First Lady of Ekiti State, Dr. Olayemi Oyebanji has said that drastic action must be taken against teenage pregnancy to save the future of the girl child. She said this at a two-day regional summit organised by the New Generation Girls and Women Development Initiative (NIGAWD), concerned with the prevalence of teenage pregnancy, and its effects in the region
The summit, theme: ‘’Halting Teenage Pregnancy and Early Marriage in South-West Nigeria’’, held at Kakanfo Inn and Conference Centre, Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, attracted participants from the ministries of health, education, information, women’s affairs; the office of the First Lady, civil society organisations, academia and the media, across the six states of the Southwest.
The first lady who was represented by the Ekiti State Commissioner for Women’s Affairs and Social Development, Mrs. Peju Babafemi, said there is a need to declare a state of emergency and take action swiftly in the Southwest as the menace affects the future of our teenage girls.
“For us in Ekiti State, we already have some policies on ground, we have the Adolescent Girls’ Initiative for Learning and Empowerment (AGILE), a programme which is providing a safe space for our girls to be in school and the Second Chance Teenage Mothers to come back to school and continue their education. We also provide legal services for teenage girls that are abused to ensure that the offenders are brought to book.
“We are doing all these, working with traditional leaders, religious leaders and community leaders to ensure that our girls are protected and teenage pregnancy is halted. Aside from that, the wife of the governor also has an interface with adolescents, and secondary school students. They see her and other women as their mentors. The issue of girl children’s education is at the heart of governance,” Babafemi said.
In her welcome address, the Executive Director of the organisation, Mrs. Abimbola Aladejare-Salako, said teenage pregnancy is a serious health and justice issue that must not be taken with levity. “Children are our legacies. The scourge of teenage marriage must stop. It is a public health and justice issue. It demands our action. It is a generational and justice issue. It is high time we stopped deceiving ourselves. Let this summit be a catalyst for a transformational journey.
“Over the years, we have treated teenage pregnancy as a personal family issue. We have left teenagers who got pregnant to deal with their misfortune and misbehavior. We have blamed the victims instead of the system. And we felt that it was the high time we took a holistic approach, which largely rooted in community-driven solution coupled with the use of technology to halt teenage pregnancy and child marriage in the southwest Nigeria.”
In her remarks, Oyo State Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Inclusion, Mrs. Toyin Balogun, said all hands must be on deck to stop teenage pregnancy as the high rate of out-of-school children due to teenage pregnancy is alarming. While. Commissioner for Education, Ekiti State, Dr. Olabimpe Aderiye noted that the state is determined to change the narrative, adding that the girl child should not be allowed to lose her future. “We are bringing back the philosophy that says it takes a village to train a child’’.
