Ending female genital mutilation: The First Lady’s initiative
SIR: For the first time in a long, long time, Nigerians well and truly have a mother in Oluremi Tinubu, Nigeria’s first lady and wife to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. For all that Nigerians have to say about the office of the first lady, they have always been prepared to ignore their grouse if the occupant is using the office to touch lives.
Since Tinubu was sworn in on May 29, 2023, as Nigeria’s sixth president, the first lady has lent her signature compassion to give the government a human face in Nigeria.
As first lady, she has been available and accessible to Nigerians of all shades and stripes. So far, she has embarked on numerous projects to make life better for Nigerians intervening again and again through the Renewed Hope Initiative to soften the blows for Nigerians as they navigate what is their toughest transition yet since democracy returned to the country in 1999.
The first lady has distributed packages to families across Nigeria to strengthen social security. When devastating floods ripped through Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, reducing lives to wreckage, the first lady was at hand to donate hundreds of millions to affected Nigerians.
She has a particularly soft spot for vulnerable groups in Nigeria who would otherwise be relegated to the shadows. This is most clearly seen in yearly outreach to older Nigerians. During the just concluded yuletide, the first lady distributed about N1.9 billion to older persons across the country.
Now, the first lady is on a mission to end one of the most harmful and harrowing practices known to man — female genital mutilation. According to the World Health Organisation, female genital mutilation comprises all the processes of all the procedures that involve total or partial removal of the external female genitalia or other injuries to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons.
The WHO further reveals that more than 230 million girls and women alive today have undergone female genital mutilation (FGM) in 30 countries in Africa, the Middle East and Asia where FGM is predominantly practised. FGM is mostly carried out on young girls between infancy and age 15 and is a violation of the human rights of girls and women.
According to the WHO, treatment of the health complications of FGM is estimated to cost health systems US$ 1.4 billion per year, a figure expected to rise unless urgent action is taken towards its abandonment.
Apparently, the first lady has made tackling FGM a goal close to her heart. She was at hand to reiterate this in a statement commemorating the International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation, which was held on February 6, 2025.
As harmful and as harrowing as FGM is, it is heartbreaking to see that many girls continue to experience it. Left at the mercy of families and communities steeped in dangerous superstition, these girls are often left with no option but to submit to a life-threatening practice with proven life-long physiological and psychological consequences. This can simply not be allowed to continue.
If Nigeria is to proceed on the path of development, women, and girls must be protected and provided opportunities to thrive. Giving women and girls opportunities to thrive necessarily means discouraging and discontinuing every practice that puts them in grave danger.
Kene Obiezu can be reached via [email protected]
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