March 7, 2024

The Lagos State Government has expressed its readiness to start criminalising the concealment of sexual offences by teachers and guardians in the State.

The Executive Secretary of Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Agency (DSVA), Mrs. Titilola Vivour-disclosed this in her opening address at a two-day training organised for 105 school counsellors on safeguarding and child protection held recently at the LCCI Conference Centre in Ikeja

While noting that the 105 School Guidance Counsellors were drawn from primary and secondary schools within Ikeja, Mushin and Oshodi/Isolo zones in Lagos, she stated that schools do not just serve as centres of academic learning but should also be safe havens, where children feel secure, safe and protected.

She noted that the influence of counsellors extends far beyond the classroom as it shapes the emotional and psychological landscape of the next generation.

The Tutor-General/Permanent Secretary (TG/PS), Education District VI, Dr. Adejoke Sherifaah Yusuf, who was represented by the Head of the Counselling Unit, Mrs. Anike Bola-Lawal, charged participants that the constant training and retraining of the Guidance Counsellors helped keep them abreast of societal expectations to make a better society for all.

He stressed that the training would be rewarding as it cuts across the three zones of the district and lauded the Agency’s efforts in the quest for an SGBV-free society

A representative from the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Mr. Ibrahim Jenmi, while speaking on behalf of the Chairman, thanked the Agency for the continuous training of guidance counsellors and called for collaboration between the Agency and the Board.

One of the facilitators at the training. Taiwo Akinlami, a Safeguarding and Child Protection expert spoke on child rights and concepts which include their rights to life, developmental rights, participation rights and protection rights. He further spoke about the societal and cultural perception of child abuse and examined the different forms of child abuse and how to detect signs of abuse.

Mr. Jubril Yakubu of the Ministry of Youth and Social Development gave an overview of the Lagos State Executive Order on Safeguarding and Child Protection, highlighting the roles of a designated safeguarding officer and the multi-agency response to safeguarding and child protection. He informed the participants about the mandated reporting policy in Lagos State, urging them to say something whenever they see something.

Chief of Operations at Cece Yara, Mrs. Olabisi Ajayi-Kayode, who spoke on responding to disclosures

of child abuse, educated the counsellors on how to handle disclosures made by children.

The Counsellors were later presented with a Certificate of Participation and were encouraged to see themselves as mandated reporters, if they see something, they should say something and most importantly, do something.