On Thursday 4th May 2017, the internet and social media was agog with the story of the “evil” perpetrated by some pupils of Falomo High School and Ireti Secondary Schools in Lagos, Nigeria, who chose a very unconventional and bizarre way (rape) to “celebrate” the end of their exams.
Apart from the boys who attempted to carry out this heinous crime of rape, I also found quite disheartening, the number of other “culprits” in this whole saga. There were those who thought it was more important to record the incident and post on social media rather than breaking up what was unfolding, there were the other students who cheered on with great frenzy and then there were those who decided to look the other way and pretend they didn’t see anything. And that is why I truly celebrate and honor the bravery and determination of Mrs. Michale Matthew who was instrumental in ensuring that the evil act did not happen. Kudos to her!
The outrage from various quarters has been enormous and we are grateful for the timely intervention of the Lagos State government and other well-meaning organizations and individuals who have intervened and continue to do so, to ensure that this matter is dealt with the seriousness it deserves and that future occurrences are forestalled.
One thing that stands out in my mind is that this barbaric act is a symptom of a much more serious malaise…TOTAL EROSION OF VALUES. It becomes clearer every day that “wrong behavior” is fast becoming “normal”. Situations and incidences that should be nipped in the bud are handled casually until it takes on enormous proportions and in some cases ends with irreversible implications. Hardly does a week goes by without news of a young person committing suicide or an infant/child being raped or sodomized. We read of unprecedented identity confusion issues, gender/sexuality issues and we watch in shock as nudity becomes the new fashion statement…All these issues have far-reaching implications on the society.
For how long are we going to bury our heads in the sand and act like we don’t see what’s going on? I realize that sometimes we get overwhelmed and our default coping mechanism may be denial or detachment BUT we can’t afford to do that anymore…for the sake of our children and future generations. It’s is time to ACT. Yes, let’s keep praying; keep talking but let’s DO SOMETHING.
In 2007, I got tired of just talking and not doing anything and I decided to start an initiative – RAVE et al, which is a social enterprise that helps reinforce in youths, those values, attitudes and essential life skills that are imperative for all round success. Over the years, we’ve worked with several children, a couple of schools and this blog (www.parentinvestment.com) was inspired by the RAVE et al vision.
It’s obvious that there is a lot more work to be done (urgently for that matter) and that is where you come in. To effectively carry out the work ahead of us, we need schools/individuals/organizations/ government establishments that are willing to partner with as follows:
- Schools – we have developed very interesting modules covering topics on values and character development. If you own or run a school, we would be happy to work with you and offer our programs for students, parents, and teachers.
- Government – We seek to work with relevant government establishments to develop programs that would engage the target audience and reinforce values and attitudes imperative for building a strong and vibrant society.
- Corporate Organizations – While our focus in largely on the social impact of what we do, we need funds to be able to sustain this initiative and do a lot more than we are currently doing. Your organization could adopt aspects of this initiative as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).
- Individuals – If this is an area you have a passion or burden for, we definitely could do with volunteers in various areas – social media awareness, publicity, mentoring, counseling, advocacy and fundraising.
Please find time to visit www.rave-etal.com to know a bit more about what we do and if you are interested in carrying on this conversation and would like to partner with us, kindly send an email to charity@parentinvestment.com and I will be happy to provide further insights.
Remember, “Evil thrives when good people do nothing”. We must intentionally reinforce values and build character so as to save upcoming generations from themselves.
Gracias.
ParentInvestment 
Very educative
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Good write up ma. We have a situation of a broken wheel, not just a flat tyre. Our constant knee jerk reactions to issues won’t help the matter because we have a deterioration which had been long but whose manifestation is just been chronicled. Needless to say this act is not the first in the school nor is it isolated to Falomo and it’s neighbouring school but I dare say prevalent. The culprits, in the immediate, were the students caught in the act, but remote culprits are the society at large who have largely failed the younger generation by watering down or deteriorating the moral values by their own acts and omissions, also culpable are the schools, the ministry of education, principals and teachers who definitely had witnessed such repulsive acts in the past but turned a blind eye thereby encouraging the next set of senior students to be more brazen in their own rites of passage. I dare say if the woman had not stood up to these students exhibiting the basest of tendencies, akin to a wild animal with no moral compass or societal values, we wouldn’t have heard anything even from the school on whose watch the acts occurred. It is not enough that the students be arrested, the teachers should be sanctioned because their silence is as much a betrayal of the girls as it is a failure to the society at large. One had assumed it was ‘midnight in Nigeria” before but truly we can say midnight is not yet here and the older generation truly need to ‘cry over our beloved country’. We are all angry but rather we should be sad! Best regards ma
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Awesome sis well done! Together Everyone Achieves More (TEAM)
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Char, we have a massive problem with youths on our hand. We don’t seem to understand the magnitude. From drugs to lack of empathy to zilch moral values and no humanity.
Fish rots from the head first, our children learn from what we do, not what we say. We may not smoke crack or do drugs, but our leadership is wanting! From embezzling to corrupting young girls and boys (high-class prostitution) etc, all of which affect children. The very people they’re supposed to look up to, fail them daily, this is the result. There’s a correlation, let’s not kid ourselves.
I think one of the problems especially with the rape is that sex is now in the public domain – to be accessed by everyone online, regardless of age, and with a lot of “how to videos” but no “how not to” ones. Sad!
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Well done Charity. Keep up the good work. I remember that my daughter’s attended one of your seminars and they were the better for it. I also remember that one of their friends who was visiting follows them to the seminar not knowing that it was a fee paying event. But your passion for making a difference shone through because rather than sending her back home you insisted that she enrolled without charge. It was an invaluable lesson both for the girl and her mother. Well done.
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This is so sad. These are our ‘tomorrow’. Something needs to be done fast about this moral decline. Citizenship should be in the secondary curriculum from primary school Plus a hefty dose of parental role modelling and attention.
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Commitment to improving the quality of the minds of our youth is a daunting task in the face of the decadence and depravity that we all see around us. So a voice like yours, in the howling silence that greets this malaise, is so soothing.
Kudos.
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