Recently, what I witnessed while walking through the labyrinth of compound roads in Nalende is an open sour in our society. Everybody knows, but nobody cares. It is a pandemic that deserves radical mastectomy before it becomes a Frankenstein monster spreading like wildfire in the slums of Ibadan.
In the past, Civil disorder was said to be the disease of Ibadan. Today, a disease is in vogue.
It has been a few years I walked through the neighborhood roads connecting Alawo, Omitowoju, Oke-Padi, and Abeebi. So, I decided to ‘trek’ through these areas again. It was around 7 PM. I spent forty minutes trekking through these places and observing the saddening scenes.
While walking through these compound roads, I observed teenage girls standing besides men who are old enough to be their parents, some were hanging in dark corners where the light couldn’t reach—along in different hideouts. Darkness is a friend of thief. Thieves love darkness. Some were walking closely with their predators in a coded manner. Most of these girls were in-between the ages of 13-and-15-year-old.
During my walk, I overheard a girl saying, “my phone is with my mum”. Another girl was asking a man she was standing with for money – repeatedly – “Give me money.”
Many of these girls were ignorant of destruction awaiting them at the hands of their predators. Some of them viewed it as a sign of maturity. They wanted to ‘belong’. Some viewed these relationships as a way to extract small amounts of money from men, some of whom were old enough to be their parents.
While I was observing the troubling scenes, I observed some of the girls laughing and giggling with their supposed “ATM”.
In lieu of these troubling scenes, the rate of teenage girls getting pregnant in these areas are sky-rocking and many of them left schools after getting pregnant and end up hawking sachet water after giving birth. Thereby endangering their futures.
This troubling scenes are enough for the state government to empower the institution that is responsible for protecting the girl-child from sexual predators and educate the public about the consequences of engaging in sexual activity with teenagers.
The law is clear regarding sexual relations with teenagers under 18. Ignorance is not an excuse. The Sexual Offences Bill prescribes life imprisonment for anyone who engages in sexual activity with someone under the age of 18 years. The Oyo State Government must enforce this law to protect teenagers from the men of underworld.
Last month, I was at Oje Market, I overhead a young man saying, “I saw a handsome corps member today at the bus stop. If I were him, I would have sex with almost all the girls in the school.” I didn’t hear any of his friends rebuking him. To them, it was fun having sex with teenagers.
Girl-child in these neighborhoods need the presence of Oyo State Government Sexual Offences and Gender Based Violence (SGBV) Response Team in the Ministry of Justice. The employees of this agency must get out of the building.
Although their parents might have failed in their responsibilities, the state government can penalize the predators manipulating the shortcomings of these innocent girls by employing the instruments of the law.
The government must use all the medium of communication to educate the girl children and the public about the sexualization of teenagers.
What I heard, what I saw, and what is happening in these neighborhoods is indeed a troubling scenes. Although the future is unknown, with what i saw these neighborhoods, there will be mass teenagers with burden of motherhood in a decade to come.
Afeez Lasisi ,
lasisiafiz@gmail.com,
08052305667
