The war against domestic/sexual/social violence will become easier to prosecute and win if the boy-child is fully involved, stakeholders have agreed. OYEBOLA OWOLABI reports that the Office of the wife of Lagos State Governor Mrs. Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu is championing this cause through the ‘Boy-Child Initiative.’
The Boy-Child Initiative’ is a creation of the Office of the wife of Lagos State Governor, Mrs. Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu. It was aimed at ensuring a gender-balanced society. Mrs Sanwo-Olu, together with the wife of the Deputy Governor Mrs. Oluremi Hamzat, are championing the boy-child initiative to entrench the right values in the boys and ultimately ensure a better society.
According to Mrs. Sanwo-Olu, it is not enough to educate the girls about gender and domestic violence, the boys should also be carried along to ensure the society is rid of abuse and violence.
The initiative was launched recently, starting with an awareness walk from Ikeja City Mall to the Lagos House in Alausa, Ikeja and a news briefing. The theme was ‘The 21st Century Boy-Child: Creating a Vision for Transformation,’ with the Governor’s wife, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and pupils selected from the formal and informal sectors, participating. They displayed placards with various inscriptions such as ‘I stand with the boy-child’; ‘Stop neglecting the boy-child’; ‘Boys are important too.’
According to Mrs Sanwo-Olu, reports have shown that issues surrounding the boy-child are not getting the needed attention ‘and there is a strong need to correct the imbalance in the gender scale.’
She berated cultural inclinations which have downplayed issues affecting the boy-child, and stressed the need to cater for him, saying “even as we commemorate the International Day of the Girl-Child every October 11, we believe that the interests, welfare and well-being of the boy-child should be factored into the scheme of affairs.”
Continuing, she added: “By the nature and perception of the boy-child as being strong and resilient, the society tends to pay little or no attention to issues affecting male children. The ‘Boy-Child Initiative’ is thus aimed at focusing the searchlight on the challenges that boys silently contend with, and proffer workable as well as actionable solutions. This initiative is simply about inclusion and ensuring that no members or strata of the society are left behind.
“Objectives of the Boy-Child Initiative are to raise awareness on the rights and welfare of the boy-child; promote educational opportunities for male children, especially the indigent; facilitate the rehabilitation of the vulnerable boy-child through referrals, and to build a new generation of transformed male children who will contribute positively to the society.
“In line with the vision of my Office, we intend to take advantage of this initiative to create awareness on what our boys are grappling with, and properly educate them, as well as rehabilitate and engender transformation so that the society can be positively impacted.
“One of the reasons we decided to embark on this initiative is because there are cries that parents, knowingly and unknowingly, are putting so much emphasis and efforts on the girl-child but seem to be forgetting that the boy-child is equally important and we need to strike a balance.
“Even God created Adam and Eve (boy and girl); He didn’t just create Adam; there was a need for Eve. But we keep talking about the girl-child, forgetting that she will end with the boy-child as husband and wife. They will have children and then the cycle starts all over again. The point here is that it has to be balanced,” Mrs. Sanwo-Olu said.
Mrs. Sanwo-Olu also made a case for the United Nations (UN) to fully recognise May 16 as the International Day of the Boy-Child.
“I know there are quite a number of people like me out there pushing for the boy-child initiative. It has not been recognised 100 per cent by the UN but I know with time, when a lot of us push this initiative a little bit more, it will be recognised,” she said.
The target group for the initiative is principally boys from nine to 17 years. The participants have already been selected, both from the formal and informal sectors, across the five administrative divisions of the state, and they will go through a range of activities in the next week.
Other such activities lined up to give the initiative life include sports (table tennis, football); boy bands, walks, counselling, talks, visit historic sites, media literacy and lectures to be facilitated by seasoned professionals and subject-matter experts on a wide range of carefully-selected topics that will interest the boy-child. These would hold between October and May 2022.
Some of the topics which would be facilitated include Security and You, Mental Health, Media Literacy and Responsible Use of Social Media, Counselling, Parenting, Family Values, Civic Responsibility, Entrepreneurship, Career Path Finding, Self-Esteem, Personal Hygiene and Etiquette, among others.
Mrs. Sanwo-Olu added: “Also, we have factored in the interest of parents, especially how to handle training of the boy-child from the home front. Parents from various groups and associations will have the opportunity to listen to the best minds on issues around parenting and the boy-child.
“Boys have emotions; they cry and feel pain. But because they have been conditioned to bottle up so much, they unleash terror on their wives and children when they become men because they cannot cope. So, I think there should also be a Ministry of Men Affairs to cater to such scenarios, a ministry that will identify with them through support groups that can help ease the mental tortures they grew up with.
“The plan is to involve the boy-child in the most remote parts. We will employ the carrot and stick approach to involve those kids who hawk and beg on the street. We will be using this because most of them have been freelance for a long time, and no one controls them. We cannot, therefore, be rigid in our approach and say this is how we want it done,” Mrs. Sanwo-Olu added.
To ensure its sustainability, the initiative will be institutionalised through the Ministries of Education and Youth, Sports and Social Development.
The Project Coordinator of Iyaniwura Children Care Foundation, Mrs. Olajumoke Otitoloju praised Mrs. Sanwo-Olu for taking the step to include the boy-child in the fight for a better society. She advocated the rights of children, especially children with disabilities.
She said: “This initiative is welcome because it is overdue. We have been supporting the girl-child and neglecting the boy-child; forgetting that the girl will one day end up in the boys’ house. It is better if we start training the boys now; teaching them life skills, and making communities understand that the boy-child also needs value and morals.
“When our boys are well informed, it will reduce domestic violence and child abuse. We should enlighten communities more about gender balance and equality. There are certain values and norms the boys don’t understand because they were not taught because of our culture, but as the society grows, we see the lapses in the boys.
“The gender world of masculinity is affecting our boys and making their life miserable; we are not seeing our true sons because of the gender duties/roles associated with/to them. So it’s high time we made the boys understand that the girls should be at par with them; by their side. We should start teaching the boys the values they do not really understand, as well as the life skills in terms of emotional intelligence.
“Yes, boys have emotions, they have feelings, they cry when they are tortured and when they are pained; they sympathise when they feel things are getting out of hands. They should also be able to exhibit the natural phenomenon of human beings–empathy and sympathy. They have it but hide it because of gender and societal masculinity imposed on them.
“I am happy that Mrs Sanwo-Olu has seen the challenges the boys face, that they need to survive, be well informed on their roles and duties so they can act accordingly, and thus help the society grow and develop. This is a welcome idea and I believe it won’t stop on the desk of Mrs. Sanwo-Olu.
“It will not be too much to also have a ministry of men affairs, just as Mrs Sanwo-Olu mentioned. This is because man and woman parent a child, but when we have only the ministry of women affairs, who oversees the affairs of men? They feel pain, they are challenged and go through a lot of emotional torture, but when there is a ministry of men affairs, they can get help instead of abusing their wives, children, girls. This will help society to move forward.
“It’s also good the Federal Government has approved two weeks paternity leave for fathers. This will help them participate in parenting because the man and woman parent a child. We need to forgo old cultural beliefs because culture is dynamic and keeps changing as events unfold.
“This kind of initiative will help the girls and boys move at par in terms of understanding, moral values and life skills, and help society grow and become better,” she said.