Child Sexual Abuse On The Increase.

The Executive Director of a Non-Governmental Organisation, Media Concern Initiative-for Women and Children (MEDIACON), Princess Olufemi-Kayode in her speech which was held at Ogba Lagos, said the cases of Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) which the organisation has been monitoring is alarmingly on the increase in Nigeria.

According to Olufemi-Kayode, most often, people who sexually abuse children are those who are familiar to the children. The victims of CSA have in most cases pointed at people who they know, trust and they look up to, as responsible for acts of sexual abuse on them. Such people include immediate family members, neigbours, drivers, house maids, lesson teachers and visiting relatives.

The organisation therefore urges parents and guardians to be on the alert and regularly watch out for strange sexual behaviours in their wards for early detection and appropriate corrective actions if their children are undergoing any form of sexual abuse.

Throwing more light on the consequences of sexually abusing a child, MEDIACON affirms that most children who have been sexually abused exhibit werid and inappropriate sexual behaviours when they grow up. Some begin to visit brothels, while some engage in pornography and prostitution and other deadly vices which have been the ruin of our society today.

Princess Olufemi-Kayode goal is to break the silence about the sexual abuse of children in Nigeria. She raises public awareness and seeks institutional support to meet the needs of abused children and to prevent the long-term effects of abuse from seeping into the health, safety, and productivity of Nigerian society.

Leveraging her position as a public figure, Princess reaches out nationwide through print and television media to children who may be suffering abuse and to family members at a loss about how to address the problem. From practical information such as identifying the non-physical symptoms of abuse to decrying media mishandling of abuse cases, Princess shifts the dialogue away from family stigma towards individual healing. This effort exposes the problem and brings children’s experiences to light. She knows that this shift in perception and behavior is the first step to mitigating the long-term consequences of sexual abuse.

Princess capitalizes on the opportunity to not just expose, but begin to treat and solve the issue of child sexual abuse. She launched a hotline with a national referral network to begin to process and support the groundswell of need. In addition, Princess has developed a crisis center model that completes her vision to focus more skilled attention on the immediate safety and long-term health of sexually abused children. The crisis center will address the need for medical care, emergency shelter, forensic lab work, and the training of competent child mental health professionals. As more sexually abused children begin to speak out and heal thanks to her interventions, Princess is constructing a national network of allies to facilitate the replication of the crisis center model and serve as champions across the country.

First Bank donates to St. Anne’s School.

First Bank of Nigeria Plc’s continuing commitment to corporate social responsibility was reinforced recently when it donated N20 million to St. Anne’s Nursery and Primary School, Kaduna, during the school’s 50th anniversary celebrations.

Dignitaries at the cheque presentation ceremony include former Chief of Army Staff, General Ibrahim Salihu, Monsignor Matthew Hassan Kukah, Senator Isaiah Balat, Mrs. Patrice Yakowa, wife of the Deputy Governor of Kaduna State, and the Catholic Archbishop of Kaduna, Matthew M. Ndagoso.

The cheque presentation was done on behalf of FirstBank’s Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Mr Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, by the Business Development Manager (BDM) for Kaduna, Mr Gimba Ibrahim at the school’s premises in Kakuri, Kaduna South. The GMD/CEO said the donation is line with the Bank’s programme of supporting schools in order to provide the right foundation for tomorrow’s leaders.

The Headmistress of the School, Rev Sister Celestina Agwu said the monies received at the 50th Anniversary celebrations would be used to upgrade the school’s infrastructural facilities most of which have been dilapidated due to age.

St. Anne’s Nursery and Primary school, which is now fifty years old is a flourishing institution which owes it origin to the vision of the Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Apostles (O.L.A). Their keen interest was to cater for the welfare of the local children, especially girls, from the remotest rural areas who had no opportunity to go to school to be educated, and who, if well educated would be able to positively influence the future generations. The O.L.A Sisters, who had already founded Queen of Apostles College and Sacred Heart Teacher Training College, worked tirelessly to bring this vision into reality. The building of the new school, a kitchen, dormitory and a few classroom blocks commenced in 1958. The target was to complete the building that year and start the school fully in 1959. While the construction of the buildings was going on, the first classes commenced in a hall in the Queen of Apostles College, now known as Queen Amina College.In 1959, the school building was completed and the name was carefully chosen, that is ST. ANNE’S. The school moved to its new premises that same year and Rev Sr. Philomena Woulfe became the first Headmistress. It had to be a boarding school because some of the girls came from far remote areas of Jos, Ilorin, Kagoro and other places. A very high standard of education was set. The school soon won a reputation of excellence in academics and was renowned for its extra-curricular activities.