It is laudable that the First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, has vowed to eliminate the Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) menace currently ravaging Nigeria and other developing countries in Asia and Middle East. The First Lady, who spoke at an event to mark this year’s International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation in Abuja, observed that FGM is a violation of human rights of girls and women without any health benefits. She, therefore, promised that the Federal Government would end the menace.
Available facts from the World Health Organisation (WHO) show that over 230 million girls and women alive today have undergone FGM in 30 countries in Africa, the Middle East and Asia where FGM is predominantly practised. It also says that FGM is mostly carried out on young girls between infancy and age 15. The global body asserts that FGM is a violation of human rights of girls and women. It estimates that the treatment of the health complications of FGM will cost health systems $1.4billion per year. It also predicts that the number will rise, except urgent action is taken to stop the menace.
UNICEF explains that FGM refers to all procedures involving partial or total removal of the female external genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons. It also says that in every form it is practised, FGM is a violation of girls’ and women’s fundamental human rights, including their rights to health, security and dignity. This year, nearly 4.4 million girls will be at risk of this harmful cultural practice. This equates to more than 12,000 cases every day.
Medical experts say that FGM has no health benefits and can lead to serious, long-term complications and even death. Some of the immediate health risks include haemorrhage, shock, infection, HIV transmission, urine retention and severe pain. In a bid to end the menace, the UN General Assembly in 2012, designated February 6th every year as the International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation, with the aim to amplify and direct efforts on the elimination of this practice.
The theme of the 2025 International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation, “Step up the Pace: Strengthening Alliances and Building Movements to End FGM,” is a clarion call on governments to increase efforts to end the menace by 2030. The recent report that about 34 million Nigerian women and girls are at risk of FGM by 2030 is alarming. Already 19.9million women and young girls are already affected. According to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Nigeria has the highest absolute number of FGM in the world, with over 20 million women and girls that have undergone the FGM. It also says that if care is not taken, about 14 million girls are at risk of experiencing it by 2030.
We decry the increasing cases of FGM in Nigeria and call on the federal and state governments to consciously step up efforts to eliminate the harmful cultural practice by 2030. We say so bearing in mind that the practice, which violates the human rights of women and girls, has no health benefits. It also exposes them to avoidable health complications, including bleeding, shock and infection, among others. It is paradoxical that women are in the forefront of enforcing this harmful cultural practice in the rural areas and semi-urban centres. They see it as a compulsory rite of passage for women and young girls. They erroneously believe that FGM will tame promiscuity among the women and girls.
We commend the First Lady for taking the charge to ensure that the evil cultural practice is ended in Nigeria by 2030. We enjoin her to collaborate with the wives of the governors of the 36 states to step up efforts to end the menace in the country. Since the harmful practice is more prevalent in the rural areas, and fueled by ignorance, the wives of chairmen of the 774 local governments will be persuaded to join the crusade to end it. We call for more enlightenment campaigns in schools, churches and other religious institutions to educate the people on the dangers of FGM on women and young girls.
Therefore, civil society organizations, non-governmental organizations, community associations, market men and women should join the campaign to eliminate FGM in the country. There is need to educate nurses, midwives and traditional birth attendants to stop promoting the harmful practice. Let the government sanction those involved in the evil practice.