Notable traditional rulers in Osun State have expressed readiness to eradicate the practice of female circumcision in the state, warning residents to desist from mutilating the genital of the girl child.
A non-governmental organisation, Value Reorientation for Community Enhancement, had visited the palaces of the monarchs, including the Timi of Edeland, Oba Munurudeen Adesola Lawal; Oluwo of Iwo kingdom, Oba Rasheed Adewale Akanbi; the Alawo of Awo, Oba Musa Olatunbosun-Adebayo; Aragbiji of Iragbiji, Oba Abdul-Rasheed Olabomi and Akinrun of Ikirun, Oba Raufu Olayiwola Adedeji, among others, in its sensitization campaign.
The monarchs, before their chiefs and other community leaders, openly declared their resolve to desist from cutting the genital of their female children and promised to join the campaign to stop Female Genital Mutilation.
The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) had recently revealed that Osun recorded the highest prevalence of FGM in Nigeria with over 76.3 per cent in the Southwest, despite the geo-political zone’s high literacy and awareness rate.
In order to arrest this ugly trend, VARCE intensified the sensitisation campaign by visiting the monarchs to solicit their support and cooperation to stop the practice.
To further show the seriousness of his commitment to ending the cutting of female genitals, Oba Adebayo, during the NGO’s visit to his palace, promised to report anyone caught in the act to the appropriate quarters.
The Oluwo of Iwo noted that the “chief circumciser” in his domain, Chief Abiola Ogundokun, had been leading the campaign against the practice, adding that residents had also been warned against performing FGM on girls.
For the Aragbiji of Iragbiji, the campaign team of VARCE should also sensitive people against drawing tattoos in their bodies, saying the act could be as bad as FGM.
The monarch, however, gave assurance that the practice of female circumcision would soon end in the state.
Speaking, the Coordinator of VARCE, Mr. Ademola Adebisi, appreciated the traditional rulers for their resolve to eradicate FGM and noted that their efforts had been yielding positive results while also encouraging them to do more.
