NGO Tackles Female Genital Mutilation on Football pitch

A non-governmental organisation, Onelife Initiative, with support from its partner, YouthHub Africa, through the UNFPA-UNICEF Joint Program for the Elimination of Female Genital Mutilation is creating awareness and sensitising young men to get involved in the campaign to End Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in Oyo State.

This is part of activities to commemorate this year’s 16 Days of Activism.

The two-day football competition which featured four teams from the Department of Civil Engineering at The Polytechnic, Ibadan, held on 24th and 25th of November, 2023.

Speaking at the event, Muyiwa Oladoja, who represented the Executive Secretary of the Oyo State Agency for Youth Development, complimented Onelife Initiative and YouthHub Africa for their dedication in complementing the Oyo State government’s initiatives to educate youth, stakeholders, and the community at large about the imperative need to eradicate FGM.

The President, Nigerian Institution of Civil Engineers Students Affiliate (NICESA), Christopher Abimbola, in his welcome address was grateful for the partnership and implored all present to advocate against the practice as it should not be allowed in society any longer.

On his part, the Director, Child Welfare, Oyo State Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Inclusion, Gbemileke Ojerinde, noted the timeliness of the football initiative and ​​acknowledged previous collaborative efforts between the state government, development partners, and stakeholders to eradicate the practice, despite persistent occurrences.

Female Genital Mutilation refers to all procedures involving the partial or total removal of external female genitalia for non-medical reasons.

Type 1 called clitoridectomy is most practised in Oyo state and the south western part of the country, it involves the partial or total removal of the clitoris.

The football competition featured matches between Nice-SA FC and Civil Boys FC, with Nice-SA FC emerging victorious by one goal.

The second match was between Construction FC and Steel FC, which ended in a penalty shootout with Steel FC stealing victory.

The final match between Nice-SA FC and Steel FC was goalless and the winner was decided on penalty grounds. Nice-SA FC emerged victors winning the N50,000 cash prize while the first and second runner up went away with N30,000 and N20,000 respectively.

The Deputy Director, Oyo State Ministry of Women Affairs, Igein Ibironke, and Muyiwa Oladoja from the Youth Agency presented medals to the team. Igein shared the personal experience of how she escaped being cut as a child.

Executive Director of Onelife Initiative, ‘Sola Fagorusi, in his closing remarks, reiterated that the focus on males at the event was because they will grow up to be fathers and head of homes, and they should be able to speak up against FGM in their homes then and now — with the overarching message from the competition being to kick out FGM from Oyo.