United Nations International Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has declared that Ekiti State has the highest incidences of teenage pregnancy in the Southwest region of Nigeria, calling on the government to implement policies that will halt the dangerous trend.
The international agency revealed that the state was also ranked as leading in child marriage among male folks below 18 years.
A UNICEF M4R Specialist, Mrs. Oluwasola Olanipekun, gave the startling disclosure yesterday during a workshop organised for journalists.
The training is organised by UNICEF in partnership with the National Orientation Agency (NOA).
Olanipekun, who flaunted statistics to justify her claims, said: “Verifiable records showed that in Ekiti State, one out of 10 girls gets married before age of 15 and three out of 10 boys get married before 18.”
She described the scenario as a dangerous trend that must be tackled by stakeholders to safeguard the future of the children.
Addressing the gathering, the UNICEF Communication Officer, Blessing Ejiofor, said the importance of data in reporting could not be over emphasised.
According to her, “The objective of the workshop is to share with the media the result of the most recent survey, which would assist them to report and analyze the situation of children and women in the South-west Nigeria in an informed way that would be convincing to the public.
“UNICEF expects journalists to work on data driven stories and reports that highlight challenges faced by children and women in the society.”
Also speaking, the Director of NOA , Lagos State, Dr. Waheed Isola, said the data are being made public, so as to be armed with facts and figures needed about issues affecting children and women in the Southwest.
Isola said doing this will help “the government to formulate the right policies.”
TD
