By JOSEPHINE IGBINOVIA

She is an indefatigable woman! At age 65, Mrs.Christiana Fadekemi Brodie-Mends (nee Bailey) is still seriously engaging girls in Girls Brigade at the Cathedral Church of Christ in Lagos where she is the Captain. She’s of the opinion that in the early days when children were actively engaged in uniform societies, they were well-mannered than in this generation where they are left idle.

Mrs.Brodie-Mends whose romance with uniform societies dates back to her second year in primary school at age 8, sees no end to her determination to groom young girls. This grandmother who also initiated the inauguration of a  Red Cross Society in her first year at the Anglican Girls Grammar School in Lagos, was recently honoured with a Performance Merit Award by the Cathedral Church of Christ alongside a few others for her contribution to the development of the girlchild.

It would also be recalled that in 2007, Mrs.Brodie-Mends was given a Merit Award for Commitment and Service by the Lagos Chapter of the YWCA.   In a recent chat with Vista Woman, she suggested the need to revive uniform societies so as to  promote character-moulding in young people, and also bothered on the over-complexity of the current procedure for gaining admission into our tertiary institutions of learning. Her words:

Good old days
Things were much more better when we were young because we had very vibrant uniform societies like the Red Cross, Girls Brigade, Boys’ Scout, Girls’ Guild, Man O’ War, etc. that actively engaged us. It’s however sad that things have changed, and young people are left to wonder aimlessly during their free hours. That’s why they now seem to be more daring and violent!

Mrs Brodie-Mends

I could remember how I enrolled as a junior member of the Red Cross Society when they came to my school, Christ Church Cathedral School, when I was in Primary 2 at age eight. Thereon, when I proceeded to the Anglican Girls Grammar School in Surulere, Lagos, I personally initiated the establishment of a Red Cross Society in the school.

I could remember that at weekends when we had nothing doing at home, we would go to the Island Maternity, Polo Club at Falomo, etc. based on listing, to do social work.  We were taught a lot of things and also how to wait to see what is happening whenever we see a crowd, so that we could file reports to the police or for our own use as a group. As a Red Cross member also, you cannot drop a piece of paper on the floor and walk past it. You will be sanctioned!

Responsibility for parents
I do not know if the advent of not using cane is what is making children to be wild or because economic pressure is preventing parents from having a close relationship with their children these days, but I know for sure that the restoration of uniform societies would help restore morals. I however believe parents have a lot to do with this generation, and I strongly feel they’re not being brought up in the way of the Lord from their early age.

Need for life-changing activities
Inspiring programmes are there in churches, and parents could get their children involved in them so that they are not idle. That was why when I became the Captain in the Girls Brigade in my church, Cathedral Church of Christ in Lagos, in 2006, I decided to reinforce life-changing activities in line with our four square programme in Girls Brigade; spiritual, physical, education and service.

Our aim is to mould children and lead them to Christ. We have children from age five to eight who we call ‘Explorers’, age nine to eleven called ‘Junior’, age twelve to fourteen called ‘Senior’ and fifteen to eighteen called ‘Brigadier’.   I believe the sky is the limit for any girl that imbibes our teachings.  As part of our activities, we organise free summer school for children during holidays, organise excursions, vocational skills acquisition, etc.

JAMB, Post-JAMB
One issue that has however been a burden to us is the educational system in the country. This is actually where most girls get themselves mixed-up! During our days, we only had to apply to higher institutions that we wanted to attend, and that was all. But now, JAMB will jam these children, and Post-JAMB too will do its own! It’s frustrating because it puts them in a dilemma and leaves them confused about the next step of their lives!

For instance we presently have two bright girls who have not been able to gain admission into any higher institutions because even when they succeeded in their JAMB, the Post Jamb stood as a problem. That’s a serious issue which I believe Nigerian government has to look into because it is stressing and making young people lose focus! We eventually had to enrol one of the girls in an Accounting School here in Lagos since that’s her course of choice.

We also enrolled the other girl at Home Science Training Centre where she went to learn pastries. I advise that government addresses the issue of JAMB. It is either JAMB is scraped and universities are left alone to conduct their exams, or the Post JAMB is scraped so that children are not made to suffer so much!

Watching over children at school
Another issue that has been a concern to me is the careless attitude of parents towards their children. Parents believe that paying their child’s school is the issue. Therefore, they just give them their school fees and do not even bother to find out how their children fare or behave while at school! This happens mostly in the universities! No child is too big to talk to, and parents must know this.

When my children were still growing up, I ensured I knew about their welfare at every point in time, and I made friends with their teachers and lecturers! We have to grow along with these children as they grow, but more importantly, we have to know how to balance it up. When you are too harsh on them, they run away from you!

Career background
My working life began at the Nigerian External Telecommunications Limited in 1974.  I voluntarily retired from there in 1994 after which I delved into creche teaching.