The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) says Nigeria’s 52 million adolescents daily face multifaceted crises that are unprecedented and massive and calls for collective action with the government to stem
The Chief of Health in the UNICEF Nigeria Country Office, Dr Eduardo Celabes, stated this in his keynote address at a stakeholders forum on “Adolescents and Youths Health Policies in Africa: Fostering International Partnerships to Contribute to Adolescents’ and Youths’ Health in Nigeria”. It was organised by the University of Ibadan Research Foundation.
Dr Celabes stated that the crisis they daily face goes beyond substance use and includes issues like insecurity, mental health, malnutrition, drug addiction, and climate change.
“The number of crises adolescents are facing today in Nigeria, including Africa, is unprecedented; it is massive. One in 10 girls in Nigeria is projected to become a mother before they are 18 years old. It is even 50 percent of the young girls in places like Bauchi and Gombe.
“Half of adolescent girls are unlikely to complete secondary school, and a staggering 43 percent are already married. Of these, a significant portion have partners that are at least 10 years older than them, imparting their decision-making.”
Dr Celabes declared that UNICEF, along with the UN, was also reevaluating its five-year strategy plan as well as its one-billion-dollar investment in Nigeria to ensure increased interventions that will address issues that adolescents in Nigeria daily face.
The Vice Chancellor, University of Ibadan, Professor Kayode Adebowale, stated that the university was committed not only to fostering academic excellence but also to bringing the leadership, experiences, and competencies towards creating a platform for open discussions and the generation of strategies on enhancing the mental and sexual reproductive health and education of adolescents and youths in Nigeria.
According to him, the University of Ibadan Research Foundation was created with the vision of enhancing the contributions of the leaders at the university towards articulating solutions to the challenges and efforts to meet societal needs.
The chairman of the Board of the UI-Research Foundation, Rt. Hon. Chevalier Uduimo, said that the stakeholder’s forum was with the aim of contributing to asset-based, impact-driven, and sustainable national policy options to support the health of adolescents and youths in Africa.
Represented at the occasion by Dr Jide Idris, a former Lagos State Commissioner for Health, he stated that the stakeholders will focus on fostering comprehensive and sustainable approaches to address the healthcare challenges faced by young people in Nigeria.
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