Lifestyle

IWD: Expert Salutes Women’s Commitment at Building Bias-Free Society

By Web News 714

A child and women rights advocate, Mrs Ibukunoluwa Otesile has encouraged Nigerian women to keep striving to make a positive impact in society.

Mrs Otesile who is the executive director, Hope for Second Chance Foundation, HOSEC made this known while speaking with newsmen on the occasion of this year’s International Women’s Day.

While saluting the courage, strength and resilience of every Nigerian woman at building a society free of bias and inequality, Mrs Otesile urged them to continue to speak up on their rights.

She also appealed to all stakeholders to ensure women are protected and respected not just as women but first as humans.

“I call on all women to keep the fire burning, I call on all men to support what is right, just and fair, I call on all children to change the narrative and break the bias!” She said.

Speaking on this year’s theme of International Women’s Day, Equality today for tomorrow, Mrs Otesile condemned female genital mutilation, forced marriage, and any form of violence against women.

She added that since the world is not only for either men or women, both genders should compliment each other.

Mosope Kehinde

Lifestyle

Stakeholders Clamour For Improved Protection Of The Girl-Child

By Web News 520

For the girl-child to become a tool for the change the society desires, there must be deliberate efforts at protecting and giving them proper training.

A child rights advocate and executive director, Hope For Second Chance Foundation, HOSEC, Mrs. Ibukunoluwa Otesile made this known at a press conference to mark the 2021 International Day of the Girl-child.

Mrs. Otesile who expressed displeasure at the level of gender discrimination in the country, identified sexual abuse, denial of right to education, child marriage and female genital mutilation as some of the problems that are still challenging the existence of the girl-child.

She said statistics has shown that, one out of every six girls are likely to experience one form of sexual violence or the other before they clock sixteen years.

Speaking on the theme of this year’s international day of the Girl-child, “Digital Generation; Our generation”, Mrs. Otesile said there was the need to involve the girl-child, more in the Information and Communication Technology sector.

She said their involvement should therefore be done with a high sense of responsibility and caution for them not to be exposed to the negatives online.

Mrs. Otesile challenged members of the public to rise up and unanimously speak against sexual violence in the country.

Also speaking, Coordinator, Oyo State Sexual & Gender Violence Based Response Team, Ministry of Justice, Mrs. Dupe Awosemusi said that government has provided necessary machinery in terms of legal framework to achieve a better society.

She emphasized that all attention should not be centred on girl-child alone, rather clamoured for balanced training for both the girl and boy-child to ensure even society.

Mrs. Awosemusi said the state has within past one year filed over sixty cases of sexual violence against girls in the high court and family court.

Chairman, Advisory Council of Hope for Second Chance Foundation (HOSEC),Mr. Olajide Adesina, called for more support from government, religious, community leaders and all others relevant stakeholders to make our society better and worth living.

Mosope Kehinde

Crime

Give Ex-Inmates A Second Chance At Life – Correctional Officer

By Web News 1175

The society needs to accept and show love to ex-inmates to prevent them from going back to a criminal life.

This was the submission of participants on Focal Point, a discussion program from the stables of Radio Nigeria Ibadan.

The Public Relations Officer of the Nigeria Correctional Service, Oyo State, Mr. Olanrewaju Anjorin noted that many of the inmates have been reformed and trained while in custody but it is lack of acceptance from the society that usually frustrates them.

Similarly, a social worker with the Hope for Second Chance Foundation, Mrs. Dorcas Babatunde said the many challenges ex-inmates face such as difficulty accessing housing, getting a job or customers make them feel they do not belong to the society. 

Mrs. Babatunde who said there were few numbers of religious and nongovernmental organizations such as PRAWA and OSIWA, supporting ex-inmates, advocated a robust synergy for easy reintegration. 

The discussants stressed that it is what the society give to the ex-inmates that it gets in return hence the need to give them a second chance.

Anthonia Akanji

Education

We need to ensure the protection of children’s rights – Activist

By Web News 752

A child rights advocate and Executive Director, Hope For Second Chance Foundation, HOSEC, Mrs Ibukunoluwa Otesile has advocated the need for members of the public to speak up when the rights of a child is violated. 

Mrs Otesile made the call while speaking with Premier FM in commemoration of this year’s Day of the African child. 

She said it has become important for people to stand up and take action against child molestation, child marriage, parental neglect and Female Genital Mutilation, FGM, for the protection of the rights of the children. 

Mrs Otesile reemphasised the need for children, irrespective of gender to be conscious of the protection of their bodies and report any form of sexual molestation to trusted persons. 

She described the Day of the African Child as an occasion to celebrate and call the attention of relevant authorities to the plights of the children.

To however celebrate children on the day, the child rights advocate distributed a gender protection book to pupils of Humani Alaga High School, Samonda Ibadan.

In the book titled, “The New Game”, tells the story of a boy who was sexually molested by his family’s maid.

Also speaking, Mogaji Derele Lekan-Salami who spoke through Mr Olaoluwa appealed to the children to thrive to make impact in their generation.

Mosope Kehinde

Lifestyle

Stakeholders Highlight Imperative of Sound Child Upbringing

By Web News 537

The need for parents, government, NGOs, social workers, educationist and other relevant agencies to live up to their responsibilities in the proper upbringing of children formed the bases of the third anniversary of Hope for Second Chance Foundation, HOSEC held at Jericho in Ibadan.

The event which attracted child rights activists, government representatives, community development partners and National Orientation Agency highlighted the neglect, sexual assault and violence against Nigerian children and women.

In an address of welcome, the executive director of the foundation, Mrs Ibukunoluwa Otesile said the increasing number of hoodlums in Nigeria was as a result of failed parenting and unconcerned posture of stakeholders to the plight of abandoned children.

In their separate goodwill messages, the Senior Special Adviser to Oyo State Governor on Diaspora Matters Mrs Bolanle Sarumi-Aliyu, Representatives of Oyo State Commissioner Of Education, Aderibigbe Adekunle, State Coordinator of National Orientation Agency, Mrs Folake Ayoola and the Senior Special Adviser to the Governor on Security Matters Mr Fatai Owoseeni, stressed the need for individual homes to imbibe the right values in their children, cultural rejuvenation by all for all children,

The failure of these, according to them, portends great dangers for the nation in the nearest future.

Apart from stage adaptation and the launch of a book titled “cost of silence”, the event also featured cutting of the third anniversary cake of the foundation

Rotimi Famakin