A non-governmental organisation, Boys Quarters Africa has launched a boys club against all forms of gender-based violence in 81 schools.
The club was launched when Boys Quarters Africa hosted 610 male students from five secondary schools in Lagos and over 2,000 boys across Maiduguri, Akure, Yola, Ogun, Enugu, and Ebonyi State to a summit on Thursday to commemorate the International Week for Boy-Child.
The summit was organised in collaboration with the Connected Development across Sub-Sahara Africa as part of the implementation of Project SABI initiative.
The summit also saw experts and speakers talk on the theme “Redefining Masculinity: Raising Boys, Reshaping Men and Transforming Society”.
The keynote speaker and Senior Special Adviser to the President on Education Interventions, Fela Bank-Olemoh, urged the boys to ensure that they don’t give in to social vices on account of being distracted on the path meant for them.
He highlighted the importance of the boy-child shunning the comparison mentality, and instead of working hard and smart on their way to sustainable success.
He said: “Keep your mind on the medal. Do not compare yourself to others, we all have different roles and paths in life.
“Whether you are from a poor background or a rich background, it does not matter. Life has a way of equalizing these things with time. What matters are the principles you play by.
“Don’t compare yourself, focus on your lane. As you grow up, avoid get-rich-quick schemes, it does not work. If you want to make money, you need to work hard in legit ways. Don’t do Yahoo-yahoo, they will catch you, they will lock you up. You cannot have two, or three years of small money, they will catch you.
“Yahoo-yahoo is a get-rich-quick scheme. It won’t get you anywhere. It takes time, but focus. There is a process to life. Work hard, pay the price. We are all paying prices. It is either we pay a price for success or we pray a price for failure. To achieve long and lasting success, you need to work hard and work smart.”
Speaking on the sideline of the event, founder of BQA, Solomon Ayodele, who said the NGO was founded in 2018 as a way to tackle divergent problems in society, added that the definition of masculinity in Africa has been tainted and as such, there is the need to redefine masculinity in a way that promotes the society.
He said: “You hear people talk about boys, talk about men without proffering solutions; so we asked ourselves how can we proffer both immediate and long-term solutions to the different problems we have in the society. It is through engaging boys and also engaging men.
“Being a man is not something you are born into, it is something you earn. Masculinity is not a spontaneous and instantaneous process. It is a continuous remaking of your mind, and because there is a definition of masculinity in Africa, which has been tainted by both our culture, our religion and our society, it is important for us to now start to redefine what masculinity is.
“For example, in this part of the world, we believe that leadership is synonymous with masculinity. People must understand that leadership is not determined by your gender nor your genitals I would say that masculinity and being a boy is a journey and a process.”
Also speaking, the founder of Connected Development and a partner on implementing ProjectSABI, Mallam Hamzat Lawal noted the solution-tailored efforts his initiative has been making to mitigate sexual and gender-based violence, stating that a sustainable solution to such is via focusing on the perpetrators.
He said that society needs to come together to ensure that it raises responsible men that will do no harm to women in the society.
Those in attendance include Mr AbdulAzeez from Voice (Oxfam in Nigeria), the Permanent Secretary of Lagos State Ministry of Education, and the Lagos State Commissioner for Youth and Social Works among others.
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