Wife of Lagos State Governor Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu has stressed the need for access to quality education by vulnerable male children.
She said the growing neglect of the boy-child could adversely affect their wellbeing and threaten their future.
The governor’s wife stated this at a three-day residential workshop on “Awakening The Boy Child Towards Becoming A Change Agent” organized by the Lagos Boy Child Initiative of the Office of the First Lady of Lagos State.
Fielding questions from newsmen at the residential workshop held in Lagos Model College, Meiran, Mrs. Sanwo-Olu said the main objective of the Lagos Boy Child Initiative is to raise awareness on the rights and welfare of the boy child.
She said, ‘’We have realised that there has been a lot of attention on the girl child; we have also realized that the girl-child, most of the time, will end up in a place where there are going to be men and some of them will end up being married and be involved with the boy child, we are here to put more emphasis on the boy child. This is the Lagos Boy Child Initiative.’’
She added, ‘’The second opportunity is to promote educational opportunities to male children, especially the indigent. We have discovered from our research that some boys have been deprived from going to school because of some financial constraints in the family circles.
‘’We want to change that narrative that the boy child needs that available opportunity to be well educated. We are glad that the Lagos State government and other state governments are encouraging education to a certain level, so we are buttressing that point.’’
“The third objective is to facilitate the rehabilitation of the vulnerable boy child through referrals. There are a lot of children out there, especially the boy child who, by no reason of being victims of circumstances, end up on the streets; these children are vulnerable.
This is another cadre of people out there is ready to capture them if other people are not ready to take care of their wards.’’
The governor’s wife added that the fourth objective is to build a new generation of transformed male children who will contribute positively to society, saying there is an erroneous impression out there that a lot of male children are into internet fraud or irresponsible that must be corrected.
In his remarks, a member of the Lagos State House of Assembly representing Eti-Osa Constituency 2, Hon. Gbolahan Yishawu, lauded the wife of the Lagos State governor for coming up with the Lagos State Boy Child Initiative. He said that though every child needs to be emphasised, the boy-child, often saddled with enormous responsibilities, must be well groomed and moulded properly.
