Expert cautions against wearing of tribal marks

Prof. Modupe Onadeko, the President, Inter Africa Committee Nigeria on Traditional Practices Harmful to Girls and Women, on Thursday decried the continuation of the practice of scarifying the face.
Onadeko told the News Agency of Nigeria in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, that the practice, also known generally as tribal marks incision, was dangerous.
She said: “It’s fraught with a lot of dangers because they use unsterilised instruments to do all these cuttings.
“Not only tetanus might set in, infections such as Hepatitis B might set it, but also very importantly infections such as HIV, which might develop into full blown AIDS.
“So, all of these are terrible consequences, which should be prevented, and that is why we need to campaign against tribal marks that it will never be done.”
Onadeko said the effects of tribal marks on the child could be psychological, emotional and social.
She added: “Not just the infection that is important, the healing process might leave a scar.
“The scar might even develop keloids, which are some painless swellings that are so disfiguring and it brings serious psychological problems in later life that may even affect that child’s socialisation.
“And if it’s a girl, she will be so embarrassed that it might affect her chances of getting a suitor and settling down.”
Onadeko said there had been cases where recipients wanted to commit suicide due to inhibition in educational pursuits.
She said: “A scarified man went to pursue his education in Oxford University, UK, in the early 60s and he was asked if a hyena inflicted the scar on his face.
“The effect resulted in social stigma and he developed psycho-socialisation among other students.”
On why this practice was introduced, a practitioner (Oloola), Moshood Olunloyo of Kobomoje area of Ibadan, said the practice was an ancient one.
“The profession was handed over to me by my father and grandfather,” Olunloyo said.
He said the practice should be revived and not allowed to go into extinction.
He, however, said there had been a decline in patronage due to the campaign launched by groups seeking the eradication of the practice.
Olunloyo, who said this development had led to a drop in income, added that scarification, which used to cost between N2,000 and N3,000 in the past, now costs between N500 and N750.
He added: “In most parts of the South West, particularly among the Yoruba, tribal marks were used for clan identification during war and to check incest and intra marriages among related families.
“Scarification used to be a thing of beauty and pride and if culturally maintained, could aid and boost our tourism potentials.”
A 46-year-old practitioner in Ibadan, Najeem Alade, said the fear of infection was baseless as sterilising instruments were a basic process.
Alade said while extant laws make the revival of facial marks almost impossible, change in perception could help to revive the practice.
Alade cited tattooing as an old traditional practice, which has been revived, and is now being globally practised.
A make-up artist at Aleshinloye Market in Ibadan, Labake Abatan, expressed regret that she had been scarified.
Another resident and vulcaniser, Idowu Awelenje, said he was still being haunted by the fear and pain he experienced when he was being scarified at 10.
Awelenje said: “I can never forget the pain I went through when my mother took us to the ‘Oloola’.
“I have vowed not to make my children go through that.”
The Director of Public Health at the University College Hospital, Ibadan, Dupe Aina, said many children had died during the process of scarification.
“Government should enact laws banning this practice while culprits should be prosecuted and jailed,” Aina said.