Rachael was only a child when she got incised on both sides of her head, and on her chest. Her mother had approved of the incisions when she got very sick, “We call it Ama,” she tells me. “When a person is very sick, it is claimed that getting herbal incisions will cure them.” 27 years later, Rachael hates the scars on her body, especially those on her face. “I don’t like it,” she says. “If there’s a way for me to remove it, I will.”

Sadly, there is no [easy] way for Rachael to rid herself of her facial marks, but with the new bill passed by the Senate, Nigeria is sure to have less disgruntled individuals like Rachael in the future. The bill to end the act of facial mutilation/tribal markings that is sponsored by Senator Dino Melaye passed its second reading on Wednesday, 22nd March 2017. And with a final reading to go, it seems Senator Melaye will go down in history as the man who championed the cause to abolish what has become a barbaric tradition.

The senator was moved to set the cause in motion last November when the picture of a facially mutilated baby went viral on social media. The baby, who was less than a week old, had its tender face scarred in the name of tribal marking. Four vertical lines cut from almost under the chin, across the cheek, all the way to the top of the head. And a slant just on the apple of the cheek. Although the other part of the baby’s face is not visible in the photo, tribal markings are often performed on both sides of the face.

“This barbaric act must stop. [The] National identity card is enough to identify where individuals come from. Support my bill to stop this,” Senator Melaye tweeted.

Scarification or body-marking is a love-hate issue in our society; only a few are indifferent to this art of imprinting, be it for cultural, aesthetic, medicinal, or religious purpose. Often expressed in various forms, from simple paintings and tattoos to extreme scarification, the act has a long history in different cultures around the world. Although it often served as marks of distinction in most societies, it has always been culturally relative with diverse root explanations.

In ancient Europe, scarification was used as a property mark for slaves. In the 18th century, Britain adopted the use of tattoos for identifying criminals. In Africa, it is widely performed as a cultural activity. And in Nigeria, it was originally for identification and medicinal purposes, with facial scarification, often referred to as tribal marking, being most common. Like modern tattoos, scarification here involves a long and painful process where the skin is cut or pierced with a sharp object, but without the ink.

In the old days, scars were used to identify families and tribes within ethnic groups. They were used to distinguish a friend from an enemy during war. They were used to tell the lineage of an individual, and to prevent a child from being sold into slavery. Scars were also used for curative, aesthetic, and sexual purposes. But this is 2017. There is no excuse for the heinous act of scarification in this century, particularly on an infant. And it truly worries me that some Nigerians are speaking against Senator Melaye’s bill under the pretext of preserving tradition, or that it is unreasonable because there are more important issues that should be dealt with.

“This is a cultural practice rooted in the life of people who cherish it … our culture should not be replaced,” says a tweeter user. But does it not matter that the said tradition is harmful and that people who still perpetrate such deeds do not know any better? It is like saying female genital mutilation is a cultural practice, therefore it is okay, and must not be stopped or replaced. This argument makes absolutely no sense.

Some argue that people actually grow to love their tribal marks. But I believe what really happens is that people grow to accept it because they really do not have a choice. They were robbed of that while they were children being forced under the knife, blade, or nail. Whatever it is that such scars are made with. Many of them, unsterilized and unhygienic.

As the Senate minority leader, Senator Godswill Akpabio aptly put it, “[Scarification] is a violation of the rights of children. The child has no option and can’t fight back.” Section 34(1a) of the Nigerian constitution reads: “No person shall be subject to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment. Scarification/tribal marking is inhuman. It is torture; no sane person should dispute this fact, or kick against the bill after seeing the horrifying photograph of that baby. Scarifying a child is one of those traditions that has overstayed its time and has got to go – #SupportTheBill.

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