Legal practitioner and the Chief Executive Officer of NGX Regulation Ltd, Tinuade Awe, has said the only way to reduce the growing spate of domestic violence, ritual killings, and social decadence is to ensure the boy child is properly raised and guided.
Awe gave the advice on Sunday while delivering her address entitled “Whither the Boy Child” at the 27th annual distinguished lecture and luncheon of the House of Lords, Ibadan, Nigeria.
She pointed out that the lack of proper guidance for the male child as compared to the female child has led to the growth of illicit behaviours among the boy child. Awe argued that if the boy child gets the same attention and care as the female child most of these unpleasant traits would be curbed.
She said, “The point I need to underscore is that we focus a lot of time on the girl child, we focus a lot of time on letting her know that her life is not for her alone, that there are expectations of her in the family, in society and that she has obligations to fulfil.
“On the contrary, our boys generally tend to be raised with a much lighter touch, especially in the earlier years. We are falling behind on the boy child in the home. Outside the home, there are a number of organisations that deal with social issues relating to the boy child and male youths but they pale in number, impact and access to funding in comparison to those addressing issues with the girl child.
“The way in which we raise boys can have terrible consequences for leadership at all levels, especially at this time when Nigeria is battling with a lot of political, religious and ethnic issues.
“Additionally, we are doing a disservice to the boy child and society at large by not doing more at home and in the society to ensure that they are not left to figure things out themselves at critical junctures in their life journey. And, we see the evidence of our collective neglect all-around socially, economically, and otherwise.”
Awe further credited the growing number of youths engaging in cyber fraud to negligence on the part of their parents. She bemoaned the contribution some guardians play in encouraging the male child to carry out this nefarious act.
Awe called on the distinguished organisation to partner with law enforcement agencies in curbing the spread of this issue among the youths.
She said: “The Internet fraudsters, started in Ibadan circa early 2000 when some undergraduates in tertiary institutions in and around the city started sending love scam messages on dating sites and compromised foreign electronic mail addresses.
“These youths used the available cyber cafe centres in the city as bases to commit crimes. However, with advancements in technology especially in telecommunications, they have upgraded to new tricks and modus operandi. And, Yahoo-Yahoo has now spread beyond this category of people to others, including young boys in our secondary schools.
“Do you know that we now have Associations of Yahoo-Yahoo Boys’ Mothers? Do you know that some parents encourage the act by opening Current Accounts for these boys in the
banks; consulting spiritual experts to fortify them against the security agencies and in order to get more clients? Do you know that these boys now recruit ladies into the act?
“l ask again, What are our boys seeing? Who is raising our boys? Distinguished members of the House of Lords I ask you to consider partnering with law enforcement to rid the growing menace of Yahoo-Yahoo and Yahoo+ in Ibadan.
“Also, I charge you to consider creating an institute or formal mentoring program for young boys and youths, to act as a guide for our young ones and combat the growing menace disturbing our society.”
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