anthropologist produced a comprehensive study on sex and culture. Unwin studied 16 civilized and 80 uncivilized cultures spanning 5000 years of human history. The study concluded that a strong sexual morality is directly related to the health and prosperity of any civilization. He posited that: "the cultural condition of any society depends upon its social and mental energy or creative energy." Conclusively, Unwin observed that: “those cultures which allowed sexual freedom do not display a high level of social energy- their energy is consumed with meeting their physical appetites. They do not think large thoughts about the physical world- they are not interested in metaphysical questions regarding life and its meaning. In these cultures, life is for now”
To further prove, in a more relatable way that each person's sex life has its impact on the larger society, let's consider the following points:
As designed by each society, the primary function of the institution of marriage is to give every child a father and a mother that will raise (s) he properly for the benefit of the society. Today, sexual immorality doesn't let marriages last long; it is the most prominent reason that marriages crumble. As marriages crumble, many children become useless for their communities and our country as a result of unavailable strong father-mother parental discipline and care.
Today, promisingly brilliant young guys begin to do drugs in an attempt to give their sexual partner unforgettable sexual experiences and have in that process become drug addicts, mentally retarded and socially disconnected. And in situation where addiction allies with poverty and unemployment, it shades into love for violence. Of what use are drug addicts to national progress?
On another note, Nigeria has a population of over 180 million and out of that 3, 438, 442 are HIV and AIDS patient. Only about 60,000 plus of this population are children aged 0-14 the rest are adults aged 15 - 64. If we consider that the age range of economically active people in a nation too, is 15 - 64, one will painfully see that Nigeria as a nation has lost close to 3 million economically active people. Because of the various health challenges that this illness will always bring them, these people cannot significantly contribute anything to the economy with their brain or energy. However, government's spending on them keep increasing. According to the National AIDS Spending Assessment (NASA) findings from 2009-2010, " There had been an increased funding for HIV and AIDS national response in Nigeria from $299, 246, 295 in 2007 to $496, 917, 471.00 in 2010." Fast forward to 2014, a report from the same source says that the funding had still increased to $632, 378, 599. Though, this is 2017- three years after- we can still be certain that the spending will double because a 2016 Strategic Direction Summary findings reported that Nigeria has the highest burden of People Living with HIV (PLHIV) in the world.
The above is not to in any way suggest that the government should cut its spending on people living with HIV. The point is that this recklessly nonchalant social behavior towards morality in our country, is the reason why the country's burden of PLHIV increases almost every year. This has been proven to be true by a 2015 NACA report which says homosexuals, brothel-based and non-brothel-based sex workers and people who inject drugs account for 32% of new HIV infections. From the foregoing facts on government's spending on AIDS, It's only logical to conclude that huge portion of government funds for HIV could have been diverted into developmental projects if the numbers of people with the illness weren't increasing.