The Governor of Osun state Gov. Rauf Aregbesola has called
on government at all levels to work towards total eradication of female genital
mutilation in the country.
This call was made by the Governor at a Forum on Female
Genital Mutilation organised by United Nations Fund for Population
Activities(UNFPA), in collaboration with Shericare Foundation in Osogbo on
Tuesday.
The governor commended former President Goodluck Jonathan
for signing the Act prohibiting female genital mutilation in Nigeria.
According to Aregbesola, female genital mutilation is a bad
practice borne out of primitive idea to continually dominate females in the
society which must be stopped by all Nigerians.
“Everybody must work hard to ensure that the practice is
done away with. Besides the damage it has done to women, it has created health
challenges like acute urinary retention, delivery complications, among others.
“We have not established any scientific advantage let alone
any religion supporting the practise. It is just an inhuman design to suppress
the other sex.”
Sherifat, wife of the governor and President of Shericare
Foundation, described female genital mutilation as primitive.
She said that if the practice continued, 2, 718, 000 girls
born between 2010 and 2015 would be at risk of experiencing female genital
mutilation by 2030.
Country Representative of UNFPA, Ms Ratidzai Ndhlovu,
charged Osun Government to work and ensure the eradication of the practice.
She stressed that Osun had the highest prevalence rate of
7.6 per cent, followed by Oyo state with 7.2per cent.
The UNFPA boss added that it was important for the wives of
governors in the country and other stakeholders to ensure strict compliance
with the existing law on female genital mutilation.
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