Following the abysmal application of tribal mark on the face of a very tender baby that should be few months old, Senator Dino Melaye representing Kogi West has said that such barbaric act must be stopped.

He plans to champion a bill that will kick this barbaric act entirely out of the country.

Tribal marks which can also be described as facial marks though well dominated in Africa can be traced to some foreigners who were living in Egypt in the 5th century BC. During that time, a Greek historian, Herodotus wrote about some foreigners living in Egypt who cut their foreheads with knives to differentiate themselves from the Egyptians.

This practice was further adopted years later when several kings of various kingdoms in Africa, started invading other kings and their people for land and other resources. The invaders therefore mark themselves as well as their family members to differentiate themselves from the captured kings and their family members whom they now regard as their slaves.

Tribal marks were once used as a means of identification, inoculation against diseases and beautification. Sadly, the tradition is fast fading out and this is due to several reasons.

Across the major and minor tribes in Nigeria, tribal marks have been a way of identification. Ethnic groups such as the Yoruba, Hausa, Kanuri, Nupe, Jarawa in Plateau and Igala are known to have some of the marks. Such marks reveal instantly, the tribe of anybody who bears them