By Christian Njoku

Dr Macphalane Ejah, the Country Director, International Training Research and Advocacy Project, says the society has been unfair to the boy child.

Ejah made the statement in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Calabar on Friday in commemoration of the 2025 International Day of the Boy Child (IDBC).

The country director said that recent developmental programmes were no longer targeting to support the boy child.

He said that in the last few years, most developmental programmes had only been targeted to support women and girls.

Ejah said that the society had neglected the boy child and treated them as people created with innate knowledge capable of guiding them correctly.

“For instance, whenever we talk of sexual violation, we believe that only girls can be violated. We forget that boys too can be violated.

“Also, if it takes a male child to violate the girl, why do we assume that the boy child does not need to be taught how to do the right thing?

“The society has left the boy child to work in response to the natural stimulus of his sex organs. This is not fair,” he said.

Ejah further said that it had become auspicious for the society to evolve programmes that would tackle the challenges faced by the boy child.

“Such programmes should also talk about expectations of the boy child, and support mechanisms for his growth,” he said.

Also speaking, Dr Victoria Emah-Emah, the Executive Director, Neighbourhood Carewell Foundation, said that the society should work towards preparing the boys to become better husbands and fathers.

Emah-Emah also expressed concerns that the society had paid more attention to the wellbeing of the girl child and had hugely neglected the boy child.

She said that the future of the society required husbands and fathers that could effectively take care of their homes.

“We cannot have good husbands and fathers if we don’t prepare the boy child for the task ahead,” she said.

Edited by Azubuike Okeh