INDESCENT DRESSING

     INDECENT DRESSING IN NIGERIAN UNIVERSITIES.       SUNKANMI OGUNADE AND      ADETUTU BALOGUN

‘’Shade, shade the mother called out that beautiful morning; she answered loud and ran to the mum who was sitting outside the house. Shade, a very religious conscious girl which we can refer to as the normal S-U of today. She was up and doing when it comes to church activities.  Shade who just finished her secondary school education and was waiting to write the post Ume exams for the university of her choice; her parents were very religious and believed nothing is impossible with God; they made sure all their children were Christ filled and faithful to an extent. The family was a wonderful one and they always give glory to their creator in heaven.  Mr Ashimolowo who was a banker in one of this topical banks and the wife was a teacher and was getting a good wage to keep the family going from her side. She was devoted from the onset to enlighten their children about the right things of life which they achieved.  Shade who was the last born in the family was cared for by everybody including her brother who was based in London and her sister who was working here as a banker like their father. She was satisfied with everything and precisely lacked nothing. Shade wrote the post Ume exams, passed them and got into the university. She was admitted into the mass communication department. Everybody was happy for the beautiful shade including their neighbours who also had so much interest in this cute girl. She was to resume two weeks after the exams and for that; the complete week that followed after the exams was busy for the whole house. They were all shopping for shade’s resumption into the school and the mother made sure she purchased good clothes for shade. Shade was loaded up with good skirts long enough to cover her toes, the clothes were wonderful and colourful. Already, the father had already finalised with the hostel authorities for shade’s resumption into one of this houses outside campus. This particular hostel was encumbered with girls who were living large and surviving from different sources. Shade was elated that she would be resuming soon, the real day came and it was time to go for shade. Both parents called their daughter to fill her up with the facts of life. They warned her against a lot of things including associating with errant girls, and as usual, she promised never to get associated with such individuals. They prayed for shade and proceeded for the school.

 The day ended, and shade was ready to sleep and like they always do, she prayed well, spoke to God on some matters and slept. She woke up the next morning to resume for her lectures in the mass communication department. She decided to put on one of her long skirt  to the passageway of the hall, some girls started laughing out loud; she was confused and wondered who they were laughing at. She decided to ignore them and move on. She ended the day with a lot of new things, she saw a lot of girls dressed in sparse and body exposing dresses, she was very surprised and wondered why some girls would prefer to expose their natural assets and on the other side, some of the guys were all  in falling trousers. She attended class the next day with her normal dress style. A male lecturer entered the class and there was a girl who was sitting in front of the class with her breast exposed and un covered, the lecturer ordered the girl to go and sit at the back of the class that she was distressing him with the natural asset, the lecturer embarrassed her for dressing in that manner. A lot of other instances happened that shade almost accepted the style as a normal way of life.

First semester and second semester came and went and it continued like that. Shade passed well and became a popular girl amidst her mates. She therefore had a lot of friends at her disposal, she moves with anybody at any time without segregating. She continued her good girl act until 300 levels. Shade commenced the semester with some bad set of girls who were always dressed in skimpy attires showing the delicate part of their bodies, attending parties. She by the way joined the league of skimpy dressers abandoning all the norms and values she was brought up with. She was also a beautiful girl who had fresh and attractive endowments, shade flaunted them and became a less serious girl whose weekend was always full of activities, and she would budge from one party to another. Shade became a recycled Su girl. She was over exploited by her male admirers who will profess their love for her by getting her colourful things and expensive items.

The session ended, Shade failed badly and had a lot of carry over’s. On getting to the hostel that day, her friends who also failed like she did advised her to forget about it and live life; they therefore attended a party that night which was held outside the campus. On getting to the party, the whole place was full of girls and a lot of drunken guys. They joined the league that night and drank to the peak. Shade got so drunk that, she had multiple round of sex with a stranger that night. After some couple of months, she noticed some change in her health status. She decided to visit the hospital to get herself checked up, after the test the doctor told her that she was carrying a 4months old pregnancy. Shade knelt down immediately and busted into tears because has succeeded in letting everybody down and also was pregnant for a stranger who she hardly knows or can identify physically. She was advised by her friends to abort the pregnancy but she refused, she went home and told her parents what happened and how she got pregnant for a stranger. They felt bad and scolded her badly at first but later accepted her. Shade gave birth to a beautiful baby girl and also missed school for two years and had to start all over again. If you follow this story well, you will notice that all the problems emanated from indecent dressing to other things and it continued like that. Shade missed her track and started her education all over again. If she had remained her usual self, nothing like that would have happened

 Fashion in our World today has changed for the better as people use to claim. You get to see different people dressed in different costumes for different reasons. A lot of girls seem it fit to expose their bodies and has made it something normal. I was in a bus going to Ketu and beside me was a pastor who was preaching to the passengers in the bus to give their lives to Christ. We got to a bustop and a very beautiful girl was suppose to alight at the bus top, she stood up and lo and behold ,her whole buttocks was outside, the pastor immediately shouted ‘blood of Jesus’. Everybody laughed and laughed until they could laugh no more. The pastor digressed and preached that the devil decided to release such ladies to deceive and increase the number of hell fire confirmed individuals. A lot of students in school love to dress if not naked to the class putting on seductive dresses to the class. I spoke to pastor Love Olufemi on the causes for indecent dressing and this is what he has to say.’ Indecent dressing is relative and what is descent to Mr A can be indecent to Mr B. Africans actually got the fashion disease from the white people, we get to watch TV everyday  and read a lot of magazines, we see make believe stars on TV and want to be like them , the whole thing attacked our sub conscious mind and here we are, its affecting us badly, you go to some universities and all you have to do is to stick your face to the ground or you might be found wanting and because we are all human beings, you have to watch what you view. A lot of students dress anyhow and when you endeavour to advice them, they embarrass you massively. The only solution to this problem is to re emphasize our African culture from the roots and engage more in Godly things, he said outspokenly.

Like the pastor said, indecent dressing varies but exposing body parts is extremely wrong and should not be supported in our schools. Looking at the issue at hand from a parent’s perspective Mrs Irene Apollo, a successful trader speaks. This whole thing is based on the type of family, a lot of individuals are from a scattered home where there is no body  to correct them, they live life anyhow and some have parents who don’t give a why about them, they grow up and do things the wrong way just because there was nobody was there to correct them. You see such individuals on campuses constituting nuisance and foolishness. If you ask some of them why they dress like that, they would simply tell you that, they would wear what they have.  I always strike against this fact, you can use your money to buy good clothes and not body advertising ones. She went on to profess that, most of this girls end up snatching their husbands from them. They put on bad clothes to attract our men, and these girls we are talking about have destroyed a lot of homes. What they originate with that skimpy nonsense is always UN bearable. Most men always fall for those girls and most times I don’t always blame them, you get to see a girl’s boobs with her nipples shining and standing, we are all in flesh and instead of veering  away their eyes, most of them focuses the more and before you know it, they have commenced a secretive relationship .It results into continuous absence from the home and it continues like that if the wife does not look for a solution somewhere. The government can do something about it; there should be a discipline committee that should retreat against bad dressing. This method should be experimented in our universities and before you know, it fades gradually.

Looking at this particular point, you will discover that this problem we are talking about has a lot of de merits attached to it. In the search for the cause, we also spoke to Mrs Iyabo Ogunade who has two of her children in the university currently, and she has this to say. Indecent dressing is prompted by a lot of things, it kicks off with an individual’s background; where the person comes from, a lot of individuals have been loaded up with rusty things and by the time they grow up, they are already addicted to the way of life, the bible says, bring your child up in the way of the lord and by the time he grows, he would not depart from it. A lot of young people fall into temptation and pick up a lot of negative things while growing up if you don’t watch him or her; especially in a different and free world like the university where you can do whatever you like at anytime. Another thing is that, when you ask some people while they are dressed like that, they would simply tell you it’s what I feel like putting on. Foreign fashion actually disintegrated our way of life, at first we were enjoying but as the day rolled by, it started influencing us the wrong way. It’s really UN ethical and should be discouraged. Instead of preaching how to acquire wealth every day, people should talk more about this lewd way of dressing. Emphasis should be laid on the fact that dressing foolish is wrong and should be stopped our society. 

Speaking to Balkis Jimoh, a 400level English student at the Olabisi Onabanjo University, Fashion has destroyed us all and at this level, I don’t think there is anything we can do. You see different people dressed in various clothes with morally wrong styles all in the name of fashion, and at the same time they don’t see anything wrong in it. This fashion disease has eroded our morals and has been over emphasized. You see some guys piercing their ears, their chest and some other delicate parts, they put on trousers exposing their panties or boxers and they call it sagging. It has become a way of life for ladies to open there breast for people to see what almighty Allah has given them ,some will go to the extent of showing there pubic hairs all in the name of fashion. It’s wrong and most times, I get fagged out over this issue and to be candid, I don’t know the solution because it has gotten out of hand. It’s only God who can save us from the problem, as for me I will keep advising and praying for them.

Also speaking about the issue at hand is  Tunde Ojerinde , a 200 level English student at OOU Ago Iwoye , Indecent dressing varies, what is too short for you might be too long for another person. Fashion has reached the peak and there is nothing to introduce again, it is so rampant amidst the female gender and all in the name of looking sexy, some decided to pioneer some clothes that are suppose to expose some parts of the body and to their surprise, people rushed and why they made enough money they in addition destroyed the African fashion style . Nowadays, you see beautiful girls putting on the wrong set of clothes. What we get to see most of the time is the breast and the buttocks; they flaunt it so much that when you look at them; they embarrass you with their eyes.  A particular girl was in micro mini skirt and her phone dropped to the floor, there was nobody to help her pick it up, she bent down and we were looking at her panties directly, she moved on and pretended as if nobody was looking at her. At the level, the school authorities are the only ones who can reduce the problem, they should place a strict ban on wrong dressing mode and if anybody is found wanting, he or she should be expelled.

Speaking to the Lagos state polytechnic public relations officer, Mr Olarewaju Kuye and he have this to say. Immoral dressing is wide of the mark and should not be supported; the students will graduate and move on to the larger society, so therefore they should endeavour to do things the right way. Immoral dressing has lead to a lot of things including Rape and all sort of sexual harassment; it should be curbed and retreated against most especially in our tertiary institutions.

A student of Lagos state polytechnic Idele Ashabi speak on the issue  and she said that immoral dressing has been eradicated in Laspotech since 2004 and has helped the institution in moulding there students into useful  vessels in the society  and to themselves directly. You cannot dress anyhow in Laspotech, if you venture into such, you will be heading for the gates and indirectly out of the school.                                                                                                                                                                               Nowadays, the guys don’t longer dress well, many of them prefer to put their trousers below the buttocks,  they pierce and tattoo the body, paint the skin with a lot of colours and a whole lot of other things. It’s really crazy and UN ethical. It should be constrained and abolished. Individuals no longer see value in getting themselves covered up again, they open up well for the world to see; what they have got. It must stop and we successfully made that happen in Laspotech, you will never find any student dressed imprudently. They will not love to go back home, that is the price for indecent dressing. I think other tertiary institution should thread in this part.

Yewande Olanrewaju who is currently a 300level mass communication student at the Covenant University also has this to say. The problem is that, those students are giving the liberty to do what they like and many tend to misuse the opportunity. Like in my school, we have rules guarding dress codes, we have corporate week and casual, they don’t allow skimpy clothes in my school; it’s much forbidden to put on body divulging clothes. It’s the rule and you must abide by it seriously. I just think the federal and state universities should adopt this method and before we know it. It fades out of existence gradually.

Shade Philips, a student also spoke about the matter, it’s simply beautiful when you get to see sexy girls displaying what they have. You don’t have anybody who is paying for your tut ion fee and the rest of them and it’s very compulsory to live life to the fullest;  you will simply use what you have to get what you want,  if you don’t expose them, nobody will be interested in you. I also love to make myself comfortable and that is the fact. I don’t care about people’s opinion. I live my life and it doesn’t mean I don’t know what I want from life, people see you dressed  like this and what you hear next is ‘she go dull for class like that o’, I have never had  carry over or anything in any of my courses . Dressing skimpy does not mean anything; we have just decided to complicate issues ourselves. On my part, I make sure I enjoy myself to the bream. ‘I don’t know about any solution to the problem you have abeg’ .She said outspokenly

Indecent dressing should not be encouraged. Referring to the word of God, our body is the temple of the lord and we should keep it well. Exposing pubic hairs and the rest of them should be shunned. It does not speak well and will never for anybody who is an African.

We should go back to the roots and adopt the lifestyles we abandoned, Africans cover their bodies passionately, and it’s not meant for the public. Fashion does not give us the go ahead to dress abnormally. Guys should dress well to be addressed well, it’s vice versa and should be emphasised.  Fashion designers should endeavour to sketch out good clothes and join us in eradicating this borrowed attitude which is causing a very bad stir in our country today.