U iamummsulaim.wordpress.com Since 2012 Umm Sulaim’s Thoughts.

U iamummsulaim.wordpress.com Since 2012 Umm Sulaim’s Thoughts

U ATTITUDE Walking through features exhibiting our affinity to
a seasonal online gallery-zine on timeless behaviours U Walking through features exhibiting our affinity to things right, for cause noble

U ATTITUDE FEMALE CIRCUMCISION Today And Yesterday IN NIGERIA
a seasonal online gallery-zine on timeless behaviours U AUTHOR Umm Sulaim Sunday 2017 OCTOBER 1 FEMALE CIRCUMCISION IN NIGERIA AMONG NDI IGBO Health Issue Serial: sun Today And Yesterday

U NIGERIA ATTITUDE Fathers & Mothers Our Founding
a seasonal online gallery-zine on timeless behaviours U 1960 OCTOBER 1 NIGERIA Gratitude to Our Founding Fathers & Mothers

U NIGERIA ATTITUDE Ndi Nna Na Nne Ndinmepe Mbanyi
a seasonal online gallery-zine on timeless behaviours U 1960 Onwa Ano 1 NIGERIA Otito diri Ndinmepe Mbanyi Ndi Nna Na Nne

Dedication Dedicated to G.I.R.L.S: Girls, all girls everywhere.
Intimidated, yet resolute on change. Resisting abnorms in close quarters. Living to the full as should be. Safe in the mind, though vulnerable in the flesh. Dedication

Signed, The Female Onyebe m:
An elaborate belief system is centred on the vagina (ohu, otu, ikpu). Fear of ohu power led to a web of deceptions and illusions meant to emotionally and physically scar the female. Women unworthy of womanhood took their frustrations on girls and women. The ohu must be defaced, they still insist. It is the omenala, culture of the land. Is omenala not a product of human thoughts? Why, then, were the heartless made the custodians of culture? Is omenala not the outcome of human acceptance? Why do they compel me to accept that which is detrimental to my wellbeing? I am whole as I am: feminine, fertile, and fine. They claim omenala is in obedience to Ala. Yet, Ala, Goddess Of Earth was natural as a woman. Was she deformed in her sexuality? No, I hear them murmur. Where is the tradition that Ala is without a clitoris (utu otu)? In their war against the female body, such women slash utu. The offence of utu is that it resembles a penis. So are the unene (banana) and jioko (plantain) shaped as the penis! Do they not consume snails (ejuna), organisms akin to the vulva? Why do they serve their husband ikpu for dinner? If utu is the penis, ejuna is the ohu. Did they imagine that the drinks and food they served will make us feel better? They claim they only desire to make us more woman, yet who are they to define for me femininity? Signed, The Female

Circumcision of Igbo women and girls, ibe nwanyi ugwu1, as part of Igbo culture, is a subject of contention among Ndi Igbo. To some Igbo persons, no such practice still transpires. To others, the practice ought not to be discontinued. To yet others, the practice must be stopped. What is the precise information on the current existence and prevalence of the practice of tampering with the genitals of women and girls of Igbo ethnicity? PREAMBLE Footnote. 1 For this and all other superscripted words in this publication, please see Appendix A.

Women Against Clitoris Blooming Flower Felled
Do Ndi Igbo perform ibe nwanyi ugwu? When is nwanyi likely to undergo ibi ugwu2? Has ibe nwanyi ugwu been practised between and including 1997 and 2017? What is the prevalence of ibe nwanyi ugwu on females born in 1997 and forward? Was ibi ugwu applied on women born in ? Who administers circumcision on females? What specific towns still circumcise female folks? Does there persist significant support for ibe nwanyi ugwu? What cultural beliefs endorse ibe nwanyi ugwu? How has circumcision affected the life of girls and women? Thoughts Denial Is Toxic Torn Dignity Fresh Wounds Old Injury Common Pain Vicious Cycle Women Against Clitoris Blood Towns Cutting The Hideous Unfit As Culture Blooming Flower Felled

Appendices Definition of terms Female circumcision across nigeria
Categories of the practice Female circumcision in islam reference Appendices Appendix A – Callous Complex Appendix B – National Ache Appendix C – WHO Classification Appendix D – Circumcision Sex Islam

Thoughts Denial Is Toxic 1 Do Ndi Igbo perform ibe nwanyi ugwu?
As an introduction, we shall rely on the Nigeria Demographic And Health Survey ~NDHS 2013 to understand the condition of the bodily sanctity of umu nwanyi ~women. Ranking from 1 to 37 of fair to worst states ~ala of the Federation, including the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, where ibe nwanyi ugwu is affected on members of the community, all ise ~5 Igbo states failed awfully. Denial Is Toxic 2013 Ranking Of Igbo States On Frequency Of 15-49 Year-Old Female Circumcision Rank [1=Fair; 37=Worst] Ala % Umu Nwanyi Ebee Ugwu [Women Circumcised] 21 – iri abuo na otu Anambra 23.4 23 – iri abuo na ato Abia 31.9 28 – iri abuo na asato Enugu 40.3 34 – iri ato na ano Imo 68.0 36 – iri ato na isii Ebonyi 74.2

Ala Niger Delta were also double digit percentages.
Put in perspective and in comparison with ala ndi ozo [other states], while umu nwanyi who experienced ibe ugwu in all ala Ndi Igbo [Igbo states] were in double digit percentages, several states posted a single digit percentage. The only region that consistently polled much worse than ala Ndi Igbo [Igboland] were not ala Hausa-Fulani as constantly speculated, but ala Yoruba, with the exception of Ogun State. Ala Niger Delta were also double digit percentages. All Kanuri-linked states, id est, ala North-East, were single digits less than 3.0% except Bauchi which was 5.2%. All Middle-Belt states, minus Kwara for obvious reasons, were single digit percentages, with Kogi and Plateau as low as 1.7% each. Only ala ato ~3 states, barring the Yoruba-dominated Kwara, in the entire North were double digits: Kano 40.9%, Kaduna 25.1%, and Jigawa 39.4%. Denial Is Toxic

Ano n’ime ise [4 of 5] Igbo states are among the bottom ala iri na ise ~15 states in Nigeria in terms of safety of umu nwanyi from ibe ugwu. Ala nke ise ~5th state, Anambra, is at okara iri abuo na otu ~21st level, a terrible show. Even gishiri3 and angurya4, which are a predominantly omume ~practice Hausa-Fulani have a 3.4 and 3.0 percent, respectively, presence among Ndi Igbo. Denial Is Toxic

Thoughts Torn Dignity 2 When is nwanyi likely to undergo ibi ugwu?
Contrary to prevalent perceptions, the vast majority 90.2 percent of umu nwanyi Igbo ebee ugwu experienced the omume ~practice prior to their fifth birthday. That means umu nwanyi Igbo ebee ugwu itolu ~9 n’ime iri ~10 [9 of 10] endured the omume while still nwatakiri ~a toddler. In addition, umu nwanyi ano ~4 n’ime nari ~100 were put through ibe ugwu during their adolescence. Torn Dignity The common belief that umu agbogho ~teenagers are circumcised usually at puberty is scarcely true, for 3.7 percent of ibe nwanyi ugwu from the ages of 10 to 14 years fail to satisfy that notion. Some 2.7 percent ibe ugwu happen when nwata nwanyi ~girl is 5 to 9 years old, i.e nwata nwanyi ato ~3 n’ime nari ~100.

Popular sentiment goes further to claim circumcision often occurs during any of ilu, ime, or imu nwa: marriage, pregnancy or childbirth, respectively. Yet only 2.7 percent of Igbo women were circumcised from the age of 15 years, id est, umu nwanyi ato ~3 n’ime nari ~100. In the South-East, herself, the percentages were 90.4%, 3.9%, 2.6%, and 2.3% for ibe nwanyi ugwu under 5 years, years, 5-9 years, and 15 years and above, respectively. This trend in 2013 NDHS was replicated in previous surveys of 2008, 2003, and 1999. An independent study of 93 ndi nwanyi Igbo of whom 75 were circumcised confirmed the women were all circumcised before their first birthday [Ike E. Onyishi et al, 2016]. Nwaokoro J.C et al, 2016 found 83.8% of ibe nwanyi ugwu in Ebenebe, Awka North took place at birth and 13.6% at adolescence. Torn Dignity

Thoughts Fresh Wounds Old Injury 3
Has ibe nwanyi ugwu been practised between and including 1997 and 2017? Thoughts 3 Umu nwanyi born in 1997 to 1998 will be 20 and 19 years old, respectively, in 2017. Let us rewind to the year 2013 where we have available data on circumcision of women and girls across Nigeria. The data was provided through the 2013 Nigeria Demographic And Health Survey ~NDHS conducted by the National Population Commission ~NPC. Fresh Wounds Old Injury Umu agbogho [young women] aged 19 or 20 this year, 2017, were 15 or 16, respectively in 2013. This research shall fully utilise the information contained in the survey to understand and analyse the situation in these two decades.

15.3 percent of 15-19 year-old women were circumcised.
Even though the Nigeria Demographic And Health Survey ~NDHS of 2013 does not indicate information on ages based on ethnicity, we can extrapolate some inferences from the general data on circumcised women aged 15.3 percent of year-old women were circumcised. Almost a half of Igbo women captured in the survey were circumcised; Igbo women circumcised constituted 26.4% of the 9,639* circumcised women, id est, one in every four circumcised women are Igbo. It is plausible to expect a reasonable number of 15 and 16 year-olds circumcised is Igbo. *That does not include the 13 circumcised women of Ekoi ~Ejagham ethnicity. Fresh Wounds Old Injury

Umu ada ~daughters aged 0-14 in 2013 will be 4-18 years old this year.
Rather the 2013 NDHS does indicate information on ages based on ethnicity for under 15 year-old girls [nwata nwanyi]. Umu ada ~daughters aged 0-14 in 2013 will be 4-18 years old this year. A total of 18.2 percent – otu ~1 n’ime ise ~5 – of all circumcised nwata nwanyi between, and including, 0 and 14 years old has an Igbo mother ~nne. The specific percentages for each age group are: 16.6%, 17.9%, and 21.3% for 0-4, 5-9, and years old, respectively. 18 of every 100 circumcised umurima nwanyi ~female children under 15 years of age has nne Igbo. The ethnicity of the mother is critical, as we shall discover in a Chapter 6: Who administers circumcision on females?. Let us explore other studies to get a feel of the dangers an ada ~girl-child faces when born to nne Igbo. Fresh Wounds Old Injury

Ndi Nne Bee Umu Ada Ugwu [Mothers Who Circumcise Daughters]
Researchers Year Age Of Mother Total (N) No % Of No To N Yes % Of Yes To N Udochi M. Nwosu et al 2015 <20 110 78 70.9 32 29.1 20-29 316 116 36.7 200 63.3 Total 426 194 45.5 232 54.5 Although data provided by Udochi M.N et al, 2015, for Isiala Ngwa South encompassed the ages 30 and above as well as under 30, this researcher shall use data for only under 30s. The reason is simple: ndi nne aged below 30 years are within range of umu nwanyi who had umurima/ umuaka ~children from While the study did not specifically state the women had daughters within the years , ndi nne aged under 30, as of 2015, will have had their pregnancy and umurima after puberty. Taking puberty to occur on average at the age of 10 years, that leaves a maximum of 20 [30 minus 10] years of childbearing age, id est, after 1995. Fresh Wounds Old Injury

As the average nne has nwa ~a child a year or two into puberty, the data will very likely reflect the mother’s activities well within 1997 and 2017. With a decrease in age, from 20s to under 20s, there was a sharp reduction 63.3% to 29.1% in nne who had their children circumcised. Yet, the younger generation are willing to perpetuate the omenala ~culture, for 29.1 percent is a significant figure. Otu ~1 n’ime ano ~4 young nne aged 19 and below have circumcised at least otu ada, one daughter. Considering the under 20s will have attained childbearing age within the previous ten ~10 years, we understand circumcision is recent and active among Igbo women. More than 1 of every 2 nne below 30 years old circumcised daughters within the last 20 years. That is an alarming reality. Fresh Wounds Old Injury

Returning to the 2013 Nigeria Demographic And Health Survey ~NDHS, we find 20.7 percent of all circumcised under 15 year-olds were resident in the South-East. That figure is lower than those of the North-West and South-West, but much higher than the remaining ato ~3 regions, all of which were single digit percentages less than asaa ~7 percent. For the 0-14 age group, the figures for all Igbo states, except one, were in double digit percentages. 2013 Ranking Of Igbo States On Frequency Of 0-14 Year-Old Female Circumcision Rank [1=Fair; 37=Worst] Ala % Umu Nwata Nwanyi Ebee Ugwu [Girls Circumcised] 19 – iri na itolu Anambra 8.1 23 – iri abuo na ato Abia 17.5 24 – iri abuo na ano Enugu 19.7 28 – iri abuo na asato Ebonyi 26.2 32 – iri ato na abuo Imo 32.3 Fresh Wounds Old Injury

Again, the Yoruba states, with the exception of Ogun and Lagos, were in poorer or similar ranks as the Igbo states. The Hausa-Fulani dominated states of the North-West posted an upsurge in the younger generation. All were double digit percentages greater than 24%. The variance was Kebbi State where the prominent ethnic nationality is Lelna or Zugru ~Zuru, with several minorities, such as, Fakai, Gunganchi, Shanga, Hun-Saare and Hausa-Fulani. Kebbi was a 3.1%. The Niger Delta states, except Edo State, were single digit percentages. Most Kanuri-linked states, id est, states of the North-East, were single digits, some less than 1.0%. Bauchi was a 10.1%. The figures of the Middle Belt states were once more impressive, as all except Kwara were single digits. Fresh Wounds Old Injury

2013 Ranking Of Igbo States On Frequency Of Female Circumcision
0-14 Year-Old Girls 15-49 Year-Old Women Rank [1=Fair; 37=Worst] Ala % Ebee Ugwu 19 Anambra 8.1 21 23.4 23 Abia 17.5 31.9 24 Enugu 19.7 28 40.3 Ebonyi 26.2 34 Imo 68.0 32 32.3 36 74.2 47 of every 100 circumcised girls in Nigeria have a circumcised mother. The corollary is women who are circumcised are likely to circumcise their daughter. Another cause for disquiet over the welfare of the Igbo girl-child is five ~5* percent of girls who endured infibulation were born to an Igbo mother. That might appear an insignificant figure, until one realises that is the highest percentage of infibulated girls, per the mother’s ethnicity. *The number of circumcised Igbo girls was not found in the 2013 data. Fresh Wounds Old Injury

Igwegbe A.O et al, 2000, reported a zero percent circumcision of 200 baby girls born in Nnewi’s Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital ~NAUTH and monitored until each toddler was nine ~9 months old. The 200 neonates were of a total of 325 female babies. The remaining 125 girls did not complete the nine-month monitoring session. Fresh Wounds Old Injury

What is the prevalence of ibe nwanyi ugwu on females born in 1997 and forward?
Thoughts 4 It is a very sad experience I wish I could erase from my memory. The pain I felt was so severe that I could not do anything by myself for three days. It is a very wicked thing to do, but many mothers especially those in the rural areas still subject their daughters to it in the name of tradition. Chioma Achi, Circumcised at age 15 2013 September, Abia State It was done by my grandmother and her friends. Two of them held me down while she used the knife to cut of something I do not know. Even though I was young then, I still remember that it was a very painful experience. My mother told me that what my grandmother and her friends did for me would prevent me from being a promiscuous girl. She also said that it is traditional practice that has survived many generations because she also went through it. Marian Oti, Circumcised at age 8 2013 September, Anambra State Common Pain

Current Personal Desire To Circumcise Daughter
Researchers Year Total (N) No % Of No Yes % Of Yes Adinma J.I et al 1999 610 466 76.4 80 13.1 On the fateful day, when I was asked to proceed for the circumcision and I objected, about ten ~10 men and women took me hostage, held me bound and forcefully wanted to carry out the circumcision. Fortunately for me, I managed to wriggle out from them and immediately ran to the Pastor of our church who took me in and haboured me for the night. The next morning and still in a state of confusion, the Pastor came up with an idea that I should leave the village and travel to Cross River State and stay with my elder brother for the meantime. I left the village and went to stay with my elder brother until I was asked to return to the village following the quick intervention of UNICEF and other agencies that were reliably informed of the incident. They quickly intervened. Confidence Mbam, aged 17 2017 February, Igbeagu, Izzi, Ebonyi State Common Pain

Current Practice Of Circumcision In Hometown
Was ibi ugwu applied on women born in ? Thoughts 5 Was ibe ugwu applied on women born in the twenty years from, and including, 1976? To augment information previously analysed from the NDHS, the following are a number of studies examining the circumcision status of umu nwanyi Igbo present in a particular location at the time of the study. Current Practice Of Circumcision In Hometown Researchers Year Total (N) No % Of No Yes, Occasionally % Of Yes, Occasionally Yes, Fully % Of Yes, Fully Nwaokoro J.C et al 2016 201 12 5.97 Yes = 189 = 94.03% Ibekwe P.C et al 2012 260 136 53.3 Yes = 124 = 47.7% Adinma J.I et al 1999 610 337 55.3 55 9.0 88 14.4 1997 138 53.9 25 9.8 43 16.8 Vicious Cycle

Umu Nwanyi Ebee Ugwu Na Mba Igbo [Circumcised Women In South-East]
Researchers Year Of Publication Location Of Study Total (N) Number Circumcised (A) Mean Age Of A % Of A To N Number Not Circumcised (B) Mean Age Of B % Of B To N Nwaokoro J.C et al 2016 Ebenebe, Awka North 145 46% of participants were aged 36-45, id est, the largest percentage 74.0 51 26.0 Ike E. Onyishi et al Rural 93 75 38.9 80.7 18 33.2 24.0 Ibekwe Perpetus C. et al 2012 Abakaliki, Hospital [antenatal & postnatal] 260 129 28.6 49.6 Curious it is that otu ~1 n’ime umu nwanyi iri ~10 [1 in 10 women] in Abakaliki opined they would demand the circumcision of a wife were they a man [Ibekwe et al]. Ibekwe et al 2012 reported that abuo ~2 n’ime umu nwanyi iri ~10 would support ibe nwanyi ugwu should they be in a position of authority. Vicious Cycle

Umu Nwanyi Ebee Ugwu Na Mba Igbo [Circumcised Women In South-East]
Researchers Year Of Publication Location Of Study Total (N) Number Circumcised (A) % Of A To N Number Not Circumcised (B) % Of B To N Megafu V. 2002 Enugu, UNTH^ 500 340 68.0 160 32.0 Igwegbe A.O et al 2000 Nnewi, NAUTH 48.0 Adinma J.I et al 1999 Antenatal clinics (pregnant women) 610 296 48.5 314 51.5 1997 256 124 48.4 Obionu C.N 1996 Enugu, UNTH 100 82.0 Among Igbo women, excision of the clitoris ~utu is the customary type of circumcision, followed by removal of the clitoral hood [considered analogous to the prepuce in a penis]. In a newborn, utu can be repeatedly rubbed for it to contract. In the 1997 study, Adinma J.I published that 9 [7.6%] ada ~daughters of surveyed ndi nne were circumcised of 118 ada, whereas 109 [92.4%] were not circumcised. ^University Of Nigeria Teaching Hospital Vicious Cycle

Circumcised when she was nine ~9 years old by a female dibia 5
My mother took me there that fateful evening and about six powerful women we met there pounced on me and pinned me to the ground and while I was struggling, a sharp pain engulfed my entire body and I became unconscious. I woke three hours later and I could not move my legs. I felt paralysed from my waist down. That was how I gradually lost the use of one of my legs. Then, I vowed that I will fight the barbaric tradition, but as I grew, I discovered that there is little I can do as an individual. The culture and tradition promote this practice and there is little or nothing we can do about it, except the government intervenes. Nzubechi Uneze, aged 60 Circumcised when she was nine ~9 years old by a female dibia 5 2017 February, Imo State I was circumcised at the age of nine . For many years I could not forgive my mother for allowing me to go through that experience. Ugonne Lazarus, aged 50 2017 February, Imo State Vicious Cycle

Circumcised when she was 15 years old 2015 August, Ebonyi State
I was circumcised when I was 14 years old, alongside my mates; it was a norm in Ebonyi State, those days. This tradition signifies that a girl has come of age, and is used to initiate girls into womanhood. Women take great joy in the practice. Most of us circumcised are kept in a room to heal, fed and treated specially by the older women. I am at present unmarried at 40 years of age. I live with the pain every day; the pain is one that one does not forget in a hurry. Imagine the torture when one wants to ease oneself, especially with that grave injury between one’s legs, it is easier said than pictured or experienced. Nkechi Amadi, aged 40 2015 August, Ebonyi State The experience flashes before one’s eyes, and dampens the ecstasy of love making. I am sure am frigid; sex just does nothing for me. That experience has ruined me for life. I have never had an orgasm. Ene Joshua, aged 30 Circumcised when she was 15 years old 2015 August, Ebonyi State Vicious Cycle

The figures are slightly increased for women in the South-East.
Data on the 2008 Nigeria Demographic And Health Survey ~NDHS show a half of umu nwanyi Igbo then aged were circumcised, of which 5.2 percent were infibulated. The figures are slightly increased for women in the South-East. 52.8 percent of South-Eastern women were circumcised and 5.5 percent of them were infibulated. It is worth noting that the age group in 2008 corresponds to age bracket in That covered women born between, and including, 1976 and 1996, id est, women in age group There is, however, an excess of 17 years, id est, 58 minus 41, in the 2008 data. The relevance of all NDHS data is thus a general feel of the prevalence of circumcision among umu nwanyi Igbo in their 20s, 30s, as well as mid-to-late teenage years. Vicious Cycle

Prevalence Of Female Circumcision
Researchers Category % Umu Nwanyi Ebee Ugwu [Circumcised Women] % Circumcised Women Infibulated 2013 2008 2006 2003 1999 NDHS Igbo 45.2 51.4 45.1 5.4 5.2 3.1 South-East 49.0 52.8 40.8 36.5*^ 5.5 2.7 3.7^ Abia 31.9 55.2 13.7 4.9 Anambra 23.4 29.6 3.8 Ebonyi 74.2 82.6 3.3 4.7 Enugu 40.3 46.8 5.7 8.0 Imo 68.0 63.5 5.1 NBS` 50.4 41 All data issue a reliable texture of the prevalence of circumcision among women born before this millennium. *36.5% may appear a low figure, until compared against 39.1% uncircumcised women, id est, ratio of women circumcised to women uncircumcised is roughly 1:1. ^The figures for 1999 included states of the South-South: Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Rivers. `National Bureau Of Statistics Vicious Cycle

Umu Nwanyi Ebee Ugwu [Circumcised Women] Outside Nigeria
Researchers Year Of Publication Location Of Study Total (N) Number Circumcised (A) % Of A To N Number Not Circumcised (B) % Of B To N Dorothy Ebere Ukoha 2015 Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas 139 64 46.0 75 54.0 Out of ndi nne ~mothers who have daughters, one-third ~1/3 circumcised her ada ~daughter and otu ~1 n’ime ise ~5 [1 in 5] plan to circumcise her ada. Infibulations were reported in both nne ~mother and ada ~daughter generations [D.E Ukoha, 2015]. As in Texas, girls and young women born to nne Igbo living in foreign countries are in danger of being circumcised either abroad or on a visit to Nigeria. Clearly, ndi nne leave the shores of Nigeria for the comfort offered elsewhere and retain omume ojoo [nasty practices]. Vicious Cycle

Thoughts Women Against Clitoris 6 Who administers circumcision
on females? Thoughts 6 Essentially, this is a case of violence against women and girls perpetrated by women, female-on-female assault. The list of culprits includes nne, grandmothers, mother-in-law, sisters-in-law, traditional birth attendants [onete imunwa], dibia nwanyi, female neighbours, aunts, any elderly woman and Umuada6. Where these are not able to apply circumcision, males are recruited to do the job, such as barbers [okpu isi] and dibia. Women Against Clitoris One must understand that men within the society play some, albeit minor, roles in enforcing compliance. At the very minimum, men exhibit a conspiracy of silence, even within the private family structure, where the same men exercise dominance.

After cutting off the clitoris ~utu with an aguba 7, herbs and palm oil are administered to the wound, to enable blood clotting and healing. I thought I was doing female children good when I was cutting their female organ after birth. I thought doing that will make them complete and bear children when they grow. I also thought that any female child that is not circumcised will be jumping from one man to another, but I have come to realise that all these beliefs are false. I have been telling people that I no longer do it. Even people are still coming to me to circumcise their female children and I used to tell them: No, I do not do it anymore. Gloria Okorie, Ex-circumciser 2016 October, Ivo, Ebonyi State It is my profession. What will I tell mothers when they call me to circumcise their girls. Even if I refuse, they will patronise another person to do the job. In my village, there are five of us doing this business, so you see, there is competition. Ogechi Nwosu Circumciser, as was her mother 2015 August, Imo State Women Against Clitoris

The 2013 Nigeria Demographic And Health Survey ~NDHS prove that while the majority of circumcision of women and young girls was conducted by traditional circumcisers [obeugwu] and traditional birth attendants [onete imunwa], trained health professionals perform about ten ~10 percent of ibe nwanyi ugwu. Some other studies outline the implication of omahu isike ~doctors, ochedo ahu ~nurses, and ochedo omumu ~midwives in ibe nwanyi ugwu. The involvement of medical professionals in disfiguring the reproductive orifice of females in Nigeria is a disturbing reality. Women Against Clitoris

Labia Majora – Thick hairy flesh. Sometimes partly or totally removed.
Clitoris Vaginal Opening Labia Minora Women Against Clitoris Clitoris – Removed. Only the hood or flesh around the clitoris may be removed. Labia Minora – Flesh that continues from the clitoral hood. Partly or totally removed. Labia Majora – Thick hairy flesh. Sometimes partly or totally removed. Infibulation – Fusing of the labia minora or labia majora, usually by stitching.

Some TBA uses a rusty blade to cut off the bundle of nerves and associated blood vessels contained in the clitoris and proceeds to rub in chewed herbs from a mouth that may not have been washed in days. Anonymous 2016 February 16

Thoughts Blood Towns 7 What specific towns still circumcise
female folks? Thoughts 7 Let us take each Igbo state singly and examine which obodo ~communities have features of ibe nwanyi ugwu, as of the last five years [ ]. Only obodo with a high density of ibe nwanyi ugwu may be cited. Nevertheless, the practice is more widespread across very many obodo in all South-Eastern states. Further, parents circumcise their daughters clandestinely, making accurate information hard to obtain. Blood Towns Throughout this book, this researcher has deliberately separated Western or Delta Igbo from Igbo on the mainland to avoid any scepticism that will deflect the circumcision rate from the South-East towards Delta State.

Communities With A High Prevalence Of Female Circumcision
From 2012 To Date State ~Ala Local Government Area LGA ~Akuku Obodo Town~Obodo Ebonyi Abakaliki, Ebonyi, Izzi 26 communities, including Igbeagu [and possibly Amagu] in Izzi Afikpo North, Ezza North, Ivo, Ikwo Afikpo, Ezza, Ikwo Ishielu Nkalagu, Ohafia Agba Ohaukwu Mgbo§, Ezzamgbo§ Imo Ikeduru, Mbaitoli, Ngor Okpala, Ohaji/ Egbema, Oguta All were explicitly named as high-density zones of ibe nwanyi ugwu. Orodo in Mbaitoli [and possibly Umuneke in Ngor Okpala] Ehime Mbano, Ideato North, Owerri Municipal, Owerri West Female circumcision in these communities was implied rather than stated, in that anti-ibe nwanyi ugwu sensitisation workshop was organised for persons from those towns. Same with some towns listed elsewhere. Oru West Blood Towns Some of the towns listed in the set of tables have declared an anti-ibe nwanyi ugwu standpoint, recently. §Also spelled Ngbo and Ezzangbo

Communities With A High Prevalence Of Female Circumcision
From 2012 To Date State ~Ala Local Government Area ~Akuku Obodo Town ~Obodo Aninri Nenwe Enugu Awgu Ndeaboh Enugu East At least 10 communities of Nike, including Emene, Nkwubo, Edem, Ibeagwa, Mbulujodo I, Mbulujodo II, Mbuluiyikwu, Mbuluowehe I, Mbuluiyikwu North, Mbuluowehe II, and Ugwuogo Nike Enugu South Nkanu East Ugbawka Nsukka Obukpa Abia Isiala Ngwa South At least 10 communities Anambra Awka North Obuno, Uwani, Umuaba, Okpuno, Amagu, Umuji, Umuogbuefie and Ogolubo in Ebenebe Idemili South Oba, Ojoto, Nnobi, Nnokwa, Awka-Etiti, Alor, and Akwu Ukwu Onitsha North, Onitsha South Onitsha Ekwusigo, Ihiala Blood Towns

Thoughts Cutting The Hideous 8
Does there persist significant support for ibe nwanyi ugwu? Thoughts 8 A 2013 informal poll conducted on social media sought the views of Ndi Igbo on whether ibe nwanyi ugwu ought to be sustained or terminated. The respondents were mostly youths below the age of 40 years, with a possibility of the age bracket extending to 50 years. The respondents were all literate and expressed their responses in written English language. Cutting The Hideous Result Of Poll: Of 60 respondents, 7 persons, mostly men, supported ibe nwanyi ugwu. 49 persons, mostly women, opposed ibe nwanyi ugwu. 4 persons, mostly men, expressed the need: To understand the ill-effects of the practice. For information on features of a circumcised vagina ~ohu.

Current Desire Among Ndi Igbo To Continue Female Circumcision
Researchers Year Category Women Of every x persons, where x = approximately Men Yes No Nwaokoro J.C et al 2016 Awka North 1 7 10 Dorothy Ebere Ukoha 2015 Dallas 3 6 NDHS 2013 Igbo 2 4 South-East 5 Abia 8 Anambra Ebonyi Enugu Imo Ibekwe P.C et al 2012 Abakaliki The data from these sources have been extrapolated to a sum of ten ~10, for uniformity to facilitate comparison. Cutting The Hideous

Although leaders and people of several towns have expunged ibe nwanyi ugwu from the town’s omenala ~culture, there is little hope that circumcision of females have ceased. So far, there is no evidence available to this researcher of the actual protection of children and young girls from the practice. That is to say, there are no figures of babies born in these communities who were not circumcised by repentant relatives. Cutting The Hideous

Thoughts Unfit As Culture 9 What cultural beliefs endorse
ibe nwanyi ugwu? Thoughts 9 A long range of cultural and religious beliefs is tabled to enforce compliance and perpetuate the custom of excising the genitals of young girls and women. At the core of such beliefs is a woman’s sexuality, or in this case, a lack of it, for circumcision is prescribed by Igbo culture to inhibit a woman’s sexual appetite. The corollary to that is circumcision is supposed to serve to Unfit As Culture prevent a woman engaging in extramarital sexual relationships. However, the same Igbo culture encourages a woman to flee from her husband and operate a new marital relationship at her discretion.

Worse yet, Igbo culture affirms that a woman whose husband dies before she has born him a son can have sexual relations with men until she is delivered of a baby boy, whom she names after the deceased husband. The reality is the widow is free to have as many children, sons and daughters, as she wishes, all of whom she attributes to the man long dead. Moreover, a culture that disfigures a girl in order to preserve her chastity encourages her parents to arrange for her to sleep with men so she bears children for her parents. Sex, sex, and more sex, where no woman is expected to partake in or enjoy sex. The female is no more than a vessel for male sexual satisfaction and extending a man’s progeny, whether or not he is capable of prolonging his lineage through child bearing. Unfit As Culture

An unmarried woman can apply this practice to have children.
The wife of a man with a low sperm count can contract a marriage with another female, female-female nuptials, who sleeps with another male to conceive. The child is raised as an offspring of the impotent male. The same woman-woman matrimony is administered by a widow unable to bear children. An unmarried woman can apply this practice to have children. A note on female-to-female wedding: Although it is a nuptial relationship between two women or between a woman and a younger lady, it is not a sexual relationship between the two females. Thus, the absence of sexual intercourse is a distinguishing feature between woman-woman marriage, as applied by Ndi Igbo and same-sex marriage. Unfit As Culture

Young girls are readily traded by her parents for goods, cash, or collateral. What is expected of the individual in whose care the girl inevitably falls? Is this person proscribed from sexually exploiting the vulnerable girl? It is an irony that a people obsessed with a girl’s virginity perceives her innocence as a means of transaction into the world of sex. Few women argued and still maintained that they do not support the elimination of ibe nwanyi ugwu because it prevents promiscuity, preserves a girl’s virginity, thereby accords her respect in her matrimonial home. A male observer [an indigene] who graduated from the University Of Nigeria, Nsukka as a veterinary doctor challenged one of the discussants that if ibe nwanyi ugwu prevents promiscuity, why is she carrying a two ~2 year-old child her sixteen ~16 year-old daughter bore for her without being legally married? Assessment Of Harmful Cultural Practices 2009 March, Ebonyi State Unfit As Culture

Age Of Commencement Of Sexual Relations Of Women And Girls
Researchers Year Category Commenced Sex Circumcised Uncircumcised Clifford Odimegwu et al 2016 Age 12 4.0% 3.9% Age 15 27.6% 32.6% Median Age 18 years 17 years Incidentally, the work of Clifford Odimegwu et al, 2016, revealed 4.0 percent of circumcised girls had commenced sexual relations by their twelfth ~12th birthday, whereas by the same age, a slightly reduced percentage 3.9% of uncircumcised young ladies had had sex. It is crystal clear circumcision has little effect on the time of initial sexual contact of a female. Subsequent sexual interactions, of course, depends on how the girl or woman felt at the first occasion. Unfit As Culture

Other cultural perceptions on ibe nwanyi ugwu:
It is a symbol of womanhood, as the clitoris ~utu is analogous to the penis. Thus, the cutting of the utu enhances femininity. It curbs excessive growth of the utu. It reinforces personal hygiene. It protects a woman from diseases. It facilitates the marriage of a female, as men are reluctant to have an uncircumcised nuptial partner. It protects the family honour. It saves a woman from sexual intercourse with jinn ~spirits. It enables live births, as the utu is the nemesis of the baby and kills the baby on contact during delivery. It prevents the ogbanje syndrome, repeated births of half-breed spirit children, ogbanje, who die shortly after birth and return in another pregnancy to torment the mother with multiple infant mortality. Unfit As Culture

Thoughts Booming Flower Felled 10
How has circumcision affected the life of girls and women? Thoughts 10 More than two decades ago, this author met as a teenager a young Delta Igbo woman who confided of her circumcision status and the pain she endured during sexual intercourse ~dyspaeuria. Prior to that, this researcher does not recall hearing of circumcision of females. Silently astonished! Months later, a middle-aged male from Oguta [or possibly Ohaji] in Imo State smugly recounted the circumcision of women. Booming Flower Felled On the eve of her wedding, he narrated, a woman is laid bare on the circumcision platform. She is pinned by witnesses and circumcised, exclaiming in pain as she is clipped. What a public embarrassment! The pain! The torture! The humiliation! The loss of blood ~haemorrhage!

This researcher replied, rather cynically: I was not circumcised.
The Oguta male was emphatic ibe nwanyi ugwu was an established Igbo culture. This researcher replied, rather cynically: I was not circumcised. You were born in Warri, he retorted, gleefully, The people of Warri do not circumcise their women. Horrified, this researcher pondered what the experience would have been had circumcision occurred. In any case, ibe nwanyi ugwu is rife in Warri and Enugu, the city of the researcher’s childhood. Information on the practice in Isuikwuato, this researcher’s hometown, is scarce. Rather, the circumcision status of this researcher largely depended on Mother and Grandmother. Curious it is that some 4.65% of circumcised women consented to their own circumcision [Nwaokoro J.C et al, 2016]. In the same study, women testified their husband did not provide consent for the circumcision. Blooming Flower Felled

The aftermath of ibe nwanyi ugwu on the circumcised woman is a long list, which is excluded from this book in order to retain the personal aspect of circumcision. Circumcised Igbo women are all around us. The ogu akwukwo ~reader is encouraged to listen carefully to a friend who has undergone the traditional procedure. Meanwhile, consider this: Some women live with a keloid in her vagina ~ohu. Yes, that is right. In ordinary language, a keloid* is an abnormal enlargement of tissue, id est, her ohu swells at the scar site. Just imagine the discomfort. For women who experienced infibulation, consider how they urinate several times a day, in excruciating pain with urine discharging in drops. The same obstruction causes unbearable pain during menstruation ~dysmenorrhea, as if menstruation in itself were not sufficient distress. *This may be close to the condition known as ibi, genital carbuncle or hydrocele. Blooming Flower Felled

Interesting this: That at the National Obstetric Fistula Centre ~NOFIC, Abakaliki as of 2013 among women resident in Abia State, there were seventy-nine ~79 cases of obstetric fistula ~VVF/RVF in twelve ~12 Local Government Areas. Akuku Obodo ~Local Government Area Highest Number Of Cases Umunneochi 16 – iri na isii Obingwa 14 – iri na ano Umuahia South 13 – iri na ato Akuku Obodo ~Local Government Area Lowest Number Of Cases Isiala Ngwa 2 – abuo Osisioma Isuikwuato Even though neither vesico-vaginal fistula ~VVF nor recto-vaginal fistula ~RVF is caused solely by female circumcision, the data is presented as an illustration of the spread of social factors common to ibe nwanyi ugwu: superstitious folly and blind adherence to harmful cultural practices. Similar conditions apply to other states of Igboland, with the worst hit being Ebonyi, the same Ebonyi with the second highest prevalence rate of female circumcision in the Nation. Blooming Flower Felled

If not for my knowledge of the practice, my wife or my mother-in-law would have done it without my knowledge. It is going under the nose of so many men and they do not even know. Jude Ohanele 2015 November, Imo State

Na aka, Igwe Nwanyi Nwanne m:
Okwa ka nwanyi buru ugo ndibe ya ji etu onu bu ka eme ka nwanyi ha ime njo, ma ya na nwoke mekoahu. Ichapu nwanyi ihe uso n’ahu bu aru n’onwe ya. Anaghi eji aru egbochi njo. Ibi ụmụ nwanyị ugwu abughi ihe ekwesiri iji ma Ndi Igbo. Ugwu nwanyi anoghi n’ibe ya ugwu, nke bu na igbupu ihe uso nwanyi emeghi ya dii ucha. Ucha no n’iwu ahu. Ji ncha sa otu n’ututu n’anyasi ma okwanu mgbe obuna nwanyi choo. Otu nwanyi si choo nnedo anya bu otu otu si choo nnedo. Eyina akwa na akpado na ndida. Mgbe okpomo oku, ma na otu ga-ekpo oku nke pu iche. Jike inedo otu uso. Echezona iñu mmiri nke oma n’ubochi. Ibi umu nwanyi ugwu enweghi uru karia ita umu nwanyi ahuhu, ma obu na-imegbu nwanyi bu ihe di mma. Nwa nwanyi ekwesi inedo, bu onye ana eme ihe ihere na ya mepe ukwu ka ndi mmadu kirie maka omenala. Mma nwanyi bu iha otu aka otu Chukwu si ke ya. Na aka, Igwe Nwanyi

Appendix A – Callous Complex
AGUBA: A triangular knife; also known as aguwa or ikpa. [First occurs on slide 36, superscript 7.] ANGURYA or CIRE ANGURYA ~clitoridectomy, also known as CIRE BELUN KASA, is the cutting of the clitoris ~utu. Utu is also known as BELUN GINDI. [First occurs on slide 13, superscript 4.] BELI or YANKAN BELI ~hymenectomy, also called CIRE ANGURYA, CIRE HAKKI, or CIRE BELUN GABA, is the scrapping of the vaginal opening in infant girls in order to sever the hymen. As hymenectomy is called angurya by some, the confusion in categorisation multiplies. The hymen is a fragile elastic tissue membrane that is easily broken on penetration, or by sitting with legs ajar, leaping or similar physical activity involving the lower limbs. One is curious to understand the size of the hymen in a Hausa- Fulani baby girl, for there to emanate a special procedure for dislodging it. Is there a measurement of sorts for the size of a normal hymen, for there to be the concept of too thick a hymen? CIRCUMCISION: Female circumcision is any tampering of the vagina ~ohu for personal, cultural, religious or other nonessential postulations. The term circumcision, here, includes, but is not limited to, any of the following: A. Piercing any part of the private parts. B. Cutting any part of the private parts. C. Stitching any part of the private parts. Thus, the practice of some Hausa-Fulani fathers to stitch the vaginal orifice of their daughter fulfils the definition of ibe nwanyi ugwu, even if the practice itself is not known as circumcision. Appendix A – Callous Complex

In core Northern Nigeria, circumcision is complete when any of these is incised or excised: hymen, vaginal walls, urethra, clitoris ~utu, labia minora [inner smaller flap], or labia majora [outer larger flap], with or without infibulation. Circumcision in Southern Nigeria amputates the hood of utu, the utu herself, the labia minora, or labia majora, with or without infibulation. It is interesting that while in the South, the elimination of external female genitalia is cited to prevent hypersexuality, in the North, specifically among the Hausa-Fulani, the excisions into internal female genitalia is claimed to avert hyposexuality, id est, no sexual attraction towards the husband. Another remarkable dichotomy is the external reproductive features: utu and labia, are the target in the South, hence conforming to the classification of the World Health Organisation ~WHO. In the North, in addition to utu and labia, the walls of the vagina ~ohu, the urethra, neck of the bladder, the rectum are the target, often without damage to the external genitalia, hence the nonconformity to WHO classification and thus the superficially low prevalence of circumcision of Hausa-Fulani women and girls. Another worthy note is the insistence of some of absence of ibe nwanyi ugwu among the Hausa-Fulani, but acceptance of occurrence of the compound cutting practices – gishiri and the like. The one may be abhorred as unnecessary and the other promoted as therapeutic, a rectification of diseases, the disease of no penetration, of the bride’s contempt for sexual liaison with the forced husband, and yes, the disease of virginity. Who would have thought in a million years that virginity is a source of so much trauma to the girl, and among Muslims at that! And what happened to abolition of forced marriage as a remedy for a lack of sexual affection towards the groom? Oh, that will deprive parents of the right to be imbeciles! Appendix A – Callous Complex

It is a matter of curiosity that Muslim women in the North who harp about modesty readily expose their private parts to a man, a barber [okpu isi] for that matter, on the flimsiest of occasions. Has anyone considered consulting a physician in case of congenital genitourinary abnormality? Oh, yes, Allah will resolve the medical condition. Actually, the okpu isi ~barber does. Rather than visit a hospital, Muslims obtain the service of an okpu isi who exacerbates the situation. And which right thinking person expects labour to last multiple days, for goodness sake? Do these people not hear of what happened to other pregnant women in their community whose labour prolonged into the second or third day? How many of such women did not end leaking urine or faeces, assuming mother and child survived the ordeal? That is another case of: It is what Allah wills! At what circumstance does Allah will persons who claim to be His worshippers to cease to be a menace to their daughters? Certainly, Allah wills is nothing but a camouflage for gross incompetence. The tragedy of current classification of female circumcision is that states are guided to prohibit the cutting of external genitalia, though internal genitalia can also come under attack. It is prudent for the United Nations to re-examine the criteria, such that the classification and surveys are conducted based on practice, irrespective of the name given to that practice. The outcome will reveal, among others, the occurrence of clitoridectomy, in all its various nomenclature by the Hausa-Fulani. A second desired outcome is the inclusion of excision or incision of the internal genitalia into the definition of ibe nwanyi ugwu, perhaps – a new Type 4: Fissure – Incision of the anterior, posterior, or lateral vaginal wall, with or without hymenectomy. Type 5: Fistula – Excision of the urethra, bladder neck, or rectum. Appendix A – Callous Complex

DIBIA: A traditional doctor. [First occurs on slide 30, superscript 5.] GISHIRI, or more precisely, TSAGAR GISHIRI or YANKAN GISHIRI, is the traditional practice of cutting the anterior, posterior, or lateral vaginal walls supposedly for ease of labour or coital penetration. Gishiri, linguistically meaning salt, is a colloquial term for the private organs. Gishiri is also used to describe any ailment affecting the genitals, of which vaginal incision is the cure. Gishiri cutting, a culture of the Hausa-Fulani, is also known as angurya [hence the bewilderment over the definition of angurya], zir zir, zul zul, zur zur, tsatstsefa. [First occurs on slide 13, superscript 3.] IBE NWANYI UGWU: Female circumcision. [First occurs on slide 8, superscript 1.] IBI UGWU: Circumcision. [First occurs on slide 9, superscript 2.] UMUADA, or more appropriately OTU UMUADA: Women relatives of the husband, or, women born in the community. [First occurs on slide 35, superscript 6.] Women born elsewhere but married or resident in the community – OTU INYEMEDI or OTU ATULARADI. Interestingly, descendants of slaves [ohu, oru, osu], the untouchables, can be members but not leaders of any of these women organisations. Hence, decisions to inflict female circumcision on the community rests on the freeborn – diala. What a miserable collection of women they are! There is talk of the circumcision of osu girls against their wish. Ndi Igbo are a people so recalcitrant that decades after the official termination of slavery, the slave caste system persists. Are Ndi Igbo to be expected to readily relinquish ibe nwanyi ugwu, minimally because they have publicly professed to do so? Appendix A – Callous Complex

Female genital mutilation of any kind has reduced though in rural areas they are still practising it. M.S.A [M.D] 2017 September 15, Kano State M.S.A collects information on my behalf and commences an exposition of ibe nwanyi ugwu as practised by the people of Kano. Only in M.S.A’s account is genital mutilation used in this book. Continue reading, please. Appendix A – Callous Complex

The term angurya which I think sounds strange to physicians refers to scrapping of the vaginal wall, mostly in a newly married girl that does not allow the husband consummate after marriage. M.S.A [M.D] 2017 September 15, Kano State M.S.A, here, relays angurya as hymenectomy. See subsequent slides for more on this from M.S.A. The hymen is thought to hamper penetration. Appendix A – Callous Complex

Angurya, to patients, is the cutting of clitoris, because gurya means a tiny, seedlike structure. It is mostly done to girls yet to attain puberty or on the verge. M.S.A [M.D] 2017 September 15, Kano State M.S.A presents the accurate description of angurya. In southern Niger Republic, among the Hausa, gurya, a seedlike tissue, is thought to enlarge and obstruct the vagina ~ohu from childbirth or penetration, resulting in gishiri cuts. Appendix A – Callous Complex

Yankan gishiri means cutting of either labia minora or scrapping of vaginal wall.
Cutting of hymen is a separate entity and is mostly done to a newly married girl. M.S.A [M.D] 2017 September 15, Kano State M.S.A adds fresh information on gishiri – excision of the labia minora. All these are feedbacks from focus group discussions ~FGDs. Appendix A – Callous Complex

It seems people use the terminology differently, however the latest explanation is more in term. It is mostly performed by traditional barbers also known as wanzami. M.S.A [M.D] 2017 September 15, Kano State M.S.A expresses the multiple, often conflicting, usages of the same word. Say that again!!! Sometimes, the woman performs the operation on herself. Appendix A – Callous Complex

It seems to me that they do not want to be directly linked to the scenario to which they are responding. M.S.A [M.D] 2017 September 15, Kano State M.S.A tells me!!! There is a paucity of research works by the Hausa-Fulani and Kanuri-Shuwa Arab axis of the North-East, for no one wants to touch the subject. Touch the vagina ~ohu, but do not tell that one has touched!!! Appendix A – Callous Complex

However, I cannot categorically state which ethnicity – Hausa or Fulani – predominantly practise one form of FGM or the other. M.S.A [M.D] 2017 September 15, Kano State M.S.A tables a puzzle: Who wants to be caught with hand in the pot? Clearly, both the Fulani and the Hausa of the North-West practise ibe nwanyi ugwu. Appendix A – Callous Complex

Generally, it is based on traditional belief and is completely against medical and health practice. Others believe that a girl will have less libido if the cutting is done. M.S.A [M.D] 2017 September 15, Kano State Appendix A – Callous Complex

I do not have any experience of either Yoruba or Igbo practice of FGM in Kano.
M.S.A [M.D] 2017 September 15, Kano State M.S.A here is a taste: Abubakar, Kano, 2004, documented a prevalence rate of ibe nwanyi ugwu of 42.7%, 38.5% and 19.9% for Igbo, Yoruba, and Hausa, respectively. Appendix A – Callous Complex

However, African culture always deprives girls and women their due rights. Everyone feels that a girl should be submissive to any situation she finds herself. M.S.A [M.D] 2017 September 15, Kano State Appendix A – Callous Complex

I asked someone the question [Is belun kasa = clitoridectomy. ]
I asked someone the question [Is belun kasa = clitoridectomy?]. It is probably synonymous to it. The word is Fulani. M.S.A [M.D] 2017 September 15, Kano State M.S.A explains there are words for circumcision not just in Hausa, but also in Fulfulde. Enter the Fulani dimension!!! Appendix A – Callous Complex

Mu’azu Omeiza Musa [M.D]
I have never seen a circumcised female in this environment and it has never been an issue here. In fact, some families do not even circumcise their male children, talk more of the females. Mu’azu Omeiza Musa [M.D] 2017 August 16, Kogi State Appendix B – National Ache

Circumcised Women And Girls Across Nigeria
Region Authors Published Location Of Study Total (N) Number Cut (A) Mean Age Of A % Of A To N Number Not Cut (B) Mean Age Of B % Of B To N South-South A.U Idung et al 2017 Akwa Ibom, Anua in Uyo, SLH, ANC (pregnant women) 364 82 28.3 22.5 282 74.5 I. Jeremiah et al 2014 Rivers, Port Harcourt, UPTH 500 170 31.6 34.0 O.E Johnson et al 2012 Akwa Ibom, Ayadehe in Itu 218 202 92.7 V.O Awusi et al 2009 Delta, Isoko South, Oleh, GH 630 66.0 North-West A.O Ashimi et al 2015 Jigawa, Birnin Kudu, FMC, GH, BHC Infants 450 215 4 days at circumcision 47.8 235 52.2 Mothers 121 56.3 94 43.7 Jigawa, Birnin Kudu, TSHCs, ANCs (pregnant women) 323 100 23.7 31.0 108 33.4 SLH = St. Luke’s Hospital ANC = Antenatal clinic FMC = Federal Medical Centre GH = General Hospital BHC = Basic Health Clinic TSHC = Tertiary & Secondary Healthcare Centre UPTH = University Of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital Appendix B – National Ache

Region Authors Published Location Of Study Total (N) Number Cut (A) Mean Age Of A % Of A To N Number Not Cut (B) Mean Age Of B % Of B To N North-West I.D Garba et al 2012 Kano, AKTH (infants) 200 26 8 days at circumcision 13.0 A.I Yola 2011 Kano, MMSH, LWDFCs 1372 78 5.68 Abubakar I. et al 2004 Kano, AKTH, ANC 210 23.3 North-Central Dattijo L.M et al 2009 Plateau, Jos, JUTH, ANC, (pregnant women) 260 74 28.5 I. Ugwu et al Benue, Ugengen community of Igede in Oju 120 72 60.0 48 40.0 South-West L.J Oyefara 2015 Lagos, Kosofe, Oworonshoki 350 266 76.0 84 24.0 C.O Omolase et al 2014 Ondo, Owo, FMC, ANC, (pregnant women) 56.3 Muinat A. Badmus 2012 Ogun, Ijebu-Ode 100 17 17.0 83 83.0 M.D Oduwole et al 2005 Ogun, Agura, Sabo in Shagamu (Hausa) 177 123 69.5 18 10.2 Ogunlola I.O et al 2003 Osun, Ilesa, WGH, ANC, (pregnant women) 430 MMSH = Murtala Mohammed Specialist Hospital AKTH = Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital JUTH = Jos University Teaching Hospital WGH = Wesley Guild Hospital LWDFC = Laure, Wudi and Danbatta Fistula Centres Appendix B – National Ache

Region Researchers Year Published Location Of Study Common Practice And Types Of Circumcision Percentage % South-South A.U Idung et al 2017 Akwa Ibom Type 2a: Removal of the labia minora 64.4 Type 1a: Removal of the clitoral hood or prepuce 18.3 Type 1b: Removal of the clitoris with the prepuce 15.9 Type 3a: Removal and apposition of the labia minora – infibulation 1.2 I. Jeremiah et al 2014 Rivers Type 1 58.2 Type 2 40.0 Type 4 1.8 Osifo D.O et al 2009 Edo, Benin City, UBTH Type 1: Removal of the tip of the clitoris 19.6 Type 3: Removal of the clitoris, labia minora and inner layer of majora 13.7 North-West A.O Ashimi et al 2015 Jigawa 73.5 21.4 Type 3 5.1 Jigawa [some women had more than one type] Type 4: Gishiri 56.0 Type 4: Angurya 49.0 Type 1 and 2 2.0 Type 4: Cutting of hymen 1.0 UBTH = University Of Benin Teaching Hospital Appendix B – National Ache

Region Researchers Year Published Location Of Study Common Practice And Types Of Circumcision Percentage % North-West Garba I.D et al 2012 Kano Type 1: Clitoridectomy 96.2 A.I Yola 2011 Type 4: Gishiri 5.68 Abubakar I. et al 2004 36.7 South-West L.J Oyefara 2015 Lagos, Kosofe, Oworonshoki (57.7% Yoruba) 83.1 Type 2: Excision 10.9 Type 3: Infibulation 6.0 M.D Oduwole et al 2005 Ogun, Agura, Sabo in Shagamu (Hausa) Type 1: Sunnah 79.9 Type 2: Clitoridectomy [-Verbatim from authors. However, type 2 is excision, not clitoridectomy and type 1 is Sunnah, also called clitoridectomy] 0.8 Dare F.O et al 3 teaching hospitals Type 1 69.0 Type 2 31.0 As with the case in the main body of this book among Ndi Igbo, prevalence of ibe nwanyi ugwu depends on location. Therefore, the rule is figures obtained from a restricted setting will be lower than that from the wider setting. For instance, data from a hospital will be lower than that in the female population within that neighbourhood. Data from an antenatal clinic will be less than that within the hospital. Data from a specialist hospital, say a fistula centre, will be less than figures from a general hospital. All it means is the restricted setting excludes persons who may fit the description in the larger setting, but who did not visit or are unlikely to visit the restricted setting. Appendix B – National Ache

Appendix B – National Ache
From A.U Idung et al, the ratio of circumcised to uncircumcised women is 1:5 for Annang and 1:4 for Ibibio, and 1:2 for Yoruba,. A.O Ashimi et al, 2015 obtained an almost 1:1 and 1:1 for circumcised to uncircumcised infants whose mother is Hausa and Fulani, respectively, with all circumcised infants belonging to Muslims. A.S Umar et al, 2014, in a Sokoto survey involving the Hausa, Fulani, Igbo and Yoruba in these numbers: 28, 26, 22, 16, respectively, found three ~3 of four ~4 professional health workers who posted religion as a reason for support of ibe nwanyi ugwu were Muslims. Odujinrin O.M et al, 1989, in a research in Lagos that included not just the Yoruba, but also Bini, Igbo, and Efik, gave an 8:6:2 for circumcised women according to each of the last three ~3 respective ethnic nationalities. Dattijo L.M et al studied the Hausa, Igbo, Yoruba, Berom, Mughavul, Ngas, Edo, Tarok, Idoma, Tiv, with a 6:4 Christian to Muslim ratio and found no correlation with religion. Garba I.D et al found infants were circumcised at the mean age of 8 days. They discovered culture 73.1% was the major motivation for ibe nwanyi ugwu. Although one would expect a preponderance of Muslims among the interviewees, religion 11.5% play an insignificant role in ibe nwanyi ugwu. Women in Bauchi were frequently reluctant to discuss ibe nwanyi ugwu. Sarah Kasham Philips, 2016, researched ten ~10 circumcised North-Western women resident in Kaduna. Five ~5 were Hausa Muslims, one ~1 a Fulani Muslim. The rest were Christians of ethnicity: Hausa, Gbagyi ~Gwari, Ham ~Jaba, and Aeogrok ~Kagoro. A ratio of 3:2 Muslim to Christian participants support the continuation of the practice. Unlike in the South where ndi nne ~mothers are the key figures in circumcision of daughters, in Kano ndi nne detest circumcision while ndi nne in Jigawa support the practice. In the North and Muslim communities in the South, in particular Northern settlements in the South, fathers constitute the important focus on circumcision of infant girls. Appendix B – National Ache

Twice as many fathers as ndi nne ~mothers will circumcise a daughter in Osun State, where the father’s stance on ibe nwanyi ugwu determines the circumcision status of a female child. To the contrary, M.D Oduwole et al affirmed in Shagamu seven ~7 men compared to less than two ~2 women of every ten opposed ibe nwanyi ugwu. Religion is quoted by more men, and culture by more as authority for circumcision of daughters. Plus, traditional barbers ~wanzami are the practitioners of choice for Northern parents who seek to circumcise daughters, followed by traditional birth attendants and nurses and midwives. Several parents remain adamant on conducting the procedure on girls. Despite I. Jeremiah reporting a tighter vaginal opening was desirable, none of the circumcised in Port Harcourt were infibulated [type 3]. The majority ~99% of persons surveyed will not circumcise their daughter. 4:6 and 3:7 women in the Ibibio dominated Itu, Akwa Ibom perceive ibe nwanyi ugwu in positive light [2:8 for women aged 20 years and below] and desire the culture to continue, respectively [O.E Johnson et al]. One ~1 in four ~4 women in Owo could circumcise a daughter [C.O Omolase et al]. More than one ~1 in ten ~10 pregnant women in Jos would circumcise their daughter [Dattijo L.M et al, 2009]. Additional beliefs, not listed within the body of research on Igbo women: Uyo: The cut clitoris ~utu is packaged and returned to the parents of the circumcised. This, they insert in a mouse hole, such that when the utu is consumed by mice, the circumcised female will be fertile, conceive and bear several offspring, as mice do!!! The utu is dried and added as an ingredient for a meal only the groom and bride will consume. This, the parents do without the knowledge of the groom to facilitate nuptial affection. Talk of eating vagina, literally!!! Appendix B – National Ache

Port Harcourt: Circumcision is to reduce the orifice for a tighter vagina ~ohu and sweeter coital experience. Jigawa: One ~1 in five ~5 females attested that gishiri and angurya improve the suitability of the female for marriage [A.O Ashimi et al], which is rather curious, for how does an enlarged ohu caused by gishiri cuts satisfy the husband? Perhaps, gishiri and angurya were used as a reference to the removal of any hindrance to sexual performance. It must be observed that the two terms have been reproduced in various places in this book as used by the original source and may not necessarily comply with the definitions provided in Appendix A. In Gombe, A.M Isyaku et al, 2015, studied the Fulani, Tangale, and Tera and found a good proportion were aware of complications arising from ibe nwanyi ugwu. Such complications include: death from excessive haemorrhage, vesico-vaginal fistula ~VVF and recto-vaginal fistula ~RVF, painful menstruation and sexual relations, transmission of diseases, for example Human Immunodeficiency Virus ~HIV, caused by use of unsterilised blades and knives. At times, the accuracy of self-reported circumcisions is found to be less than that obtained through clinical examination. Ndi nne surveyed in Jigawa reported the types of circumcision of their daughters as angurya 93 infants [43.3%]; Type infants 11.2%; Type 2 5 infants 2.3%; andType 3 5 infants 2.3%, which were at variance with what the researchers discovered on observation of the genitalia of the infants [A.O. Ashimi et al, 2015]. In the same study, as many as four ~4 of ten ~10 ndi nne of circumcised baby girls were unaware of what was done to their daughter. Appendix B – National Ache

Gishiri, angurya and their multiple interchanging designations contribute a significant proportion to the debilitating disease VVF and RVF, thus complicating an already convoluted and humiliating medical condition. A report widely quoted by researchers that the Fulani of the North-West of Nigeria do not practise any form of ibe nwanyi ugwu is barely accurate, given the sample of the study. Although this researcher attempted to locate the particular original report by the researchers, this author could find only other sources that quoted part of the original report. The 1997 study by the Centre For Gender And Social Policy Studies, Obafemi Awolowo University, did not include core Fulani states of Sokoto, Katsina, Kano and Zamfara., all in the North-West. Across the border in southern Niger Republic, gurya, angurya, or dan gurya is the preferred term for gishiri. Researchers Ouedraogo I. et al, 2017, recorded ten fistulas in seven Hausa, two Fulani and one Tuareg teenagers and young adult women who had received gurya cuts for unknown causes or for non-consensual nuptial intercourse. In other words, women were cut for not cooperating sexually. The women were all less one left with no urethra and varying degrees of damage to the bladder neck. The tenth woman had recto-vaginal fistula ~RVF. None of the women suffered a loss of external genital features. A matter of curiosity this: That as of 1922 only few ethnicities were explicitly listed as practising ibe nwanyi ugwu: Yidda ~Mada of Nasarawa; and Yoruba, who amputate the clitoris ~utu. In 1959 [and 1965], ibe nwanyi ugwu was attributed to the Edo [and Tiv and Igbo of Afikpo], respectively. Numerous ethnicities practised male circumcision, which in many instances, has declined, with an inverse proportional surge and spread in the circumcision of females. It is plausible that part of the reason for absence of information on ibe nwanyi ugwu in the early part of the twentieth ~20th century is secrecy or non-disclosure by the practitioners, just as censorship distorts the accuracy of data on the culture obtainable in our age. Appendix B – National Ache

A Snippet Of Some Adherents Of Female Circumcision
Ala ~State Mba ~Ethnicity Obodo ~Town LGA/ CAPITAL Note Adamawa Bwatiye ~Bachama Lamurde Bagale, Bengn, Billaci, Dulo, Furo Furore Ngbalang Numan Kula Shelleng Nzoboliyo, Rugongun Yola South Akwa Ibom Annang Essien Udim Female circumcision is widespread across the state. Ibiono Ibom Ibibio Eniofot, Urua Ekpa Uyo/ UYO Itam Itu Oron Uruan Bayelsa Izon ~Ijaw Odi Kolokuma/Opokuma Benue Idoma, Tiv Igede Oju Appendix B – National Ache

A Snippet Of Other Adherents Of Female Circumcision
Ala ~State Mba ~Ethnicity Obodo ~Town LGA/ CAPITAL Note Borno Kanuri ~Beri-beri Shuwa Arab Jere, Ngala Cross River Efik, Ekoi ~Ejagham Calabar CALABAR Female circumcision is widespread across the state. Qua Yakurr Ugep ~Umor Delta Ahaba ~Asaba Asaba Oshimili South/ ASABA Anioma ~Kwale Ndokwa, Ika South, Aniocha South Isoko Isoko South LGA Urhobo, Izon ~Ijaw, Itsekiri Eku Ethiope East, Okpe, Ughelli, Sapele, Warri South Was there an ethnic nation in Nigeria which have never circumcised females within the last century? That is to be doubted. More probable it is that with the passing of years, the practice has declined tremendously among some ethnicities domiciled in certain locations, though the practice may prevail in the same ethnicity settled elsewhere within the homeland. Appendix B – National Ache

Ala ~State Mba ~Ethnicity Obodo ~Town LGA/ CAPITAL Note Ebonyi Ukelle ~Orring Ulame ~Okpoto#, Eteji ~Ntezi Ishielu Female circumcision is widespread across the state. Effiom ~Uffium/ Effium Ohaukwu Amuda Ezza North Edo Esan ~Ishan, Etsako Agenebode Igueben, Etsako East, Etsako West Bini Uhunmwode, Ikpoba Okha, Oredo, Ovia North East, Ovia South West, Orhionmwon, Egor Ekiti Yoruba Gombe Hausa-Fulani, Tangale, Waja, Tera Jigawa Hausa-Fulani BIRNIN KUDU Kaduna Aeogrok ~Kagoro, Gbagyi ~Gwari, Hausa-Fulani, Maguzawa Hausa #There appears to be another Okpoto in Ozizza, Afikpo North Local Government Area. Nevertheless, the Ukelle, also called Orring, of Okpoto in Ishielu Local Government Area are an ethnic minority. Appendix B – National Ache

Ala ~State Mba ~Ethnicity Obodo ~Town LGA/ CAPITAL Note Kano Hausa-Fulani, Maguzawa Hausa KANO Female circumcision is widespread across the state. Katsina Kankara, Malumfashi, Funtua, Dustin-Ma Kogi Bassa Nge Nupe Bassa Kwara Yoruba Shao Moro, Ilorin South, Ilorin North, ILORIN Lagos Lagos Island Prevalence depends on location, with Lagos Island, the heart of which is Isale Eko, having the highest percentage of 51.6%. Oworonshoki Kosofe Nasarawa Eggon Nasarawa Eggon Some women and young girls have their clitoris ~utu removed publicly in the presence of men and women. Note: While this is not a comprehensive outline of ethnicities practising ibe nwanyi ugwu in Nigeria, the tables do give a much needed insight into the culture focused on female genitalia. Ethnicities such as Ebira, Igala and such, have been omitted, because of the infrequency of the practice, though ibe nwanyi ugwu occurs among them. From NDHS 2013, the religion of circumcised women were: Islam 20.1%, Christianity 29.8%, and African Traditional Religion 34.8%. Appendix B – National Ache

Ala ~State Mba ~Ethnicity Obodo ~Town LGA/ CAPITAL Note Ogun Yoruba Egba of Owu, Gbagura, Oke-ona Ilawo Ilesa, ABEOKUTA When an adult is circumcised, men may restrain her as her utu is clipped, publicly. Ijebu Ode Female circumcision is widespread across the state. Ondo Owo Akure North, Akure South, AKURE Osun Ife, Eko -Ende,Eko Ajala, Iba, Asa, Iwo Oke, Ajagunlase, Alapata, Owode, Araromi Ifelodun, Olaoluwa, Ede North, Orolu, Ilesa Oyo IBADAN Plateau Berom, Mughavul, Ngas, Tarok Jos Rivers Ekpeye, Ikwerre, Ijaw Ekpeye Abua/Odual, Ahoada West Opuama Southern Ijaw Ogoni Gokana, Khana Sokoto Hausa-Fulani Taraba Yandang, Bali ~Maya Appendix B – National Ache

Nomenclature For Female Circumcision In Nigeria
Ethnicity Language Application Anioma Ikwa ugu General term for male or ibe nwanyi ugwu Bwatiye ~Bachama Lakaune Generic term for the entire rite of passage for both males and females Efik/Ibibio Mbobi Fulani Belun kasa Gamergu ~Malgwa Dim shidikwe Hausa Kaciyar mata Specific term for ibe nwanyi ugwu Angurya, gishiri Terms for ibe nwanyi ugwu and other invasive procedurs Igala Amonoji Includes reference to castrated male slaves of the King Igbo Ibi ugwu Ibe nwanyi ugwu Isa ahu or iwu ahu Literally = bathing; symbolically = ritual bath of circumcision Kanuri Kaja Ukelle ~Orring Ikumenyi or ibu uhu Urhobo Eyanvwe/ Oyanvwen Yoruba Didabe fun omobirin or ila kiko fun omobirin Appendix B – National Ache

The old woman began to cut inch-by-inch something there which, though painful, I took for granted because then I did not really understand the health implications of what was being done. Today, I am barren because I have been suffering from infections ever since. Hajara Idris, circumcised at 14 years of age Ethnicity Shuwa Arab 2014, Gamboru Ngala, Ngala, Borno State I had a tear when I wanted to put to bed for the first time, and that was after several hours of labour. Labour is no tea party, but mine was an especially painful process. When I wanted to have my second child, I had another tear. I knew that it was abnormal to have two tears in two childbirths, so it was easy for me to understand when we were told recently that circumcised women will have tears during labour. Sunday Salawa, circumcised as a child 2015, Iwo, Osun State When I was pregnant with my first child, my mother-in-law came and circumcised me. It is not painful. She used a razor and a thread, and after cutting me she poured a local gin. Finished! Now the government say people should not be doing it again. I do not know of some women, whether they like it or not; but for me I like it and I want it to continue because it is our tradition. Moreover, it is good for women to do it because it makes them to have self dignity and respect and anytime one has sex with one’s husband or boyfriend, one will be normal and stable. Idara, 2017, Itam, Itu, Akwa Ibom State Appendix B – National Ache

I was circumcised at the age of 15 years when my immediate elder sister was circumcised because she was pregnant. I pleaded with my parents that I do not want to be circumcised, but they brought men who overpowered and circumcised me, with two men holding my legs apart. They said if I am not circumcised I will not be allowed to join the female group. They circumcised me without my consent. They quoted from the Bible that when “Abraham wanted to look for a wife for his son Isaac, he commanded his servants not to get a woman from an uncircumcised people”. Anonymous, 26 years old 2016, Odi, Bayelsa State Appendix B – National Ache

Appendix C – WHO Classification
According to the World Health Organisation, Female circumcision, known as female genital mutilation ~FGM or female genital cutting ~FGC can be classified into four types as follows: Type 1 (Sunnah or Clitoridectomy) – Partial or total removal of the clitoris ~utu, the prepuce or both clitoris and prepuce. Type 1a, removal of the clitoral hood or prepuce only; Type 1b, removal of the clitoris ~utu with the prepuce. Type 2 (Excision) – Partial or total removal of the clitoris ~utu and the labia minora, with or without excision of the labia majora. Type 2a, removal of the labia minora only; Type 2b, partial or total removal of the clitoris ~utu and the labia minora; Type 2c, partial or total removal of the clitoris ~utu, the labia minora and the labia majora. Type 3 (Infibulation) - Narrowing of the vaginal orifice with creation of a covering seal by cutting and appositioning the labia minora and/ or the labia majora, with or without excision of the clitoris ~utu. Type 3a, removal and apposition of the labia minora; Type 3b, removal and apposition of the labia majora. Type 4 – All other harmful procedures to the female genitalia for non-medical purposes, for example: pricking, piercing, incising, scraping and cauterisation. Appendix C – WHO Classification

Appendix C – WHO Classification

Circumcision Sex Islam
When a man sits between the four parts [arms and legs of his wife] and the two circumcised parts meet, then ghusl is obligatory. ~>Muhammad The Messenger Of Allah [Saheeh Muslim: Book 3; Number 684] Appendix D – Circumcision Sex Islam

Do not cut off too much; that is better for the woman and more liked by the husband. ~>Muhammad The Messenger Of Allah to a woman circumciser [Sunan Abu Dawud Book 41; Number 5251] Appendix D – Circumcision Sex Islam

ANALYSIS. Let us examine the Ahadeeth on ibe nwanyi ugwu, in terms of what part of the vagina ~ohu is removed, stitched, or administered with corrosive substances for religious purposes. Before that, those two previous Ahadeeth were chosen, one, for their focus on women and girls instead of the general, and two, for their occurrence at the time of the Messenger Of Allah. The Hadeeth that listed circumcision as natural included trimming the moustache, which has nothing to do with women. Women who have facial hair can shave them to avoid resembling a man. What Is Sunnah Female Circumcision? Removal of hood of clitoris ~utu. Utu’s hood is the flesh around utu, id est, the prepuce, which forms a continuum with the labia minora. This flesh is usually retractable. When this is snipped, the glans clitoris, utu herself, becomes visible and accessible. How does that satisfy the sexual urge of the woman? Yes, the glans clitoris is extremely sensitive to touch, upon which the woman is sexually aroused. Nevertheless, the pain associated with the scar formed at the cut site dampens any effect of intimate stimulation. In cities where the hood is detached, many women report a lack of sexual interest. How then is a woman who merely opens her legs for her spouse suitable for the man’s indulgence? -Only if the husband is a sexual freak himself who sticks his hardware into any orifice, just to do his thing. Removal of utu. Clitoridectomy, another level of pleasure deprivation for the circumcised female, completely erodes any prospect of clitoral orgasm. That, and excess pain during bathing and urination, worsen the woman’s life. However, some circumcised women have expressed their enjoyment of intimacy. The other consequence is the absence of the clitoris, a major arousal mechanism may well induce the female into multiple sexual relationships in the hope of eventually experiencing orgasm. Appendix D – Circumcision Sex Islam

With scarring and such, how is clitoridectomy beneficial to the spouse? -Except if the husband wants to see ugly scars while his mind and body seek ecstasy. Removal of utu, labia minora and labia majora and stitching of the vulva. The Arabic wording of the second Hadeeth has several crucial terms one of which is laa tunhakii – do not wear out, and in this case, do not wear out the features of the vagina ~ohu. That alone nullifies this type of ibe nwanyi ugwu. Scrapping of the hymen. This is just sheer hysteria. A hymen does not grow to enormous proportion as to hinder penetration. The major factor in penetration is physical attraction of the bride to the groom. That sexual desirability stimulates the vagina, labia minora, labia majora, clitoris, and, often, the urethra. A stimulated vaginal orifice generates vaginal secretions, which lubricates the vaginal wall and hymen, rendering the hymen readily flexible and removable. Cutting the vaginal wall. When a young bride of the Messenger Of Allah expressed fear of him, he sent her home to her family. No, the Messenger Of Allah did not invite an okpu isi ~barber to slice the young woman's ohu, so he can have his way whatever her sensations. The bride, later, regrettably admitted not knowing he was the Prophet. Moreover, there are records of young women presenting with a genital cyst that obstructed reproduction. There is no record available to this researcher of the Messenger Of Allah ordering or approving that a female with an obstructive cyst be cured of her vaginal disease by cutting her reproductive orifice. Appendix D – Circumcision Sex Islam

CONCLUSION: There is not a single text that defines what tissue or organ ought to be removed to fulfil ibe nwanyi ugwu. Nonetheless, Muslims take it upon themselves to slash off whatever they detest in a woman's sexual orifice. Worse, by excising the clitoris ~utu and labia and stitching the surface tissues, Muslims reconfigure the external sexual and reproductive organs of a woman. How is it that these faux geniuses limit male circumcision ~khitaan to elimination of the prepuce ~foreskin in a penis? Let us guess: Ibrahim circumcised himself with removal of his foreskin. Who informed Muslims that the prepuce was the flesh removed by Ibrahim? None of the texts available to this writer explicitly stated the tissue Ibrahim removed from his body or what Muhammad The Messenger Of Allah sought to be removed, as a form of purification. Despite that, there is no record of Muslim communities cutting all of the testicles and penis, redesigning and stitching the penis to be no more than the size of a needle. That is the predicament of women in numerous Muslim societies, the most infamous of which are Somalia, Guinea, Djibouti, Mali, and Egypt, with ibe nwanyi ugwu performed secretly in multiple Arab nations. Infibulated women are left with no more than a pinhole for urine and menstrual flow. Why are the genitalia of men left in tact after circumcision? Why is the modification of more than the prepuce declared a castration and a haram practice? All of these are rhetorical, of course. Has no one observed the odour that reeks from a man's genitals? Yet, his cleansing procedure leaves him fully functional. Appendix D – Circumcision Sex Islam

Should the argument be that without the testicles, a man fails to procreate, the rebuttals are: Ask an infibulated woman how she procreates? Forget procreation. How does she engage in copulation, let alone childbirth? Yes, she experiences de-infibulation, cutting open the sealed vulva, each time, and re-infibulation, stitching her again. Does a woman have some privacy and a sense of dignity at all, with the constant inspection from vagina inspectors? One expects the redundant genital experts could have devised a similar exercise for males. How does a woman enjoy intimacy when circumcision turns her frigid? A man too can look forward to being impotent as part of his purification process. Besides, sex is a painful experience for her. A circumcised male with a one cubic millimetre penis will have just as much sexual satisfaction as a circumcised woman does. With the removal of testicles, a man fathers zero offspring, an ideal outcome, for no man or woman who desires a woman to live in difficulty should be advised to have children. Such men can be designated barren, infertile, childless, as women are. Less children = Fewer persons to uphold misogynistic practices. Men who insist on the circumcision of women as a pre-qualification for womanhood, matrimony, conjugal relations or motherhood, have no hesitation in engaging in sexual affairs with uncircumcised women. Are they going to deny enjoying such illicit liaisons? In fact, for the male, in particular, is sexual pleasure not the primary motive for sex outside marriage? Finally, the experiment conducted on female private organs in the name of Sunnah needs to end. All the Sunnah which Muslims practise today have been elucidated to the very last detail. No one needs to hazard a guess to figure how to implement any Sunnah. Female circumcision ~khafad should not be an exception. Appendix D – Circumcision Sex Islam

www.nigeriatoday.ng/2017/06/royal-fathers-elders-outlaw-female-genital- mutilation-in-ebonyi/
abolish-practice-female-genital-mutilation-ebonyi/ female-genital-mutilation/ birth-attendants-confess-drop-blades/ genital-mutilation/ html female-genital-mutilation/ html circumcision-must-stop female-circumcision-despite-2015-ban/ html circumcision-persists-in-osun/ html Reference

www.medhealthnet.org/publications/chapter-seven-7-female-genital- mutilation/
le_Circumcision_A_Study_Of_Female_Circumcision_Among_The_Isoko_Tribe_ Of_Delta_State_Of_Nigeria ale_genital_cutting_among_pregnant_women_in_Owo_Nigeria maps/ijo female-circumcision-osun-state mortality/ practices.html mutilation-nigeria/ Reference

world-genitally-mutilated-women circumcising-15-year-old-girl/ persists-osun/ state thenigertimes.blogspot.com/2013/06/parents-urged-to-shun-female.html vultural-milieu-godwin-s-obot/ counseling/282-the-effect-of-female-genital-mutilation-among-adolescents- in-okpara-inland-ethiope-east-local-government-area-of-delta-state in-female-genital-mutilation-un.html Muslim Ibn Al-Hajjaj Ibn Muslim Al-Qushairi: Saheeh Muslim Sunan Abu Dawud Reference

Reference https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamboru
mutilation.html okpoto-community-in.html?m=1 of_socio- cultural_variables_to_the_prediction_of_maternal_mortality_in_Edo_South_Se natorial_District_Nigeria killings/ presence/ Reference

Reference https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asaba,_Delta
ancient-nigerian.html?m=1 ugwu-a-n.html nigerian-taboo.166/ the-ogonis/ Nigeria Demographic And Health Survey 2013 Nigeria Demographic And Health Survey 2008 Nigeria Demographic And Health Survey 2003 Nigeria Demographic And Health Survey 1999 Federal Republic Of Nigeria – National Bureau Of Statistics: Annual Abstract Of Statistics, 2011 Udochi M Nwosu et al, 2016: Studies On Antecedent Factors Of Persistent Practice Of Female Circumcision In Abia State, South East Nigeria Nwaokoro J.C et al, 2016: Attitude And Perception On The Impact Of Female Genital Mutilation On Health And Sex Drive Among Married Women In Ebenebe, Awka North L.G.A., Anambra State Felicia Anyogu, 2016: The Abrasion Female Circumcision: A Legal Coverage Dorothy Ebere Ukoha, 2015: Female Genital Mutilation/Circumcision: Culture And Sexual Health In Igbo Women In Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas E.J Ibeagha et al: Awareness Of Health Problems Associated With Female Genital Mutilation Among Rural Women In Idemili South Local Government Area Winifred Uzoamaka Onodu, 2014: Assessing Socio-Cultural Factors That Still Preserve Female Genital Mutilation Practice Among Women In Selected Rural Communities Of Enugu State Reference

Eric Chikweru Amadi, 2013: Socio-Cultural Factors On The Girl-Child Education In Secondary Schools In Ihiala Local Government Area Of Anambra State, Nigeria Onyenucheya Ozioma Faith. 2012: The Role Of The Church Towards Amelioration Of Socio-Cultural Practices Inimical To Women Liberation In Igboland Ibekwe Perpetus C et al, 2012: Female Genital Mutilation In Southeast Nigeria – A Survey On The Current Knowledge And Practice Christian Chima Chukwu et al, 2012: Violence Against Women In Igboland, South-East, Nigeria: A Critical Quest For Change UN, 2012: Nigeria: Onitsha Urban Profile Ada Anyamene et al, 2011: Strategies For Eradicating Female Genital Mutilation Practice – Implication For Counselling Christian Onyenaucheya Uchegbue, 2010: Infancy Rites Among The Igbo Of Nigeria Felicia Onyejiuwa Mbagwu, 2009: Assessment Of The Harmful Cultural Practices Affecting The Health Of Rural Women: A Study Of Community Based Women Organisations In Ebonyi State Clifford Odimegwu et al, 2016: The Relation Of Female Circumcision To Sexual Behavior In Kenya And Nigeria UN, 2016: UNICEF’s Data Work On FGM/C 28 Too Many, 2016: Country Profile – FGM In Nigeria Sa’idu Isah, 2015: Female Genital Mutilation In Nigeria – An Overview Of The Health Consequences Involved In The Practice Of Clitoral Disgust Rafatu Abdulhamid, 2014: Islam And Cultural Interferences In The Lives Of The Nigerian Women Joy Ngozi Ezeilo, 2011: Domestic Implementation Of International Instruments Protecting Women’s Rights In Nigeria An Analysis Of Female Circumcision According To Islamic Law Ejiro J Otive-Igbuzor: Voices For Change Report Guy’s And St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust – Female Genital Mutilation [photograph credit for types of female circumcision] Reference

Kees Waaldijk, 2008: National VVF Project Nigeria – Evaluation Report XXV
E.A Wilkie, 1999: Teenage Marriage & Female Genital Mutilation A Violence Against Women – Chapter 7 Female Genital Mutilation Ayesha M Imam, 1997: The Muslim Religious Right (‘Fundamentalists’) and Sexuality Women Living Under Muslim Laws, 1997 – Dossier 17 M.A Ogbu, 1997: Comment On Obiora's Bridges And Barricades Reproductive Health Knowledge And Practices in Northern Nigeria: Challenging Misconceptions O Temple, 1922: Notes On The Tribes Provinces, Emirates And States Of The Northern Provinces Of Nigeria Sarah Kasham Philips, 2016: Heroes Or Victims: The Lived Experiences Of Women On Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting In Northwestern Nigeria Adewale O Ashimi et al, 2015: Prevalence And Predictors Of Female Genital Mutilation Among Infants In A Semi Urban Community In Northern Nigeria Adewale O Ashimi et al, 2014: Perception And Attitude Of Pregnant Women In A Rural Community North-West Nigeria To Female Genital Mutilation Abubakar S Umar et al, 2014: Medicalization Of Female Genital Mutilation Among Professional Health Care Workers In A Referral Hospital, North- Western Nigeria Muazu Alhaji Shamaki et al, 2014: Sociocultural Practices In Maternal Health Among Women In A Less Developed Economy: An Overview Of Sokoto State, Nigeria Amir Imam Yola, 2011: Yankan Gishiri (Salt Cut) Gender, Sexuality And Vulnerability: Sociocultural Vulnerabilities To Obstetric Fistula Among Female Children In North Western Nigeria Murray Last, 2000: Children And The Experience Of Violence: Contrasting Cultures Of Punishment In Northern Nigeria Murray Last, 1979: Strategies Against Time Abdullahi Mohammed Isyaku et al, 2015: Assessment Of Selected Socio- Economic Factors On The Knowledge Of Health Consequences Of Female Genital Mutilation Among Residents Of Gombe State, Nigeria Reference

Esther Anenge Gbaden, 2014: Cultural And Religious Barriers To Women Accessing Healthcare In Jere, Borno State, Nigeria A.M Isyaku et al, 2012: Comparative Analysis On The Relationship Between Knowledge Of Health Consequences And Practice Of Female Genital Mutilation Among Households In Gombe State Edward Rokulegodo Ishaya, 2011: A Historical Analysis Of The Emergence Of Newer Pentecostal Churches In Adamawa State, Nigeria From 1975 To 2008 Abba Isa Tijani, 2010: Tradition And Modernity – The Gamergu (Malgwa) Of North-Eastern Nigeria Ashaver Doosuur et al, 2014: Information Needs Of Benue Women On Cultural Practices And The Spread Of Hiv/Aids In Benue State Nalah Augustine Bala, 2013: Female Genital Mutilation In Nassarawa Eggon Community, Nasarawa State, Nigeria Lamaran M Dattijo et al, 2010: Awareness, Perception And Practice Of Female Genital Mutilation Among Expectant Mothers In Jos University Teaching Hospital Jos, North-Central Nigeria Ifeanyi Ugwu et al: Tfd And Community Education On Female Genital Mutilation In Igede Land Of Benue State: Ugengen Community Experience Dorathy I. Achalu et al, 2017: Perceived Health Implications Of Harmful Traditional Practices On The Health Of Women Among Women Of Uruan Local Government Area Of Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria Alphonsus Udo Idung et al, 2017: Beliefs And Prevalence Of Female Genital Circumcision Among Pregnant Women Attending Ante-Natal Clinic In A Mission Hospital In Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria Doris Atibinye Dotimi, 2016: Lived Experiences Of Women From The Odi Community In Nigeria Of Female Genital Mutilation Oyira Emilia James et al, 2015: Changing The Opinions, Beliefs And Attitudes Of The Efiks, Quas And Efuts Of Calabar Municipality Towards The Practice Of Female Circumcision Ofuegbu Raphael Chima et al, 2015: Female Genital Mutilation And Women Health – A Study Of Efik Women Of Calabar Municipality Reference

Israel Jeremiah et al, 2014: The Pattern Of Female Genital Mutilation In Port Harcourt, Southern Nigeria Felix Ejukonemu Oghi, 2014: Aspects Of Ughievwen Culture Of Western Delta Of Nigeria And The Influence Of Westernism Ofonime E Johnson et al, 2012: Perception And Practice Of Female Genital Cutting In A Rural Community In Southern Nigeria Judith E Otu et al, 2012: The Consequences of Genital Mutilation on Women in Cross River State Emmanuel B Okemini et al, 2012: Violence Against Women In Ikwerre Ethnic Nationality Of Nigeria: Challenges For Gender Equity And Development Oka Obono: Life Histories Of Infertile Women In Ugep, Southern Nigeria C.U Atiatah: Life-Threatening Cultural Practices That Are Health Risk: The Dilemma Of Female Genital Mutilation The Effect Of Female Genital Mutilation Among Adolescents In Okpara Inland, Ethiope East Local Government Area Of Delta State Victoria Oluomachukwu Ibewuike, 2006: African Women And Religious Change – A Study Of The Western Igbo Of Nigeria With A Special Focus On Asaba Town UNDP, 2006: Niger Delta Human Development Report Alexander Alezei Nzei, 1992: Women And Power: A Case Study Of The Ndokwa Igbo Speaking People West Of Niger River, Nigeria Nurudeen Alliyu, 2015: Perspectives On The Decline Of Female Genital Mutilation In Abeokuta Nigeria Lekan John Oyefara, 2015: Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) And Theory Of Promiscuity: Myths, Realities And Prospects For Change In Oworonshoki Community, Lagos State, Nigeria Muinat Abisola Badmus, 2012: Knowledge And Attitude Of Mothers Towards Female Genital Mutilation In Ogun State, Nigeria M.D Oduwole et al, 2005: Female Genital Cutting Among The Hausa Community In Sagamu Itengre Ouedraogo et al, 2017: Gurya Cutting And Female Genital Fistulas In Niger: Ten Cases Reference

Reference Leopards Of The Magical Dawn: Science and the archive.org
P.J Ezeh: Sex, Custom And Population: A Nigerian Example Olaoluwa Samson Agbaje et al, 2015: Perception Of Harmful Traditional Practices Among Women Of Childbearing Age In Oru West Local Government Area, Imo State Kay Williamson, 1972 [Edited by Roger Blench, 2013]: Dictionary Of Onicha Igbo Matthias Chibuzo Onyema, 2011:Socio-cultural Factors Influencing Maternal Mortality In Ngbo Clan, Ohaukwu Local Government Area Of Ebonyi State Kingsley Nwannennaya Okoro et al, 2013: Gender Mainstreaming And Development In (African) Igbo Traditional Religious Society: A Critical Option For The New World Order Nwangama Edwin Ukpabi, 2011: The Beliefs, Practices And Relevance Of Ancestral Veneration In North-eastern Igboland Umm Sulaim, 2017: Igbo For Beginners – Asusu Igbo Nke Ndi Na-Ebido Imuta Ya | Umm Sulaim's Thoughts | beginners-asusu-igbo-nke-ndi-na-ebido-imuta-ya/ asusu-igbo-nke-ndi-na-ebido-imuta-ya.ppsx Umm Sulaim, 2016: African Slavemasters, African Slaves – Slavery In Nigeria | Umm Sulaim's Thoughts | slavemasters-african-slaves-slavery-in-nigeria-series-4/ african-slaves-slavery-in-nigeria.ppsx Umm Sulaim, 2013: Circumcision And Female Sexual Satisfaction | Umm Sulaim's Thoughts | sexual-satisfaction/ Reference

Many of them who claim to be married were not legally married because some were impregnated and so were imposed on the men. Assessment Of Harmful Cultural Practices 2009 March, Ikwo, Ebonyi State This is a typical situation in all the communities that practise any form of ibe nwanyi ugwu. Promiscuity reach unabated sexual indulgence during festivities in places such as Benue. In Ogoniland’s sira sexual institution, an eldest daughter bears children named for her father.

Remarks The one and only, Umm Sulaim Publisher: Umm Sulaim’s Thoughts
Ndeewo nu: First, I commend Mother and maternal Grandmother that I am not one of the fifty ~50% percent of Igbo women of my generation with a severed utu. Second, I express profound gratitude to Doctors Mu'azu Omeiza Musa and M.S.A for the important information supplied. Mu'azu Omeiza Musa’s observations corroborate the data contained in the NDHS 2013, which place the Igala, Ebira and other ethnicities of Kogi State exceedingly low on prevalence of ibe nwanyi ugwu. M.S.A obtained vital information on ibe nwanyi ugwu in Kano among the Hausa-Fulani. About 17 years ago, I heard of a father in the core North who stitched the vaginal orifice of his young daughter to prevent her from engaging in sexual impropriety. The girl died from infection of the wound. Interestingly, all the diverse ethnicities, communities and religions concerned over the sexual life of a girl or woman grant a boy or man free reign to indulge in sexual promiscuity. Publisher: Umm Sulaim’s Thoughts Sunday 2017 October 1 The one and only, Umm Sulaim

Anecdotal evidence indicate circumcision of females does not occur among the Yoruba and Hausa-Fulani. This might well be the case of non-participation in the practice or restriction of information among willing or prospective participants. This is true of indigenes of Osun, Ekiti, Kaduna, Sokoto, Lagos, Ogun, states with double digit percentages of prevalence of ibe nwanyi ugwu, but where a random citizen is unaware of current practice of ibi nwanyi ugwu. For the North, that might be caused by a misrepresentation of what constitutes circumcision. The case of the Hausa-Fulani could be one of “We do not do ibe nwanyi ugwu. We cure women of their genital ailments”. All of these demonstrate Nigeria is not a cesspit where female genitalia are compulsorily chopped. For the most part, adults do have a choice on whether to condone and participate or condemn and report any threats to the nearest police station. Publisher: Umm Sulaim’s Thoughts Sunday 2017 October 1 The one and only, Umm Sulaim

Besides, there is always self-defence, guaranteed by law. Just ensure the circumstances are real and present. Go right ahead and teach circumcisers and their advocates an unforgettable lesson. Opinions expressed by adult research samples largely emphasise willing compliance for perceived social benefits. The plight of children and inexperienced young adults is the bona fide dilemma. Parents feel secure that no matter how furious the circumcised girl becomes, at no stage in her life will she take decisive steps to bring them to justice. That is culture and religion. Worse, the circumcised girl will have to live her life looking into the face of persons who did that to her and addressing them as family. The female need not conform to anyone's notion of culture or religion. Culture is what one accepts, justifies or accommodates. Design own culture and live by it. Publisher: Umm Sulaim’s Thoughts Sunday 2017 October 1 The one and only, Umm Sulaim

Throughout my childhood, I spent school vacations and any other public holidays in Otampa, my maternal homeland. For about a year, when I was five years old, my siblings and I were in Umuasua, home of my paternity, every Friday for the weekend, and returned to Enugu City at dawn Monday wearing our school uniform. We were to spend more holidays in Umuasua when I was aged approximately years. In several of those school breaks, regardless of the town I spent the season, I visited the other town, even if for some hours. In essence, I spent a substantial amount of time among my extended family of maternal and paternal grandparents, uncles, aunts, male and female cousins, various degrees of maternal and paternal relatives, and fellow citizens of the two towns of Isuikwuato, Abia State. At no point did I hear of circumcision or initiation rites for girls. Yes, circumcision of boys at birth and their graduation into manhood on puberty, with admission into the masquerade establishment, were understood. Publisher: Umm Sulaim’s Thoughts Sunday 2017 October 1 The one and only, Umm Sulaim

No one in my circle talked of or hinted at any changes in the life of a girl, absent menstruation. To widen the scope, let us add University Of Nigeria Teaching Hospital ~UNTH, where Mother worked in Enugu. From research studies in the 1990s, UNTH presented a couple of strokes:1. An egregious percentage of circumcised female patients.2. Participation of professional health workers in female circumcision. Yet, I was not marched to UNTH to be clipped in conformity with prevailing omenala. Clearly, circumcision even at the pinnacle of its practice was largely a personal decision of mothers and fathers. That, plus, one’s readiness to tolerate any intrusion into one’s nuclear family life are critical towards appreciating the level of freedom one has vis-à-vis societal norms and abnorms. Publisher: Umm Sulaim’s Thoughts Sunday 2017 October 1 The one and only, Umm Sulaim

I was not circumcised! Relief that is! And i have not had sexual intercourse in fifteen ~15 years. Perhaps, gurya is troubling me! -The Hausa mumbojumbo! Serious laughter!!! It has been my profound delight researching this book. For six weeks, I had sleepless nights and excited days. I have learned much. It is my most sincere desire that my ogu akwukwo ~readers gain from this work. Happy Independence Day Nigeria! Long live womanhood! Long live childhood! Sweet thoughts to all children, in Nigeria and around the world. Publisher: Umm Sulaim’s Thoughts Sunday 2017 October 1 The one and only, Umm Sulaim

U iamummsulaim.wordpress.com Since 2012 Umm Sulaim’s Thoughts.

Similar presentations

Presentation on theme: "U iamummsulaim.wordpress.com Since 2012 Umm Sulaim’s Thoughts."— Presentation transcript:

Similar presentations

About project

Feedback

Log in

Auth with social network:

U iamummsulaim.wordpress.com Since 2012 Umm Sulaim’s Thoughts.

Similar presentations

Presentation on theme: "U iamummsulaim.wordpress.com Since 2012 Umm Sulaim’s Thoughts."— Presentation transcript:

Similar presentations

About project

Feedback