…As Prof. Salako identifies adolescence as period children mustn’t be left alone!***
Child marriage and pregnancy are high factors seriously affecting girls from attaining their educational rights, which is Goal 4 of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the UN.
Prof. Abiola Odewole, a Consultant of Pediatric Endocrinology at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), and a Professor at the College of Medicine, University of Lagos, stated this in Lagos.
She spoke at the second symposium of the Committee for the Special Thematic Working Group on Maternal, Neonatal, Children and Women`s Health, UI Research Foundation , in Lagos on Friday.
It had its theme as: “Adolescent Health and Education’’.
According to Odewole, the possibility of an adolescent girl with pregnancy going back to school is low.
“Adolescent pregnancy is high risk for the mother and child because these are the things that disrupt a child from attaining that educational right.
“When a girl gets pregnant, the possibility that the child will go back to school is very low.
“Approximately 3.9 million girls undergo unsafe abortions and half of the pregnancies in persons above 15 years and years 19 years of age in developing regions, are estimated to be unwanted because that right to education has been lost.’’
She added that such actions usually exposed the girls to infections and they become vulnerable because they had missed the information they should have got while in school.
According to her, government and the National Assembly should promulgate laws with stiffer fines for violators of girls and children, that will protect girls and children.
“They should give a stronger fine because the fine given out doesn’t make much impact.
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“But if you rape an underage child, you’re made to serve 10 years, I think it will be a deterrent to people not to just pay N20,000 or something to the child.
“Ensure that this girl child that you’ had raped goes to school after delivery and you pay for her education to whatever level she wants to go.
“By the time they promulgate such penalty, a lot of men will think twice before actually doing things like that,’’ she said.
Also, Ayoade Oduola, Director, University of Ibadan Research Foundation, said that the symposium was organised to get inputs from stakeholders.
He listed them as young people from secondary schools, older people and decision-makers to make progress and save the lives of children.
Oduola, however, said that observing rights of children required the concerted efforts of everyone.
“We cannot have a university sitting on one side, policymakers on one side and the community on another side.
“So, the idea for this strategic working group is to bring everybody together to look at what we are doing right, what we need to do better and how we can progress.
“This is so that these people who represent the future of our nation will have good education, health and access to support that will make them successful.’’
He added that if the children were well-groomed, by the time they are in position of leadership, they will be prepared and be committed not only to the nation but also to themselves to be successful.
Also, Prof. Babatunde Salako, Director-General, Nigerian Institute of Medical Research ( NIMR), said that the University of Ibadan Research Foundation, UNICEF and NIMR jointly organised the symposium.
He said this was because everybody was aware that the youth are the future of tomorrow.
Salako described adolescence as the period between childhood and adulthood where children face many changes.
“It is really a formative period for this group of people, a period when they are exposed to a lot of risks, where they get some freedom at school and they don’t know how to use it.
“They are supposed to know about their rights from the government, parents and their religious circles so that they can have a voice in decisions made on their behalf,’’ he said.
He, however, said that the stage of adolescence is a period where children could not be left alone as they would need parents and teachers to be closer to them.
“They need parents and teachers to listen to them and discuss their issues so that they will be able to prepare for eventualities in relation to their growth within that period,’’ he advised.
