The Kwara State Government, in collaboration with Global Hope for Women and Children Foundation (GLOHWOC), has inaugurated Champions’ Clubs in two secondary schools in Ilorin East Local Government Area as part of measures to eradicate Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) and Gender-Based Violence (GBV) in the state.
Inaugurating the clubs at Burhandeen Secondary School, Isale Koko and Okelele Secondary School, in Ilorin recently, the Commissioner for Social Development, Hajia Mariam Nnafatima Imam, PhD, disclosed that the Champions’ Clubs are student-led organisations established to support the state government and other development partners in achieving their collective goals on zero tolerance for FGM and GBV.
The Commissioner said the clubs will help in raising awareness on FGM and offering comprehensive and continuous education on the immediate risks and long-term consequences of engaging in the practice, explaining that periodic education about FGM will enable practitioners to gain better understanding, change their behaviours and ultimately contribute to the total abandonment of the practice.
Hajia Imam charged members of the champions’ clubs to diligently discharge their duties within their various communities and change attitudes and social norms that perpetuate the practice towards eliminating FGM in the state.
The Commissioner who described FGM as barbaric, called for urgent step to curb it, saying the “traditions and misconceptions have subjected our daughters to this injustice, but together we are here to say no more.”
She noted that the current efforts of the state government and development partners, supported by United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), are yielding results, emphasizing that the state government will not relent until the zero practice is realised.
“Sincerely there has been remarkable progress on fight against female genital mutilation since we started campaigns against it, but we still need to do more to reach our target on zero tolerance for the practice,” Hajia Imam stated.
Earlier, the Child Protection Specialist, UNICEF, Dr. Wilfred Mamah, described FGM as a gross violation of child’s rights which could lead to severe physical, psychological and developmental harm on the part of the child.
Dr. Mamah expressed displeasure over Kwara State’s ranking among states where FGM is still practiced in Nigeria, calling for urgent action to end the practice, which he described as a major barrier to development.
He appealed to all the partners on FGM to intensify campaigns against the practice in order to bring about collective abandonment of the practice, pledging the UNICEF’s continued support to the state in its efforts to eradicate FGM.
While giving a report on the FGM campaign in Kwara State so far, the Chief Executive Officer of GLOHWOC, a major partner of the state government on FGM and GBV, Dr. Christy Abayomi-Oluwole, expressed gratitude to UNICEF for its support in the state, saying the gesture will help to challenge harmful traditional practices which the practitioners tied to financial security.
