FGM: UNLEASHING THE YOUTH POWER IN NIGERIA

UNLEASHING YOUTH POWER AGAINST FGM IN NIGERIA
Female genital mutilation (FGM) in Nigeria continues to raise the concern among young people, especially girls and women. According to the World Health Organization, female genital mutilation is defined as all procedures which involve partial or total removal of the external female genitalia and/or injury to the female genital organs, whether for cultural or any other non-therapeutic reasons. The procedure can be incredibly painful, and it can also lead to harmful side effects such as excessive bleeding, genital tissue swelling, fever, infections, urinary problems, and even death. The need to end this practice is great. it is necessary to highlight the role young people can play in totally eradicating the practice of FGM in Nigeria.

Creating Awareness
Although FGM was banned in Nigeria in May 2015 by the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan, many communities still practice this painful act. Because young people are predominantly affected, they can help end this practice by engaging in aggressive awareness campaigns in rural communities, where cultural beliefs and societal pressure to conform to existing traditional practices force parents to let their girl children go through this excruciatingly painful and medically unnecessary procedure.

Engaging Schools And Religious Leaders.
To End FGM in Nigeria, young people must engage with those who can sway communities. Young people should engage with religious leaders to speak out against FGM. Nigeria is made up of highly developed and diversified religious groups and much religious leaders are given enormous respect and weight in Nigerian society. Based on the respect they carry, it would be easier for religious leaders to convince parents and community leaders to stop the practice of Females, young people should engage religious leaders to speak about the dangers of FGM. Nigeria is highly religious and much respect is given to religious leaders because they are seen as mouthpieces of God. Based on the respect they carry, it would be easier for religious leaders.

Seek Government Support
For young people to end FGM in Nigeria in one generation, they need the government's support and strong political commitment to enact strict penalties for those who still practice FGM.
This has already begun. On February 9, 2016, the UNFPA in collaboration with UNICEF, the Federal Ministry of Health, Federal Ministry of Women Affairs/Social Development and the Guardian UK, launched a program that calls for the abandonment of FGM in Nigeria. This is a step in the right direction as Goal 3 of the post 2015 sustainable development goals (SDGs) says that government at all levels must ensure healthy lives and wellbeing for their citizens, including any practice that negatively affects the health of her citizens, such as FGM. SDG goal 5 also seeks to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls, an ending FGM is a critical starting point. Young people can lead the way in tackling development, gender, and health issues, and they can lead the way to ending the practice of FGM. We just need to be given the chance.


THE FIGHT AGAINST FGM TAKES MANY FORMS
By turning the universal symbol for awareness upside down and transforming it into the Arabic word for no, the NoFGM Ribbon (also known as the Zero Tolerance Ribbon) provides a unique and instantly recognizable symbol that can be used to showcase and amplify the powerful anti-FGM/C work that is already being accomplished today. The NoFGM Ribbon was designed in 2018 by communications group Impact BBDO in collaboration with anti-FGM research nonprofit 28 Too Many and was launched together with Tadwein Gender Research Center in Egypt on International Day of Zero Tolerance in February 2019.

 

The NoFGM Ribbon design is part of the public domain, which means it is unowned and free to anyone who wishes to use it.
Join the Campaign
Www.nofgmribbon.info

Join the conversation
#SayNoToFGM, #EndFGMNow

Educating The Girlchild in Nigeria

Education is refered to as the process of providing information to an inexperienced person to help him or her develop physically, mentally, socially, emotionally, spiritually, politically and economically.

Though so much emphasis is made on the formal education by nations many girls today, do not have adequate education beyond a certain age.

Little wonder, the United Nations in her Sustainable Development Goals seeks to ensure education for all.

In most climes, when a girl is 12-14 years old, the elders in the community feel she is “ripe for marriage” and their words are LAW.

So what are her "words" worth when the elders in the community have spoken?

But the truth remains that a girl who is given out in marriage at a very tender age is placed at a very high risk. First, she is not mature enough to be a mother and she has no skill, information and confidence that might lead to her being a better mother and wife if she were educated.

 For instance, Nigeria female teenagers emerged overall winner of the 2018 Technovation World Pitch in California, United States. Also, when the team, Save-A-Soul, developed a mobile application called ‘FD Detector’ to tackle the problem of fake Pharmaceutical products in the country, the Nigerian girls defeated teams from the United States, Spain, Turkey, Uzbekistan and China to become the first Nigerian team to win the competition.

The teenage girls are from Anambra State in the South-East region of Nigeria, and will be pitching their app to investors in the Silicon Valley.

The team argued that Nigeria has the largest market for fake drugs, and they plan to partner with the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control [NAFDAC], using the app, to tackle this challenge, With a remarkable feat from these teenage girls.

This is a clear evidence that investing in the “Girl-Child Education” is vital to driving human capital development in the country.

    Think about great professionals like Chief(Mrs) Eniola Fadayomi, Prof.  Bolanle Awe, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Dr Obiageli Ezekwesil, Mrs Winifred Oyo-Ita, Mrs Omobola Johnson, Mrs Sola Borha, Mrs Ibukun Awosika,  Dr Sarah Alade, Mrs Toyin Sanni, Ms Arunma Oteh, Ms Hadiza Bala-Usman, Ms Funke Opeke,  Mrs Bolanle Austen-Peters,among other are all products of great investments in the “Girl-Child Education”.

From the Technology, Finance & Investment, Creative Industry, Education, Policy and Advocacy space, women have the capacity to make exploits in Nigeria, and it all begins with the value for “Girl-Child Education".

There is no better time to invest more in the Unity Girls secondary schools,Girls Technical Schools and other Girls schools across the nation than now.

 Policy makers should as a matter of urgency create an enabling environment for increasing gender participation in the political, business, financial market, technology and even Agriculture sectors through the provision of a valuable pipeline for the “Educated Girl-Child”.

These will in turn transform these girls into women that will be agents of national transformation.


Edited by
Norah Okafor
Founder, Protect The Precious Foundation.