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EBONYI STATE-NIGERIA

Hajia Fatima Obaji is a Mathematics teacher at Ezza High School Amuzu and was one of the 40 participants at the just concluded training for teachers at Echara, Ezza-South Local Government Area in Ebonyi State. The training was designed to train trainers under the European Union and United Nations Spotlight Initiative; “to eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls”. The objective of the training was to empower secondary school teachers to become peer educators among students and empower the girl child with life skills to enable them to resist all forms of abuse and gender-related violence.

The training also strengthened the capacity of teachers to reach both girls and boys with relevant information that will support them in gaining knowledge, build skills and have an attitude change towards supporting advocacy for the eradication of harmful practices against women and girls.

On the impact of the training towards developing her as an educator and counselor on Gender Based Violence, Hajia Fatima Obaji narrated: “When I returned home yesterday after the first day of the training, one of my neighbors told me of a fresh incident of teenage pregnancy in my community. With this training, my skills and my confidence had been built and I felt empowered to offer some counselling at the home of the victim.”

“At the house was the 16 year- old pregnant girl who was in her final year in secondary school, the undergraduate boy who impregnated her and her parents who were very displeased with the situation; I met them quarrelling and shouting at each other,” said Hajia Fatima.

Fatima continued, “I was informed that the parents got to know about the pregnancy earlier through the younger brother of the girl who heard the mother and the sister finalizing plans to change her from her current school due to the stigma as a result of her pregnancy.”

Adolescent pregnancies create social stigma in many communities in Nigeria because these pregnancies are often unplanned and unwanted. According to a WHO fact sheet published January 2020, social consequences for unmarried pregnant adolescents may include stigma, rejection or violence by partners, parents and peers and this was the case of girls.  

The girl’s father in his anger asked both the pregnant adolescent and her mother to leave his house but Hajia Fatima was able to intervene using the skills she had received on the first day of the EU/UN Spotlight Initiative peer educators training, explaining to them the implications of their decision to disown their pregnant daughter. She went further to explain the consequences that could result from their actions, which include; their daughter dropping out of school, lack of proper care and supervision of her medical needs that could lead to complications during childbirth and long-term trauma for the survivor.

The parents saw reasons with the points raised by Hajia Fatima, and by the next day, they welcomed their daughter back into the family in order to give her the needed care and promised to ensure that she continues her education even after childbirth.

Hajia Fatima Obaji concluded by saying, “If not for the training, I would not have had the skill and confidence to take the bold step I took, and sincerely, I am so happy I have applied the lessons learnt so far from this important training. I will continue to follow up until the girl returns to school, passes her examination and achieves her dreams.”