By Dr. Abiola Bashorun
Nigeria has made significant progress in promoting the development and empowerment of the girl child. Over the years, governments, development partners, civil society organisations, religious institutions, and the private sector have invested heavily in improving girls’ access to education, healthcare, leadership opportunities, and protection from harmful practices. These achievements are commendable and deserve continued support.
However, as these successes are celebrated, there is a growing need to ask an important question: What about the boy child? This is not an attempt to diminish the importance of empowering girls but a call for a more balanced approach. A strong society cannot be built by focusing on one gender while neglecting the other. Responsible, educated, and emotionally stable boys are just as essential to the nation’s future as empowered girls.
Many boys today face challenges ranging from poor educational outcomes and lack of mentorship to substance abuse, crime, cultism, violence, and mental health issues. These concerns deserve equal attention because today’s boys will become tomorrow’s husbands, fathers, community leaders, employers, and public servants. A successful and ambitious young woman should not have to build her future with an irresponsible or morally unstable man.
The responsibility for raising responsible boys begins at home. Parents must instil discipline, respect, honesty, compassion, emotional intelligence, and accountability. Schools should prioritise character development alongside academic excellence, while religious institutions should continue promoting integrity, service, and moral values. Government policies should also support programmes that encourage the healthy development of every child, regardless of gender.
The Bible reinforces this responsibility in Proverbs 22:6: “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” The scripture refers to a child, reminding us that every child deserves guidance, love, discipline, and equal opportunity.
Rather than treating the development of boys and girls as competing priorities, Nigeria must recognise that both are equally important. The nation needs confident daughters who excel in leadership and responsible sons who lead with integrity. It needs fathers who nurture, mothers who inspire, and families built on mutual respect and shared values.
By investing equally in the education, character, and future of both boys and girls, Nigeria will lay the foundation for stronger families, safer communities, and a more prosperous nation. The conversation should therefore be broadened to reflect a simple truth: the girl child matters, and the boy child matters too.
