Surulere Inner Wheel Club celebrates girls in Lagos

Isa Isawade

The Inner Wheel Club of Surulere on Friday in Lagos marked the year 2022 International Day of the Girl Child with lectures and gifts donated to students of the New Era Girls Secondary School.

The first guest speaker, Dr (Mrs) Bola Balogun, in her lecture defined the girl child as a “biological female offspring from birth to 18 years of age”.

She listed the rights of the girl child to include safety; education; health; right to own property; right to vote and be voted for; right to earn a fair wage; right to enter into legal contracts, and equal rights within the family, adding that society should also protect the girl child from any forms of violence, slavery and discrimination.

Dr Balogun encouraged the New Era girls to build in themselves a sense of self-worth, know their rights and claim those rights as they grew into womanhood.

She told the students: “Understanding your rights now will enable you to grow into strong, confident women who take their destiny into their own hands. The essence of the speeches we give on a day like this is to nurture you and point you in the direction that would help you to understand your self-worth and empower you as tomorrow’s workers, mothers, entrepreneurs, mentors, household heads and political leaders.

“When you are sufficiently empowered, you will take ownership of your future and add value to your generation. When the girl child knows her rights and is driven, she will break barriers and stereotypes and contribute equally to solving global issues like climate change, disease prevention and developing digital solutions to solve global challenges.”

She called for attitudinal change in the way our society treats the girl child in order to enable her to attain her full potential.

Balogun also appealed to the club to use its platform to stop sexual harassment in Yaba Market in Lagos where she said male traders were fond of harassing female shoppers.

The second guest speaker who is a paediatric nurse from the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Mrs Irabor emphasized the importance of hygiene, most especially, regular hand washing.

She informed the audience that strict adherence to regular hand washing practice is an antidote to many diseases and also the sine qua non to healthy living.

She urged all to wash hands with soap and water after using the toilet, before touching food items in the kitchen, before and after eating and before touching mouth, nose and eyes. Complying with this, she said would guarantee good and enduring health.

President of the Surulere Inner Wheel Club, District 911, IWM Risikatu Osomo enjoined the students to build a sense of worth and confidence in themselves, adding that the girl child is beautiful and priceless.

She announced to a jubilant audience that the New Era Girls Secondary School has formed the school’s branch of the club. She welcomed the students to the club and assured the school of continued support of the club.

The high point of the event was the donation of cleaning items and other gifts to the students and guests at the occasion.

The very elated Principal of the school, Mrs Adeniran commended the club for always showing love and concern to the school girls.

According to her, “I’m so happy and appreciate the fact that they always remember these girls. They always remember that the girl child needs protection; that the girl child needs attention; that the girl child needs to be educated; that the girl child of today will grow to be a mother tomorrow. They consider it important to impart this knowledge into them that they need to take care of themselves, keep themselves and never to look down on themselves. I’m so happy that they came today and my girls too are happy. They now know their worth. If they had been thinking that they were just girls and were worthless, today they have come to realize that they are worthy and can be great women tomorrow.”

She advised other organisations in the country to emulate the Surulere Inner Wheel Club by reaching out to other girls.

Other important personalities who graced the occasion include IWM Olufolakemi Ajayi, District Chairperson; IWM Abosede Agbelusi; Mrs Adenike Bankole, President of New Era Girls Secondary School, Lagos Alumni Association (NEGSSLA-A) among others.

The International Day of the Girl Child is celebrated globally on the 11th of October every year.