The Female Veterinarians Association of Nigeria, FEVAN, Oyo State Chapter, has held an outreach to celebrate the uniqueness of the female gender in commemoration of this year’s International Women’s Day.
FEVAN took her campaign towards the total girl child to Abadina College, University of Ibadan, where female students were taken through a series of seminars and workshops on the theme of this year’s Women’s Day “Inspire Inclusion”.
The Dean, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Ibadan, Professor Olufunke E. Ola Davies, explained that the purpose of the outreach was to share how women should be included, ensuring equity and equality, bringing women on board to be in leadership positions and to ensure that young girls are well-trained.
Issues ranging from sexual abuse, abstinence from drugs and substances, and entrepreneurship skills were shared with the students, after which sanitary pads were distributed to the students.
Speaking to newsmen, Prof Ola-Davies maintained that every society that must make significant and sustained progress must learn and practice the act of including the female gender. She explained further that professional attainment is never exclusive to men saving females also can be veterinarians, they can do well and be in leadership positions while remaining homemakers.
According to Professor Ola-Davies, it is time for accomplished female professionals in society to be more deliberate in the mentorship of young girls, and the choice of Abadina College for this exercise was borne out of two reasons: charity must begin at home, and it is better to catch the girls young before are caught by abusers and those who do not mean well for them. She called on the girls to value and maintain their dignity right from an early age as it will become a thing of pride for them later in life.
Expressing her excitement, a Senior Lecturer at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Ibadan, Dr. Folusho Falade, said she saw the outreach as an opportunity to help the younger ones so that they do not feel left out and to encourage them by examples that they can see around them as female achievers. Another lecturer at the Faculty, Dr. Bisi Olajumoke Adeoye stressed the need for the girls to have entrepreneurship skills like bead-making, pastry-making, hairstyling, etc, that would not affect their expected great performance at school but complement it.
Also speaking, an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Ibadan, Dr Adenike Olatunji-Akioye raised concerns over sexual abuse against female students. She however expressed her dissatisfaction with the situation where the society does not and is not ready to rise to the occasion on the issue.
Dr Olatunji-Akioye said it is sad to explain the trauma the girl child goes through when the people she trusts become her abuser, from physical abuse to sexual abuse. She emphasized the need for the girls to always speak out as abuses thrive in secrecy.
In her words, “For the many girls who do not know where to go, we are here to say there is help for you all. The culture of silence over sexual abuse needs to stop.”
In addition, a lecturer from the Faculty, Dr. Adetolase Bakre, told the girls that being a woman is a great thing in the society maintaining that they are the actual future leaders of the society as females.
Responding, the female students appreciated the gesture by the Female Veterinarians Association of Nigeria (FEVAN), the women’s wing of the Nigeria Veterinary Medical Association of Nigeria.
The girls also expressed excitement that there could be a group of female professionals they can not only emulate but also rely on in the face of societal decadence especially the breakdown of trust in the handling of sexual abuse.