Female bouncers in Nigeria show their strength fighting stereotypes

 

 

 

 

 

 

For years, Emem Thomas' body drew snarky remarks from slimmer classmates in southern Nigeria that shattered her confidence and natural affability.

As teasing and taunts marred her teenage years, she gave up on dreams like competing in a local beauty pageant.

Then she found a niche that values what Thomas now proudly describes as her "plus-sized" body type: the "Dragon Squad Limited", a team of female bouncers.

"I love what I see dragons do in movies," she said. "They are also a symbol of power and protection."

Founded in 2018, Thomas only employs women of a certain weight and shape, creating a safe space for plus-size women to excel in a field that is traditionally male-dominated.

"My team is all about plus-size ladies," she explained. "If you have the plus-size body then that is cool for me, before I now talk about your passion and other qualifications."

The Dragon Squad's 43 recruits have worked security at about 2,000 events including house parties, funerals, political rallies and club nights.

"People expect us to be in the kitchen or probably doing make-up and other feminine roles, but joining this squad has really enlightened me," said 23-year-old bouncer Peace Vigorous, the youngest of the crew.

In addition to walkie-talkies, boots and dark glasses, the bouncers carry pepper spray.

The risk of being molested on the job is "always something we have in mind", said Thomas.

"We always prep ourselves for that" and for "men looking down on us."
 

'FACE THE CROWD'

On an early overcast morning, Thomas led bouncers through a sweaty fitness session on a parking lot.

The women have acquired skills, strength, and most importantly for Thomas, confidence.

"Most of them... were always shy. They couldn't talk," she said, noting that she too became introverted because of her weight.

Behaviour that draws attention such as standing in front of a crowd and giving orders can be particularly challenging for women used to avoiding the public eye.

"Face the crowd and be yourself," Thomas tells them when they falter. "You are supposed to be seen and known."

Thomas's newfound confidence has transformed her social and family life in the city of Uyo, where the 37-year-old lives with her two children.

She no longer considers herself and introvert or shies away from events.

The Dragon Squad has also led her to advocate for the rights of girls and women.

Gender violence is rife in Nigeria, which has one of the world's highest rates of sexual assault. Jihadist groups in the north are renown for kidnapping girls and women and trafficking them into sex work and forced labour.

For Thomas, change comes with "breaking the barrier" to show what women bring to all sectors of society.

She believes female bouncers "have a way of taking off danger" by listening to troublemakers and victims in a way that most men do not have patience for.

"I see no reason why women (should not be) given a chance."

By Seun Sanni and Temilade Adelaja, Reuters

Video - Nigerian business people eager to resume travel to China

Nigerian business people are looking forward to resuming regular travel to China, after China relaxed entry and exit conditions. Badamasi Kamaladdin is one of them. He has been buying phones and accessories from the Asian country for nearly a decade, and now says that he has high expectations in 2023 that his business will flourish once again.

CGTN

GT Bank of Nigeria fines in UK over money-laundering failures

Britain’s financial watchdog has fined the UK subsidiary of Nigeria’s Guaranty Trust Bank 7.6 million pounds ($9.3m) for what it says are further failures in its anti-money-laundering systems and controls.

“These weaknesses were repeatedly highlighted to GT Bank by internal and external sources, including the FCA, but despite this, GT Bank failed to take appropriate action to fix them,” the Financial Conduct Authority said in a statement on Tuesday.

The watchdog said GT Bank has not disputed the findings and agreed to settle, making it eligible for a 30 percent discount on the fine, down from the original 10.96 million pounds ($13.3m).

“GT Bank’s conduct is particularly egregious as this is not the first time that the bank has faced enforcement action in relation to its AML controls,” the statement said.

Gbenga Alade, managing director of GT Bank UK, said the bank takes its anti-money laundering obligations extremely seriously and noted the FCA’s findings with sincere regret, adding that the FCA found no instances of suspected money laundering.

“We would like to assure all our stakeholders and the general public that necessary steps have been taken to address and resolve the identified gaps,” Alade said in a statement.

In August 2013, the FCA fined it 525,000 pounds ($627,323) for running afoul of the regulations.

“Banks are at the front line in ensuring the proceeds of crime do not enter the UK financial system,” Tracey McDermott, the FCA’s director of enforcement, said at the time. “GT Bank’s failures were serious and systemic and resulted in an unacceptable risk of handling the proceeds of crime.”

The bank said then that it had complied with the fine and addressed the issues.

Al Jazeera

32 people kidnapped from train station in Nigeria

Gunmen armed with AK-47 rifles have abducted more than 30 people from a train station in Nigeria's southern Edo state, the governor's office said on Sunday.

The attack is the latest example of the growing insecurity that has spread to nearly every corner of Africa's most populous country, posing a challenge to the government in advance of a February presidential election.

Police said in a statement that armed herdsmen had attacked Tom Ikimi station at 4 p.m. (1500 GMT) as passengers awaited a train to Warri, an oil hub in nearby Delta state. The station is some 111 km northeast of state capital Benin City and close to the border with Anambra state.

Some people at the station were shot in the attack, police said.

Edo state information commissioner Chris Osa Nehikhare said the kidnappers had taken 32 people, though one had already escaped.

"At the moment, security personnel made up of the military and the police as well as men of the vigilante network and hunters are intensifying search and rescue operations in a reasonable radius to rescue the kidnap victims," he said. "We are confident that the other victims will be rescued in the coming hours."

The Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) had closed the station until further notice and the federal transportation ministry called the kidnappings "utterly barbaric".

The NRC last month reopened a rail service linking the capital Abuja with northern Kaduna state, months after gunmen blew up the tracks, kidnapped dozens of passengers and killed six people.

The last hostage taken in that March attack was not freed until October.

Insecurity is rampant across Nigeria, with Islamist insurgencies in the northeast, banditry in the northwest, separatists in the southeast and farmer-herdsmen clashes in the central states. 

By Tife Owolabi, Reuters

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Love for Anime grows in Nigeria with second Eko Anima Festival

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Almost 1,000 fans of anime converged to Lagos, Nigeria for the second edition of the Eko Anime Festival. Some anime fans performed on stage, and many were cosplaying their favourite characters. 

Anime is animation originating from Japan. Its films and characters are part of a culture present in many more mediums like video games. 

"We realised that there really wasn't any convention or festival like an anime fest in the whole of Nigeria," says Laura Ajayi, co-organiser of the second edition of the Eko anime festival. 

"So, we thought why don't we start this because we have a whole community of otakus, weebs, even people that just want to dip their feet into the anime pool and so we thought why don't we just do this, everybody comes together and you know have fun and it works." 

Anime has a big following in Nigeria, where most grew up with Voltron, Naruto, and Samurai X in the 1980s all the way to the early 2000s. 

"I think Nigerians are interested in the anime culture because Nigerians generally love to try new things so the anime, which is an entirely different culture on its own is a new and unique thing to Nigeria so they will keep loving it because they keep bringing out different things each year which continue to hold our attention, which is very good for us," adds Ajayi. 

Nigerian anime lovers say their aim is to socialise and promote the culture. The popularity of anime culture is said to have grown online in Nigeria, with many Japanese comics (manga) available on websites and apps, and fans talking about them through social media. Antonio, who is attending the festival, likes anime because of its inclusivity. 

"Anime imitates life, there's an anime for everybody and everything. If you like sport, there's an anime for sports, if you like horror movies, action movies, romance, fairy tales, there's an anime for you and you just have to look at it. Anime is huge and it's for everybody." 

Anime lovers are optimistic that more Nigerians will come to love and embrace the culture, and also hope to organise bigger subsequent festivals.

African News