By Godwin Oritse

A group,Tarmac Initiative (a boy child advocacy and support group) said more societal investment in the boy child will not only save boy child social abuse but help them to grow into functional adulthood.

Speaking at a school outreach event to celebrate the International Day of the Boy Child, held at Idi Araba School Complex, Lagos, Tosin Mogbadunade, Founder of Tarmac, a Non-Governmental Organization, NGO, said that one out of six boy child experience some form of sexual abuse before adulthood adding that the boy child faces a lot social ills which impact on them negatively.

Mogbadunade also said that there has been a drop in societal investment in the boy child and called for stronger collaboration and partnerships between the public and private sector to correct the anomaly.
She said: “Although the big child is not at risk of teenage pregnancy, approximately 1 in 6 boy child experience some form of sexual abuse before adulthood globally. “From substance abuse and to facing a myriad of social ills that impact them as individuals and the collective, a development that brings about a dysfunctional of society.

“As society’s investment in boys dwindles, we must rely on initiatives and partnerships between NGOs, private and public sectors to invest in our boys.”

Mogbadunade commended participants at programne and called on individuals and corporate organisations to support Tarmac Initiative and PlannedPath Consults as they scale up effort to reach out to boys and girls in other parts of Lagos in the coming months.

Similarly, Rasheed Jimoh, Educator at Idi-Araba Senior High School and Founder at Grade Edge Academy (a STEM Education Initiative in Mushin),the outreach was timely to ensure vulnerable boys were protected from societal ills before they grow into irresponsible adulthood to the detriment of society.