MagnaFaith takes up the challenge to the less privilege and violence against Women in the society.
A US-based Nigerian Diasporan community leader and Humanitarian, MagnaFaith Krimi has disclosed the travails of Northern women in Nigeria. MagnaFaith, in an interview with our Correspondent EMMANUEL AWARI, revealed how she was battered by her sibling shortly after the death of her father and how the struggle to sell Late DIG Krimi’s properties began.
Madam it has not been easy since the passing of the Late RTD. DIG. How are you feeling now considering all that has happened?
How is the relationship between you and your siblings now? We watched a lot of drama play out on social media at the passing of the Late DIG. My siblings and I are awesome. However, my relationship with the illegitimate son of my father is not the same. we are not on talking terms and I doubt that our relationship will ever be repaired.
Wow! That is a very serious allegation you just made against your brother why?
A so-called Pastor who goes to the club just after leaving the ICU where his so-called father lay in a Coma is not related to that person. I could hardly go home from the hospital while my dad lay helpless in the hospital. Yet, Pastor went to the club and his wife sent a Cake celebrating their newfound status. Without calling to check on my dad until he died.
Brother this is not an allegation, it is a known fact. He knows it too. My father said it many times while he was alive and the head of our family in the village Major Daboh Johnson also stated the same at the passing of my dad. He mentioned to me directly without mincing words that he is not my father’s son. Assess him very closely and you won’t be in doubt yourself. He was never my father’s son and he knows who his father is.
Are your other siblings in agreement with this statement?
My siblings know Pastor is not DIG’s son. It is a sensitive topic to discuss but that does not mean that the truth should not be told. My dad raised him, yes. He raised him as his own. But, My father has only one son and his name is Favor Johnson.
What are you all doing to keep your fathers legacy?
Well, he already built his legacy. He served Nigeria and his community selflessly. He raised his children with great moral and ethical standards. I believe we can try to live by the standards, maybe try to elevate it some. The bar is high though…
How did you handle your alleged battering by this Pastor?
I was not surprised. But I didn’t think it would be that early. My father already prepared me for times like this. He knew who Pastor was. He told me at the time, but I was trying not to have a Cinderella story in our family. My father wept when he learnt that Pastor said he could not escort my mother’s body to Jalingo because his in laws told him not to. Everyone told him it was his place to escort his mother’s body because he was her first child. He did not. He flew by himself. Later we came to know why and that is a story for another day.
Pastor broke into the house in the early hours of the morning and broke my head only 48hrs after my father was lowered in the ground. Only because he desperately wanted documents of properties in my possession. I was going to press charges, folks advised to let it go for the sake of my dad.
Did he get the documents from you?
He got some when he broke down the doors of the house in Abuja to attack me. You know my Pastor brother was pastoring at Champion Faith Church, Abuja and because he is also a lawyer my dad trusted and gave him documents of one of the properties my dad owned in Abuja to process a C of O. Sir, pastor and his wife sold the property without my dad’s knowledge. It was Pastor’s best friend at the time, a lawyer by name of Obinna that called my dad’s attention to the sale of the property.
My father was distraught and almost cursed him. This is who this man is. If he could do that to a living DIG of the Police Force, who am I. He understands Nigerian culture. He feels because he wears the titles of Pastor and Lawyer, he can get away with anything. He is known to abuse women physically and emotionally.
I am not the first and I may not be the last. The Nigerian culture indirectly allows the abuse of women. Nigerians would say “they are family, let them settle it”. They’d say “ah don’t say it out, you are tarnishing your father’s reputation”. Society makes excuses for men who physically abuse women. I don’t care how strong a woman is, she is a “Woman”. She carries and births humans. Do you understand what that means. The woman’s body should be respected. Pastor forced his girlfriend to abort a baby against her will. Pastor almost raped an underage girl at my friend’s house. If he wasn’t caught and almost beaten he would have raped her. That’s who the community continues to cover. That’s what society celebrates.
I wasn’t surprised that he broke into the house to beat me,. I was surprised that even after seizing the photos, folks were more worried about keeping a secret than stopping such a dangerous man from doing more harm to more women. If Sahara Reporters and a couple of other media houses did not report the story, I probably would not be here to tell my story. I was surprised that folks including the police force were more worried about the story being a scandal than actually saving my life and calling for justice. We have all become numb to violence. It is not a big deal that a man physically abuses a woman in our society. This has to stop.
Was that why you wrote in support of Tonto Dike?
Yes! I reiterate any woman that speaks in support of Olakunle against Tonto needs to re-examine their gender. Whether she is a witch or not is inconsequential. You bring a child to this world, you should be responsible for the child. In the United States where I live, Tonto’s ex-husband would pay Child Support in-spite of whatever he says.
In Nigeria, we don’t have a system that would enforce these programs yet. I believe if women like Tonto, myself and many other women continue to speak up. We will see changes. Tonto Dike has done so much to raise her son. Is she perfect? No. But she is human, who has the right to grow just like anyone else.
Give her a break. She lost her mum early on and has built a career for herself and continues to raise her son the best way she knows to do so. Olakunle should be ashamed of himself for making excuses for not seeing his son. If he approaches Tonto respectfully, she would cooperate. But, you cannot act like you are doing her a favor by taking care of your own son. No.
What are you up to now in your career?
I am a citizen of the United States. I work professionally as a HR Professional, humanitarian and community leader. I have been MIA for a while, now it’s MagnaMomentum time. I am working on a huge project that will expose the travails of Northern women in society. It is going to be big. I want to throw light on what women in the north and in general go through in our very patriarchal community.
What about your humanitarian works?
Yes, we have just added 8 children to our Kindergarten to High School Scholarship program. We are now at 19 children, In our scholarship program. We have about 140 children as of today in total at the school I founded with my father the late DIG. The STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) focused school was launched last August in his honor. We also cater to widows in the community by paying monthly stipends to help them meet some needs. I am very proud of how much God is doing through us.
With everything you have gone through, what is your view of men?
Let me make this very clear. The Man is the head of the home. If Men understood their role in the family and within society, the world would be better than it is now. The role of the Man can never be replaced by the woman. No matter how smart, strong, intelligent rich and educated we are as women; We can never replace “Man”. The issue is, men of my generation do not know what “Manning” is. They misconstrue oppression for authority and abuse for strength. When a real man loves and leads, a real woman submits and follows.