23rd October, 2015
The African Child Liberation Mission (ACLM), an NGO, on Friday urged relevant education authorities to always sensitise young people on dangers of sexual abuse, to reduce the menace.
The Director of the organisation, Miss Titilola Damilola, gave the advice in an address she delivered at the organisation’s maiden awareness campaign held at Government Secondary School (GSS), Karshi, Abuja.
The campaign was organised in collaboration with the 2008 batch of graduands from the school.
She noted regrettably that young people were not sensitised early enough about the dangers of sexual abuse.
“it is germane for relevant education authorities to always sensitise young people on all forms of sexual abuse, to enable them to keep away from it.
“Sexual abuse has become rampant in our society today because there is low level of awareness about the many dangers of indulging in illicit sex.
“If you read the dailies, you will see stories on how a child was molested by an adult, which is wrong and capable of destroying the future of victims.
“Early awareness about sexual abuse in secondary schools will help young people in such environment to make the right decisions and protect their future.”
She, however, promised to partner with education stakeholders and relevant civil society organisations to achieve the goal of on eradicating sexual abuse across the country.
Also speaking, Mr Henry Barnabas, who spoke on behalf of the graduands, identified cultism as another vice that could endanger the future your people, if not addressed.
Barnabas, a lawyer, blamed poor foundational knowledge of young people about what is right or wrong as the cause of youth indulgence in cultism.
“We lost some of our peers to death due to cultism, which is the reason the 2008 graduands are here to sensitise our students against cultism, rape and drug abuse.
“We hope to inculcate the culture of decency in the students to know that vices do not pay, rather, they can mar their dream as tomorrow’s leaders.”
Responding, Mr Mohammad Ibrahim, the Vice Principal (Academics) of the school, expressed gratitude to the organisers of the event, adding that it would trigger behavioural change in the students.
“We have never held such acampaign in our school; I am sure that this sensitisation programme will further contribute towards moulding their character in a positive way,” Ibrahim said.
In a remark, the head boy, Elijah Opise, thanked the organisers for the programme and assured them that the students would imbibe all the advice given to them.
Opise said: “I promise to imbibe the lessons I have learnt here today; to form a positive mindset and to secure a better future for myself.”
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the objective of the Abuja-based NGO is to promote youth development.