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Biography

Jacinta Chiamaka Nwaka (Ph.D. African History, University of Ibadan) is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of History and International Studies, University of Benin, Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria. She was an Institute for Development and Research Canada (IDRC) and United Nation’s University for Peace (UPEACE) Africa Programme Doctoral Research Fellow (2008 – 2010). Dr, Nwaka was also a 2012 African Humanities Programme (AHP) Postdoctoral Fellow of the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) and a 2016 Research Fellow African Peacebuilding Network (APN), Social Science Research Council (SSRC) New York USA. She has won many other awards to her credit. Her research interest spans across religious history, social history, peace and conflict studies, and gender studies. Dr. Nwaka has numerous publications in books and reputable journals. E-mail: Jacinta.nwaka@uniben.edu

Akachi Odoemene (Ph.D. African History, University of Ibadan) is an Associate Professor, Department of History and International Studies, Federal University Otuoke, Bayelsa State, Nigeria. He was an Oxford-Princeton Global Leaders Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Global Economic Governance Programme (GEG), University College Oxford (2013-2014) and at the Woodrow Wilson School, Princeton University, U.S.A. (2014-2015). A 2012 Hewlett Scholar at the PSTC, Brown University, Dr. Odoemene was also a 2009 African Humanities Program (AHP) Postdoctoral Fellow of the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS); Research Fellow, African Peacebuilding Network (APN), Social Science Research Council (SSRC), New York, USA (2012-2013); and Research Fellow, South-South Research Grants 2012 (the Africa/Asia/Latin America – Asian Political and International Studies Association (APISA), the Latin American Council of Social Sciences (CLACSO) and the Council for the Development of Social Science in Africa (CODESRIA) Collaborative Program) (2012-2013), amongst many other awards. His research focuses on African social history, peace and conflict research, ethnic studies and development studies, and he has numerous publications to his credit. E-mail: akaigolo@yahoo.com

Abstract

Despite the writings of feminist thinkers and efforts of other advocates of feminism to change the dominant narratives on women, exploitation of women is a fact that has remained endemic in various parts of the world, and particularly in Africa. Nigeria is one of those countries in Africa where women are largely exposed to varying degrees of exploitation. This paper examines the development and proliferation of baby-selling centers in southern Nigeria and its impacts on and implication for women in Nigeria. It demonstrates how an attempt to give protection to unwed pregnant girls has metamorphosed into “baby harvesting” and selling through the notorious “baby factories,” where young women are held captive and used like industrial machines for baby production. The babies produced through this process were often sold illegally to adoptive parent(s) in dire need of them. In some other instances, they were used for child labour or trafficked for prostitution, ritual purposes, or organ harvesting. The paper argues that the hideous phenomenon of baby factories—which has high patronage in southern parts of Nigeria—does not only exploit and debase the status of women, but that the nature of its operation foreshadows a future danger for women in southern Nigeria regions.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

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