11th November, 2022
The Honourable Minister of Education,
Federal Ministry of Education,
Federal Secretariat,
Abuja,
Federal Capital Territory.
Dear Hon Minister,
IT IS BAD, JUST BEFORE IT TURNS WORSE: Sexual awareness of children in Nigerian schools
We, at the Civil Society Coalition on Sustainable Development (CSCSD), are constrained to put out our
position on the recent directive about sex education by you, the Hon. Minister in-charge, Mallam Adamu
Adamu in the public space after we have sent same through the official channel. We are aware of the
mode of operation as to how correspondence of this nature works in an average Nigerian public office,
hence the need to get the attention of the Hon. Minister through this medium.
It is very important that we clearly differentiate between sex education and sexual intercourse in such a
way that both will not be confused as the same. As far as we are concerned, education in this regard is
positive therefore, sex education is the correct orientation given to a child in order for him or her to be
guided appropriately about it anywhere, anytime and with whoever. Sex education lays emphasis on
anatomy of their body, the functions, societal expectations, age of responsibility, and implications of their
actions and inactions about sex. In other words, sex education equips a child with the correct knowledge
and values needed to navigate the very difficult world we live in today. Sexual intercourse on the other
hand is the sexual engagement between two persons who should agree to have it. Teaching of the latter
is not the objective of sex education.
Honorable Minister Sir, the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC) will be
able to brief you appropriately if you ask them what the subject synopsis of sex education is. The idea behind it is to open innocent children to the realities of sex around them, the danger that accompanies it and the strategies they need to navigate through any issues if they find themselves at any point in any mist growing up. At least, they are of age to determine if it is what they want or not.
Sir, we live in a world where a father is taking advantage of his daughter, mother having canal knowledge of her own son, priests taking advantage of their congregants, irrespective of age. Why should we at
this point restrict teaching about this make or mar subject to just parents or religious leaders? The
internet and social media we must admit are already exposing them to it, of which sex education in the
school curricula could straighten crooked paths caused by the internet and social media.
This is a time when other climes are already inserting it into their nations orientation agenda. In the
United Kingdom, there is a TV series already blazing the trail titled “Sex Education”. It has won several
awards because of the message it is sending to the populace about sex education. It is not time to limit
it to the parents but all relevant institutions including the school and with the right choice of words.
An average child trusts what the teacher says more than what their parents have to say. We think the
approach, instead of phasing the contribution of the school out of the subject, should be to encourage it
for further deliberations at home as well, while parents are also re-orientated to discuss the subject with
them. An average African parent is too shy to have such conversation with their child (ren). The only
time some parents ever acknowledge that there is something called sexual intercourse is after their child
had gotten married. Sex seems to some children like a mystery.
Sir, an average African man would not discuss anything with their child around sex. Most of us learnt all
that we learnt on our own. The boy child is not tutored on the reason why his penis would go up early in
the morning. The girl child does not understand why her breast develops bigger than her male
counterpart. An average African girl child knows next to nothing about menstrual cycle until her very first
day when she would run to her mother or guardian to tell about the mystery blood in her pants. And
most of the time especially the mothers of the southern decent would say, “the blood means if a boy
should touch you, you would get pregnant”. No further explanation or anything. Most of the girls will go
to school the next day and start avoiding boys only for her to be mistakenly touched by one and discover
she has not gotten pregnant. Then she would believe the mother is only playing on her mind and would
not find her comfortable to talk to anymore. Later on someone else would touch her private part and
since her mother didn’t tell her penetration is wrong at her age, she would give in and refuse to tell
anyone, she would start enjoying it and either come down with sexually transmitted infections or even
get pregnant. The same way the boy child would feel.
Honorable Minister Sir, we have had cases of a 5 year old child trying to explore with another child of
opposite sex not because they have been taught by anyone but because they know their sexual organ
is different and want to test it by putting their organ on each other. If those children had been
appropriately briefed about timing and meaning of responsibility, the negativities and benefits associated
with doing it, it would have gone a long way in shaping their mind towards knowing when they are old
or responsible enough to do it.
You should be aware that your generation and others born before 2000 didn’t get to know anything about
sex until they were caught in one mist or the other. For most within that age bracket, their first experience
was not the one spoken about by their religious leaders or their parents but what they accidentally got to know in the course of exploring on their own, abused by their friends, their siblings, parents or even
their religious leaders. Of which if they had been appropriately equipped with the right information, they
won’t get lost, confused, entangled, or be cajoled into doing it. As you maybe aware Sir, everyone gets
sexually aroused and for a child that is already aware of the implication of every move, he or she would
have resisted any suspected move or raise the alarm. Sir, it may also interest you to bear in mind that
in our religious centers, children are only told not to be involved in sin of all kinds and if at all some talk
about sex it is not with the full details. Some of our priest do not even like to talk about sex in public
because to them, it is unholy to talk about it with a holy mouth.
Therefore, it should not just be the responsibility of the parents and the religious organizations rather, it
should involve every relevant stakeholder because the present situation at the moment is bad, it may
get worse if your directive is adhered to. We respectfully implore you the Honourable Minister of
Education to rescind your order and allow Sex Education in the school curriculum as stated.
Thank you.
Accept the assurances of our highest regards,
*Prof. Olubunmi Ashimolowo,
Chairperson, CSCSD Think Tank
*Rev’d Peter Ishaya Kuzaswat
Secretary, CSCSD Think Tank
