Elevate her raises awareness on peer pressure, abuse, promotes mentorship among girls

With peer pressure among young people being one of the negative vices affecting their journey in life, a not-for-profit organisation, Elevate Her Africa, was launched in Nigeria to provide mentorship, empowerment and entrepreneurial services to young girls.

Speaking at an informal launch held recently at Freedom Park, Victoria Island, Lagos, founder, Elevate Her Africa, Ebony King said the organisation is poised to raise awareness on Peer-To-Peer abuse, educate and empower young people.

Since its establishment in 2019 from Elevate Her UK, King is set to replicate the change she has been effecting outside the shores of Africa. “The reason we are doing this now is because I have spoken to a lot of young people in Nigeria and they told me the state of things here. I run a youth safety campaign in the UK and when it was featured in the BBC, I got people who told me they needed me to come home and replicate it.

“We talk about mental and physical health as it is needed, especially after the incident of the Chrisland student who was exploited by her male classmates in Dubai and so I know it is time for me to speak up.”

The youth advocate and accredited mental health first aider noted that being a teenage mum who was born and bred in the UK, of Nigerian descent, she was confronted with stigma and negativity instead of support.
“People looked down on me and so I told myself, when I am older and able, I want to support other young girls.

“We are giving mentoring sessions, empowerment workshops to improve employability skills and promote entrepreneurship. We will teach them first aid, hairdressing, makeup and more. While we teach the girl child, we have also invited male students to listen so they can be aware of how to respect each other’s boundaries.”

Also speaking, the CEO, Elevate Her Africa, Erelu Oluwaseyi Michaels, said, “We are focused on girls between ages 16-25. What we hope to continue doing is visiting young girls, who are about leaving secondary school to mentor them on channeling their life path appropriately.

“So, we want to ensure that we give them listening ears, support them with basic skills because we are in a society where unemployment is high in order that they can develop and have basic skills for themselves.”

This event also featured spoken words presentation, motivational speeches from guests, a drama piece on peer-to-peer abuse and fundraising raffle.