‘Why boy child reorientation as important as girl child emphasis’

With a lot of attention being paid to girl child education and sensitization, some non-governmental organisations have stressed the need for the same attention to be given to the boy child in the overall interest of having a better society.

This imperative was identified at a boot camp for boys organised by the Hope For Second Chance Foundation (HOSEC) in conjunction with the Ayo Fatokun Foundation, Uncle Sele, and Better Men Initiative, held at Ibadan Boys High School, Oke Bola, Ibadan.

Leading the charge, executive director of HOSEC, Mrs Ibukunoluwa Otesile, said that for the desired adherence to good societal values, both male and female genders must be given attention.

She stressed that both genders must get equal attention in terms of education and the acquisition of behavioural and leadership skills.

Otesile said there would be an imbalance not in the interest of society if there were well-informed and sensitised females while the males lacked the right orientation.

For too long, she noted that the efforts of non-governmental organisations had been focused on the girl child, leaving the boy child to sort things out themselves.

She warned that the danger of having a poor orientation in the boy child was that even the well-sensitised girl child tends to fall victim to societal order.

Otesile said: “One of our areas of focus at HOSEC for the year 2023 is to give attention to the boy child because we do not want to solve one problem and then create another problem.

Attention is now given to the girl child, which is necessary; however, we must not ignore or neglect the boys so that we don’t have the same problem we are having with the girls with the boys.”

The boot camp saw no fewer than 50 students of public secondary schools in Ibadan, aged between 13 and 16, participate in intensive boot camp activities.

The boot camp saw the boys go through intense leadership and life coaching, vocational skill acquisition, drills, sports, technology, and talent discovery.

She stressed that child protection should be everybody’s business, calling on all relevant stakeholders to synergise to make sure teenage boys turn out better men.

Otesile, however, decried that nongovernmental organisations consistently faced the challenge of funding in their quest to reach out to more vulnerable groups in society.

Otesile added: “For instance, we had over fifty boys in the boot camp, and you know boys eat, so we have to make sure that sufficient food is available. Funding for that was a major challenge for us.

We had a pool of volunteers who were experts in their different fields and were available to provide the technical support that we needed.

“Parents were open to this initiative, so we didn’t have problems having parents release their children, maybe because HOSEC has been working in these schools for a while.

Some of the children that participated in this boot camp have been participating in HOSEC activities at different levels.”

Other facilitators said the boot camp was also intended to make the boys pre-educators who will transfer the knowledge gathered at the camp to their colleagues when they get back to their respective schools.

Speaking, two of the beneficiaries, Johnson Ebube and Dally Folahanmi, described their experiences at the camp as inspiring, educative, and tasking.

They particularly noted that the training on self-esteem, emotional intelligence, gender relationships, and leadership were major aspects that would guide them through their life experiences.

YOU SHOULD NOT MISS THESE HEADLINES FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE

VIDEO: Alema of Warri buys customised 2023 Maybach for wife, Natasha

Chief Emmanuel Uduaghan, the Alema of Warri Kingdom, in Delta, has bought a new vehicle worth millions of…

Call on God to kill me if … — Pastor Adeboye

Pastor Enoch Adejare Adeboye, the general overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, has said to call on God to kill him if…

Military rejects requests to topple Tinubu’s Government — DHQ

The Armed Forces of Nigeria, AFN, has rejected requests by Coup instigators to topple the democratically elected Government of…

Petrol pump price may jump to N750/litre — IPMAN

The association’s national spokesperson, Mr. Chinedu Ukadike gave the hint while speaking to…

#BBNaijaAllstars: Food crisis looms as housemates lose weekly wager

Big Brother Naija All stars Housemates have lost the first Wager task, which means for the next week, there will be…

Heavyweight bout: Anthony Joshua knocks out Robert Helenius in seventh round

Robert Helenius was defeated by Anthony Joshua at the O2 Arena in London on Saturday after..