Former interior minister, Rauf Aregbesola has called for urgent government and societal intervention to tackle what he described as the growing neglect of the boy child in Nigeria.
Aregbesola warned that the country’s long-term future could be imperilled if millions of boys remain abandoned and uneducated.
Speaking in Abuja at the maiden AfriCultural Fashion Show and Awards, organised by Global Awareness for Development Initiatives, the former minister said advocacy for the girl child must continue but should not come at the expense of boys facing mounting pressures without adequate support.
Addressing the theme of empowering the African boy child, he argued that society routinely demands strength, responsibility and patriotism from boys while failing to provide the emotional and economic foundations needed for healthy development.
“The boy child floats and sinks in a society that has largely failed him but expects him to be a good citizen, a patriot and a nationalist,” he said.
Aregbesola stated that many boys from low-income households are forced into adult responsibilities at an early age, often leaving school to contribute to family survival.
He described Nigeria’s rising number of out-of-school children as a serious threat to national stability.
Millions of boys, he said, can be seen hawking goods, begging or cleaning car windscreens in traffic to get by, adding that around 20 million children are currently out of school across the country.
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He warned that widespread neglect risks producing a generation vulnerable to crime, drug abuse or irregular migration as a means of escape.
To reverse the trend, Aregbesola urged Nigerians to hold government to account for delivering free, quality education, describing it as a core social investment.
He advocated free schooling from basic to pre-degree levels and called for affordable university education for the average Nigerian.
Reflecting on his tenure as governor of Osun State, he cited policies aimed at widening access to education and youth empowerment, including free schooling, daily meals for about 150,000 pupils, the provision of uniforms and the construction of large modern school facilities.
He also referenced the Osun Youth Empowerment Scheme, which created employment opportunities for unemployed youths, alongside school-based character programmes designed to promote discipline and integrity.
In closing, Aregbesola cautioned Nigeria’s political and economic elites that the consequences of neglect cannot be avoided.
“If the boy child in Nigeria has no future worthy to live in, no other citizen can hope for a better future,” he said.
Aregbesola urged collective action to build a society rooted in social justice and humanism, where the prospects of both boys and girls are secured.