Woman granted amnesty from life jail, laments early menopause
From JOE EFFIONG, Uyo
Thursday, March 5, 2009


What shall it profit a woman who regains the whole world but loses her womb? This appears to have been the question which flashed through the mind of Adiaha King Jack, a 44- year-old woman who had spent 26 years in prison for killing one of her brothers.

Fate, however, smiled on Adiaha Jack recently when Governor Godswill Akpabio visited the Uyo Prisons and decided to grant her amnesty. The prerogative of mercy covered not only her; her brother, Akpan King Jack, also convicted of the same offence the same year but incarcerated in Ikot Ekpene Prisons, also breathed the air of freedom.

Thus, Adiaha and Akpan regained their freedom, each person received N500,000 lifeline. They walked away free from the gulag with joy but a heavy heart.

At 44, Adiaha prematurely, had been hit by the naturally irreversible female impotence. And considering the fact that when she was convicted in 1985, she was only 18, without a child, the joy of her release became tainted and she expressed her low value in the African society.

“I’m grateful to God and to the governor for granting me pardon. My only regret in life is that at 44, I have been hit by menopause which means I won’t be able to have a child again.”
Menopause at 44, for someone who never enjoyed being a wife or a mother before she was sent to prison may appear a cruel fate. In fact, a gynecologist in the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital , Dr. Emem Bassey tends to agree.

“At 44, it seems menopause struck her a bit early because in our environment, it occurs in women between 45 and 50 years. Maybe it is because of the stress she went through in the prison. But it is still normal because menopause can occur in women at any age from 40 years upwards.”
But with modern science, can menopause be reversed? Bassey gave an emphatic No. “Menopause means that the woman is no longer ovulating she can no longer produce egg.

The condition cannot be reversed. However, the woman in question can still have a child if she can meet somebody who would be willing to donate eggs to her so that she can be made pregnant through invitro fertilization (IVF) method,” he said.

But isn’t there a concession that could be granted to such people who are condemned to life imprisonment at tender age to try and fulfill their natural responsibility like procreation within or outside prison?
The Public Relations Officer of Akwa Ibom State Prisons Command, Mr. Charles Isong told Daily Sun there is no such luxury.

“As emotional as it may sound, we cannot create a separate law for a separate case. The laws that we are operating is not our own laws, but the laws that the society entrusts on us. It is what they ask us to do in prison that we implement. We can’t allow that to happen. Once you are imprisoned, you are under confinement. Your right to movement, right to sex, if at all there is such a right; right to vote and be voted for, are all restricted. But you’re free to enjoy every other rights,” Isong explained.

Similarly, the Chairman, Nigerian Bar Association, Uyo Branch, Mr. Ekanem Ekanem, said there are no separate laws for those serving life sentence and others for those serving shorter sentences, which could have provided some respite for people like Adiaha Jack.

“Perhaps, the law may have to address that problem and fashion out a way to help people fulfill their natural obligations because for now, the prison regulations apply to every prisoner,” Ekanem reasoned.
But Akpabio, who is the first governor to visit the prison ever since the state was created in 1987, and the first to grant amnesty to those serving life jail, advised the King Jacks never to look back at their wasted period in prison but to match forward to live their lives to the full.

“We saw this in the life of Malcom X, and also in the life of Nelson Mandela, who did not allow 27 years of being political prisoners to embitter them against society,” the governor recalled.
He stated that the prison is an institution designed for people who have been convicted of crimes, saying, “that fact that there is restriction of movement in the prison does not mean there is restriction of the mind.”
While advising them to spend time developing their minds to overcome mischief and bitterness, Governor Akpabio reminded them that Malcom X was educated in prison to become a respected civil rights activist in the United States.

“Turn the hand of your destiny and become a new man. I believe you should tell the prison authorities that you need a counselor,” the governor admonished.
He lauded the state Advisory Council on the Prerogative of Mercy for carrying out campaigns on rehabilitation and re-integration of former prison inmates and using mass media to sensitize the people not to discriminate against ex-convicts.

Will Adiaha King Jackson ever live a fulfilled life in Nigeria, as a woman, without a child or will miracle happen? Nobody even knows exactly what awaits her as she returns home after 26 years in jail for killing a brother.

http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/news/national/2009/mar/05/national-05-03-2009-07.htm


so we have do gooders like this in naija now. what about the brother they killed not having kids? killer at 18.

Eyaa. She is regretting the missed shagging years.

jamace:

Eyaa. She is regretting the missed shagging years.

she should have worked that out before senseless anger took hold of her

The menopause has done her more good than harm. This is a better chance for her to recover all the lost shagging years. Just go and be donating generously without fear of big belle .