Don Seeks Equal Attention to Boy, Girl Child

The Director of the Institute of African and Diaspora Studies (IADS), University of Lagos, Prof. Muyiwa Falaiye, has called for equal attention to boys and girls to ensure a safe and secure environment and future for all.

Falaiye, a professor of African Socio-Political Philosophy, stated this recently at the celebration of Black History Month, organised by the institute, with the theme ‘Celebration of the Arts with Focus on Empowering the Boy Child’.

“For this year, we chose the boy child as focus because a lot of us know that so much attention is being paid to the girl child in our society today. All the NGOs and many other stakeholders are all paying attention to our girl child, uplifting and protecting them.

“Now, we have done it to a point that we are beginning to neglect the well-being of the boy child and he is becoming a victim of this excessive attention to the girl child. And the future is that if we are not mindful, the boy child that we neglect today, may become a problem for the girl child, when they are grown up.

“So, we are seizing this opportunity to draw attention to the fact that we need to balance up this attention we are giving to our girl child with that of the boy child, so they may together, grow up loving one another and caring for each other, rather than despising or challenging one another,” he stated.

The director explained that the Black History celebration was one of the institute’s flagship advocacy programmes, with a tripartite mandate of research, which was largely what management of the IADS does, as about 70 per cent of the institute’s activities are directed towards research.

Nine secondary schools across the state participated in the event. They were Queen’s College, Yaba, Dansol High School, Grace High School, Federal Government College, Ijanikin, International School, UNILAG Yaba College of Technology Secondary School, CMS Grammar School and Maryland Comprehensive High School.

The schools competed in various categories of art, such as singing, painting, drama, dancing, and spoken words.

At the end of the competition, Federal Government College Ijanikin came first, while Grace High School and Queen’s College Yaba settled for the second and third positions, respectively.

In his remarks, a research professor at the institute, Dr. Ayo Yusuf, urged the males to embrace the positivities of being a male in Nigeria.

While calling for a balance of attention to both genders, he noted that women today are too empowered, so it could be difficult for them to be submissive and build a good home.