FGM Day: Stellar Initiative sensitises Ibadan residents against female circumcision

Worried about the age-long practice of female genital mutilation in Nigeria, a non-government organisation, Stellar initiative has taken an awareness campaign to residents of Alaroro of Aroro town Ibadan land, a suburb in Ibadan, Oyo state, to sensitise the people on the dangers of female circumcision.

The campaign with the theme ‘Her Voice, Her Future: Investing in Survivors-led Movements to End Female Genital Mutilation’ was held at the Baale of Arometa Olopmewa community residence, Ibadan North West Local Government Area, Ibadan.

Speaking at the event on Tuesday, Convener and CEO of the Stellar Initiative on ending violence and harmful practices against women and girls, Sandra Adisa, said female genital mutilation is archaic and does not have any benefit.

She said, “We give glory to God for today’s programmes, we never really expected things to go the way they went, but we show appreciation to this community. The community fro Akinyele, the Baale Aroro and the Baale of Arometa, Oloponmewa. For us to say NO to female genital mutilation and stop the act, we have to imbibe good practices, from other communities, states, and countries.

“For us to do that, we have to build bilateral and multilateral relationships. We have to see how they do it in other communities and bring it to our own so that our girls and women can live a healthy life.

“Female genital mutilation is a violation of women and girls’ rights, and it has to stop, we are praying that hopefully when the next statistics of Oyo state come out, it will be reduced if not entirely eradicated. That is what we are all looking forward to.”

She added, “Stellar initiative, we want to appreciate the host community and look forward to other communities that would want to share in this goodwill with them.”

Adisa also decried the process, saying some of the objects used for the circumcision are not sterilised which poses a health threat. “I want to appeal to all parents to shun the barbaric practice. Let’s stop abusing the rights of our girls and depriving them of their future.”

On his part, Baale (Elite) Oladapo Wasiu Atilola Aare, Ori Ade Alaasa 1. The Baale Alaroro of Aroro town Ibadan land, in his address, commended the team for bringing the awareness campaign to the area, while frowning at the practice, calling on all women in the community to desist from the act.

“So the programme of today as powered by Stellar initiative, Mrs Sandra Adisa, is a well-organised and motivating programme for the community.

“Arometa Olopomewa community is a very wide area because Ibadan is not a town, but a mega city. Once a community is more than 500 people, and in Olopomewa we have many zones and the inhabitants are more than 250,000. This shows that when a programme of this nature comes to a community, it must be effective and as you can see the turnout was very impressive. The chiefs, women and even the younger ones all sacrificed their time.

“Like I said earlier, development is the bone of progress, and any nation that refuses will not progress. So it is a development, and you can see our Baba’s here are very accommodating. We are expecting more of this kind of programme. As of today, there won’t be circumcision of any female child. There are a lot of disadvantages and we don’t want that in our community anymore.

“We believe that with this kind of programme done around the globe, we’ll stop female circumcision before 2030, especially in Ibadan land.”

Also speaking, Representative of the Executive Secretary, Oyo State Primary Health Care Board, Desk Officer FGM and all other harmful practices, Mrs Oluwatoyin Bilikis promised to sustain the awareness in the community.

She emphasised that the act is mostly carried out in hospitals after childbirth.

“This year’s theme is to hear the survivors of FGM. Like I said before now, we need the survivors to come out, lend their voices, and let people know the consequences of FGM. There are so many health risks involved in FGM.

“Oftentimes, the survivors do not always know the health challenges of FGM. But with this kind of intervention we have, with the full support of our governor, Oluwaseyi Makinde, we have been able to identify some survivors and a few of them benefitted from our operations and I know such people will benefit to be better human beings.”

On his part, CDC chairman, Ibadan North West LGA, Elder John Kolawole Dunmoye appreciated the efforts of the Stellar initiative and also urged residents, especially women and children to desist from the practice.