Oyo Restates Commitment to Ending Female Genital Mutilation

Kemi Olaitan in Ibadan 

The Oyo State government has restated its commitment to do all within its power to end Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in the state, assuring of its zero tolerance to the dangerous culture of mutilating girls. 

The state Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Barrister Abdulrahman Abdulraheem, gave the commitment while presenting prizes to winners of the essay competition organized to  educate secondary students in the state on the issues of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) and its laws by a non-governmental organization, HACEY Health Initiative.

The award ceremony which was held at the Conference Room of the state’s Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, saw five students from five secondary schools in the state, winning prizes for their performance in the essay competition.

Abdulraheem who lauded the students for making the state proud as they lived up to the state’s appellation as pace setter,  said the administration of Governor Seyi Makinde, had put in place many efforts to eradicate FGM in the state, stating that it was very important to put the eradication of the harmful practice at the forefront.

He said, “I thank you young ones for making us proud because when you go through the rigorous process adopted by Hacey, you will know that it is not just by a stroke of luck nor by manipulation but by hard work and when I saw the schools that are being represented here, they are among the best in Oyo State.

“I also thank God for this and I thank Hacey for trying to change the narrative. When we were young, FGM was just like a common practice that was seen as normal not until when we were growing and we were made to understand that it is not a proper procedure. We would continue to collaborate with you to end FGM in the state.”

The representative of Hacey at the ceremony, Mr. Bamidele Oyewunmi, in his remarks,  said the essay competition was in commemoration of the international day for zero tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation, noting that over 1,000 entries were received from Oyo, Osun and Ekiti states respectively and that the best five picked including the overall best came from Oyo State.

He added that young people are now more informed about ways to end female genital mutilation as they have more knowledge about laws and policies, stating that the students who participated in the competition wrote on  how to end FGM in their community and state.

According to him, “Hacey Initiative is a developmental organization focused on improving the health and productivity of women and girls in our communities. One of our priority and major interventions is this “Stop Cut” project to ensure that every woman in Southwest Nigeria is free from female genital mutilation.”

The overall best student, Miss Elizabeth Awolowo, from God’s Blessing Private School, Ibadan, said she wanted her voice to be heard across Nigeria that FGM is evil and that women and girls should be saved from diseases and death because the loss of a woman is the loss of the world.

Other winners include Ayotomiwa Ogunleye, from Wesley College of Science; Oluwatobiloba Omolaja, Eleyele Secondary School; Nuraeen Ajibike, Government College and Faith Ode, Oba Akinyele Memorial High School. 
The students were all presented with gifts while the overall best was presented with a cash gift of N50,000 and a brand new laptop.