From Oluseye Ojo, Ibadan

 

A non-governmental organisation, the Silver Knights Humanitarian Foundation (SKHF), is set to rescue, rehabilitate and empower vulnerable boy-child in the society, following increased cases of sexual harassment, abuse, neglect, and abandonment of vulnerable young boys, many of them unreported due to lack of awareness.

 

The Chairman of SKHF, Chief Gboyega Akin-Deko, made this known in a statement made available to journalists in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, on Tuesday.

 

He stated that ‘The Boy Child Rescue Project’ is targeted at policymakers in government, the media, NGOs, parents and guardians as well as victims, adding that the foundation also aims at educating the community about the importance of providing equal opportunities to all children, regardless of gender.

 

Akin-Deko said: “This situation has become exacerbated because most people mistakenly believe that only girl-children are susceptible and therefore require attention, care and support.

 

“Consequently, many unprotected, uneducated, homeless, neglected and frustrated boy children have taken to the streets, others to outlawed sects and criminal activities, including drug and substance abuse. While some others have become tools in the hands of unconscionable politicians, all of these posing a huge threat to communal health and security.”

 

The SKHF said it had initiated first of a series of interventions among which was plans to organise a roundtable discussion on ‘The Festering Challenge of Vulnerable Boys on the Streets of Ibadan’. The objective, according to him, is to highlight the alarming menace and social consequences of vulnerable street children and discuss remedial policy options and actions required of stakeholders.

 

The SKHF said that programme is also to promote the concept of boy-children protection by articulating and enlightening stakeholders about the rights as well as responsibilities of this vagrant children to the community.

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The programme is scheduled to hold on Wednesday, December 8, 2021 at Conference Hall of Space FM, Liberty Road, Ibadan by 11.00 a.m. prompt. Dr. Owolabi Babalola, a physician, politician and social philosopher would be the lead speaker of the programme to be moderated by Mr. Yomi Layinka, a former Special Adviser to late Governor Abiola Ajimobi.

 

Prof Kehinde Kester of the Faculty of Education, University of Ibadan(UI), Dr. Ibrahim Uthman of Department of Arabic and Islamic Studies, UI, as well as Mrs Yejide Ogundare, Features Editor, Nigerian Tribune, are among discussants that would do justice to the roundtable discussion.

 

The SKHF has also scheduled a leadership and mentorship capacity building series of lectures for students of public schools at the conference centre of Lead City University, Ibadan by 9.00 a.m. on December 13th. The foundation said it would hold a prostate cancer advocacy public lecture on December 15th at the Ibadan Polo Club, Eleyele Road by 4.00 p.m.