Available data from the National HIV/AIDS and Reproductive Health Survey (NARHS) 2014 say, the median age for sex debut in Nigeria is 17 years. The data also shows that there was initiation of sexual intercourse sometimes at the age of 10. “Most sexually active adolescents do not practice contraception,” the NARHS data says.
For young people, the decision they make about their sexuality can impact their health and well-being for the rest of their lives.
These youths have the right to lead healthy lives and the society has the responsibility to prepare young people by providing them with comprehensive sexual health education that gives the tools they need to make healthy decisions.
However, it is not enough for programs to include discussions of abstinence and contraception to help young people avoid unintended pregnancy or disease as sexual health education should cover a range of topics throughout the student’s grade levels.
To equip young people with the right information in making better decisions concerning their sexuality, the Lagos state government recently Launched two policy documents to that effect.
The documents; “Dissemination of The Strategic Implementation Framework For The Lagos State Youth Policy and Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) Curriculum and Teaching Manual” will guide young people in decisions around their sexuality.
Speaking about these documents, the Honourable Commissioner, Ministry of Youth and Social Development, Lagos state, Mr. Segun Dawodu said, “the Strategic Framework is an accompanying document of the Lagos State Youth Policy. This document outlines the range of activities necessary to translate the Youth Policy signed in 2006 into feasible programmes and projects for the overall achievement of the policy’s goals.
“Specifically, it is intended to translate the policy into action through a focus on key strategy areas, goals, objectives, activities and verifiable outcomes.”
He said, “as this policy may be well structured, the health and wellbeing of young people in the state is also significant in order for them to reach their potentials.”
Dawodu added that adolescents and young people are a vulnerable segment of the population susceptible to violence, abuse, exploitation and harmful health consequences due to poor sexual and reproductive health decisions.
The Commissioner however listed the factors responsible for poor health status of adolescents and young people in Nigeria as follows: inadequate access to health information and services; poverty and inequitable gender norm; conservative social norms as contributing to a lack of knowledge and awareness about puberty; sexuality, and basic human rights, which have been shown to endanger the health and welfare of young people.
He also said that the
Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) is a cross-cutting issue, a strategy for adolescents to survive, thrive and flourish in the era of globalization, adding that it is a component of political agendas as well as deliverables to citizens in Lagos state.
He stated, “sexuality is a fundamental aspect of human life. Sexual and Reproductive health issues has a direct link with the development and wellbeing of a young person, thus it is important to address these issues particularly for young persons in non-formal vocational training who may have missed out on formal education.”
He added that the curriculum and teaching manual presented for dissemination, has been developed to enlighten the youths in non-formal vocational institutions especially on sexual health, rights and issues.
He further said the implementation of the CSE curriculum will provide access to adequate and correct information for young people, improving their ability to make informed decisions about their own sexual and reproductive lives, as well as exercise their sexual and reproductive rights.
Dawodu pointed that the curriculum is structured in a way that it provides a framework for the acquisition of knowledge of self and family living across the life-course and spread around the following thematic areas: Human development, Sexual health, Relationship, Sexual behaviour, Society and culture.
Earlier in her speech, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Youth and Social Development, Mrs Yewande Falugba said the purpose of sexuality education curriculum is to support young people that are out of school to gain knowledge, attitudes, skills and values to make appropriate and healthy choices in their sexual behavior.
This will prevent them from sexually transmitted infections, including HIV and Aids, teenage or unwanted pregnancies, and from domestic and sexual violence, Falugba said.
This document, according to her, will assist all stakeholders to address the issue of youth development holistically and emphasize the need for all MDAs to give youth issues a priority and critically consider youth, give them priority in programme planning as well as make adequate budgetary allocation for this important segment of the population who are bedrock of our nation.
Also speaking at the event, a former member of the youth parliament and Chairman of Education and Culture, Mr Ibrahim Oladimeji said, “these documents is what we have been agitating for as it is believed that a Nation that wants to have a good frame work for its youths movement, must be able to put up sustainable policies that will support the future of its young people.”
Oladimeji however added, “we are happy, this policy caters for all the aspect of Lagos state where youth inclusion is very important. In terms of sexuality education, young people need to know about their sexuality. They need to be built in some skills that will enable them make some decisions about their sexuality right. It is important that youths get the right information, training, education that will help them develop their cognitive skills.”
For the Youth Program Officer, Nigeria Urban Reproductive Health Initiative, (NURHI) project, Bless-me Oluwatobiloba Ajani, is of the opinion that the policy launch came at a time when there is urgent need to pay proper attention to the adolescents and youths sexual reproductive health in Lagos state.
Ajani added that, “having these policies proves that the state is getting serious with its youth implementation policy plan. It shows that, the state has steps it intend to use in implementing the plan.
“Hopefully by 2021, we would be able to look back and evaluate how far we have gone with the implementation of the policy. The beautiful part of these policies is that, there was meaningful engagement of young people in the drafting of the policy. I was part of the draft as well as other young people in every step.”
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