A civil society group, the 100 Women Lobby Group, has said that young girls in secondary schools need “guided exposure” to help them lead in the society.
Chairman of the group, Mrs Felicia Onibon, said this while addressing pressmen following a leadership training organised for female students of the Junior Secondary School, Area 11, in the Garki area of the Federal Capital Territory.
Mrs Onibon explained that it was important to catch the girls young as it concerned leadership, noting that a lot of them could be exposed to negative vices, if their exposure wasn’t managed.
“Many of them need direction. They need someone to guide their exposure, so if you leave them to themselves, they will be exposed to a lot of things, but it may not be things that will improve them positively. So, when we are talking about exposure, we’re talking about girls being able to know there are issues like bribery and corruption, and that it is wrong and then they as children begin to think, how best can we change this? Let them begin to think about how they can improve things.
“Apart from all those things that they see, it is important for us to meet them face-to-face and talk to them. So, these are things that can break the stereotypical ways in which we think. They are smarter than us, because of the kind of exposure that they have, but this exposure has to be managed.
“We know that most of our girls don’t have adequate information, and we know that it’s important for us to catch them young particularly when it comes to leadership. So, we felt that this season, we should use it to inform the children that it’s them we are celebrating and that we shouldn’t leave it to adults alone, that they should use this period to speak out and to also ask questions”.
On the activities of the group, the chairman said the group was directing efforts to children in the urban areas, as much as it had done in the rural areas, adding that the group would continue to work with young people, mostly in the universities, in 2023.
