Posted by By PAUL OMO OBADAN (blessedpaul12@yahoo.com) on
Virgins in maternity ward? Close to Randle Avenue in Surulere, Lagos, is Ayilara Street, a notorious red light district.
• Earn certificates, ornaments for avoiding sex
Virgins in maternity ward? Close to Randle Avenue in Surulere, Lagos, is Ayilara Street, a notorious red light district.
But while Ayilara squeams in debauchery, a woman - Mrs Adunni Adediran - who lives at 105 Randle Avenue, is crusading and striving to persuade young girls to preserve their virginity before marriage.
In conjunction with a gynaecologist Dr. Ekemode, Adunni has since January assembled and conducted virginity test on no fewer than 50 girls.
Of this number, Adunni is elated that 42 scaled the hurdle, meaning that they have not tested the proverbial forbidden fruit. And they range in age from 16 to 32 years.
The 63-year-old mother is pleased that 95 per cent of girls who walk the streets half-clad may after all not be sex spots and lay-abouts.
'It was the virginity test that made me realise that most of the girls you see on the streets as being spoilt or promiscuous are not actually so. Many people that came before their test I said yeh! I was afraid. Their dressing and all that, I said they must have disvirgined this one oh, but it (hymen) was intact. Later we discussed it and they said mummy, not only you, even our parents thought that we had long lost our virginity."
But what on earth made Mrs Adunni think of gathering virgins and celebrating them?
Recurring dream
Asked why she embarked on a mission that looks odd, meddlesome and messy, she said it all began with a dream, which constantly nagged her since 2006.
'The dream came seven times in 2006 that ‘go and seek the virgins' so that they would stop meeting men before marriage'. When it was recurring, I told my daughter and she said it was not ordinary - that her Pastor said when a dream is recurring, it must be God trying to pass a message.
'Why I have come up with seeking virgin girls is the nauseating sight of boys taking girls to abortion rooms. And when the time to marry comes, they (boys) dodge. What I mean is that men will take ladies to abortion room, to doctors, some times quack doctors, death might result, damage to the womb might result, and many other things could result from abortions committed several times. And when it is time to marry, they dodge. If they were asked, ‘why don't you want to marry Bisi, or Ngozi or Nimota again,' they would say ‘her womb is demaged as a result of abortions she had done. For that, I can't settle down with her, it is not possible again.' And this abortion he is talking about, both of them did it. It takes two to tango.
'Now we are talking of HIV/AIDS. We should not be talking too much of HIV/AIDS if we would not be able to catch them young. They go about following men because of what to eat or what to wear."
Procedure
By the way, how did they determine who amongst the girls is a virgin?
Dr Naheemdeen Ekemode, a veteran gynaecologist conducted the test. He has been a gynaecologist from the late 60s. He did not thrust his finger into their private part. 'We were there with two nurses as well. He wore hand gloves. The nurses parted the girls' laps and the doctor did the professional observation, to establish that the hymen was still intact. Next year, we would probably get a female doctor to join Dr Ekemode." Adunni reasoned that Ekemode alone might not be able to cope with the anticipated rush.
Challenges of keeping virginity
For the girls, keeping their virginity intact has not been a mean task. What with the pressure from men, and the temptation for material acquisition?
Mrs Adunni would playback the tales of woe as narrated by some of the girls while guarding their anatomical membrane.
'One said an uncle whom her father gave opportunity to live with them because he had financial problem, pestered and wanted to disvirgin her. She only survived his onslaught when she threatened to stab him with a broken bottle. `
'One girl told me that an expatriate promised her a car in order to disvirgin her. Another one said that her friend's dad worried her for almost three years, just to have his way. According to her, the man would lure her with money but she did not collect it. Many of them said the boys would say ‘if you don't allow me to disvirgin you, I won't marry you. A girl said, she was even tempted to agree when the boy used another girl to intimidate her and said ‘I would just go ahead and marry this one', but by the Grace of God, they all overcame and gave thanks to God that they are still virgins."
Virginity certificate
Adunni rewards the girls who pass her virginity test with certificate bearing a bold inscription: ‘Certificate of virtue'.
Said Adunni: 'That certificate is useful, their children will be the recipients of the respect We have told them to keep their certificates and bring them forward every year, for the next three years. The doctor will now test them free of charge, to ascertain that they are still intact. I told them that ‘if you allow your husband to disvirgin you, everybody in the family, your in-laws, will respect you'".
In addition, the girls get rewarded with gold earrings, garlands, flowers bangles and wristwatches.
And how did the girls react?
'They were jumping all over when they received their certificates. They were so happy and excited about it. When they got home, they phoned me saying, 'Mummy, I have laminated my own certificate but as you said oh, I photocopied it before I laminated it so that the photocopy will be the one I will be bringing to you in Lagos. Parents were thanking me," Adunni told Sunday Sun, adding that the certificate is theirs for life.
'It is for them for life. I don't think a girl who is impatient, and messes herself up, will come for the virginity test."
Monitoring
'One way to monitor them is what we have told them - that this certificate, you must bring it annually for the next three years. You will be re-tested for three years before we can be completely committed to your affairs. After three years and they are still intact, they will be the ones to be managing the up-coming virgins. We are going to form a club - The Virgins club. If you are getting married, all of us will rally round you in Church marriage and people will know we are the same club - The Virgins Club."
Calling on men
Adunni has now opened her doors to men who long for virgin wives. To her, the girls so tested are ripe, unadulterated and ready for marriage.
'Women are the ones that ought to push the consciousness to stop sex before marriage into the minds men. That's the only way to stop it. Yes, because if women keep saying ‘No, no, no' to the pressure by men for sex, automatically, they would leave us alone," Adunni argued.