Fayemi Harps on Prevention of Sexual Gender-based Violence

Ugo Aliogo
The Ekiti State, Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, has stressed the need for the federal and state governments to do more to prevent sexual gender-based violence (SGBV), even as he said his administration has zero-tolerance for SGBV.

Fayemi, who disclosed this in Lagos at the weekend, during the launch of the First-biennial Florence Bamidele Makanjuola (FBM) roundtable on Girl-Child Education with the theme: ‘Fixing Girl-Child Education: The Next Frontier,’ said his government doesn’t believe that a boy-child should have a life of privilege to the detriment of a girl-child.

He also said as part of measures to protect the interest of the girl-child, especially in the area of education, his government runs free and compulsory qualitative education right up to senior secondary school level.

According to him, hid state was the first to have an open register on rapists in the country, which he said was now norm in a number of other places.

“We are the state with the first sexual assault referral centres in the country, we are the state that set up the first law on gender-based violence and we go beyond just law and its enforcement to empowerment.

“It is you saying a girl should not be raped if you don’t create opportunities for the girl to live a life of worth she will become, but dependent on somebody who takes advantage of her because of poverty.

“We see that all around us, so we must also ensure that there are structures and systems in place to empower girls, and am not just talking of empowerment in the tokenistic version that we do, am talking about investment in the future of our girl children,” he noted.

Fayemi charged the people to emulate the lifestyle of Late Florence Makanjuola, who he said was an epitome of kindness and love, while charging everyone to try and live a life of service and sacrifice, “in our own little way it doesn’t have to be a humongous contribution.”

He added: “Giving is about conviction and about transformation. It is about how do we make a difference in the lives of people around us, in our neighbourhood, community, workplace and mama gave of her time.

“Mama Florence Makanjuola gave of her skills, she gave all her enormous opportunities in the church, in the community, to our children both nuclear and extended and to our profession, because we should also give to our profession.”