Nigeria’s Association of Concerned Mothers Petitions Government, Bishop Supports Move

Nigeria’s Association of Concerned Mothers Petitions Government, Bishop Supports Move

Nigeria’s Association of Concerned Mothers Petitions Government, Bishop Supports Move

CANAA || By Father Don Bosco Onyalla, Nairobi || 03 July 2017

association of concerned mothers in nigeriaThe Association of Concerned Mothers (ASCOM) in Nigeria has petitioned the government expressing concerns about the Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) program being undertaken by the ministry of education and translated the program’s initials to stand for “Condoms and Sex Everywhere.”

The Association of Concerned Mothers (ASCOM) is a registered NGO promoting family values and creating awareness of the rights and duties of parents in Nigeria. The Association also carries out activities focusing on the family and the moral education of children.

ASCOM petition was contained in a letter addressed to “The Honourable Minister, Federal Ministry of Education” in which the association’s chairperson and secretary criticize the CSE program approach, describing it as “unwholesome and dangerous ideology.”

“Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) guidelines focus on children seeking “sexual pleasure” instead of teaching children the hazards of premarital sex and otherwise respecting the customs, laws and culture of our nation,” the letter dated May 22 states, and continues, “This is not education. CSE simply stands for Condoms and Sex Everywhere.”

The leadership of the Association of Concerned Mothers is concerned about CSE’s guidelines, which states, “Contraceptives and condoms give children the opportunity to enjoy their sexuality without unintended consequences.”

The leadership highlights “statistics of condom failure rates and an active HIV/AIDS epidemic” and term the guideline “unconscionable.”

Bishop Emmanuel Badejo of Oyo Diocese has provided to CANAA the background of the petition, expressing solidarity with the Association of Concerned Mothers.

“For some time some organizations and individuals linked to the United Nations, through United Nations Populations Fund Agency UNFPA have been pushing for the increased so-called Comprehensive Sexuality Education CSE in Nigerian Schools,” Bishop Badejo told CANAA on Monday, July 3.

“The content of CSE has often been found to be immoral, sexual permissive and demeaning of traditional and cultural values,” Bishop Badejo said.

He regretted that the current top leadership at the national Ministry of education was championing the promotion of CSE program with the support of UNFPA.

“While the Church and some other organizations have spoken out against this injustice which takes the right to give sexuality to children out of the hands of the parents and guardians, many parents have only just woken up to the challenge with the emergence of many textbooks which in a subtle ways undermine long held moral standards and values regarding human sexuality in the education of children,” Bishop Badejo told CANAA.

“Last week the Minister for Education appeared on Nigerian national television channels to celebrate an MOU signed by the Federal government to allow UNFPA to freely distribute contraceptives all over the country for the next 4 years,” Bishop Badejo went on to lament, adding, “These are real issues of concern which generated the petition and makes it actual and relevant.”

“We would like to call attention to the unwholesome and dangerous ideology called Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) which is being promoted by multiple United Nations representatives and government bodies in Nigeria,” the leadership of the Association of Concerned Mothers have stated in their petition adding, “Research has clearly shown that CSE is one of the most insidious attacks on the safety, health and innocence of our children.”

Below is the full text of letter from the leadership of the Association of Concerned Mothers in Nigeria to the Minister, Federal Ministry of Education.

ASSOCIATION OF CONCERNED MOTHERS

53 James Robertson Street, P. O. Box 6341, Surulere, Lagos

Phone: 080333033638, 08037227160, 08033598109

Email: concernedmothersassociation@gmail.com

22 May 2017

The Honourable Minister

Federal Ministry of Education

Federal Secretariat Complex

Shehu Shagari Way

Central Area, Garki

Abuja.

Dear Honourable Minister

PETITION AGAINST COMPREHENSIVE SEXUALITY EDUCATION (CSE) AND GENDER EDUCATION

Association of Concerned Mothers (ASCOM) is a registered non- profit and non – governmental organisation promoting family values and family enrichment programmes. We create awareness of the rights and duties of parents towards their children and family through activities focusing on family values and the intellectual and moral education of children.

The family is the most suitable place to initiate children in the practice of good character, values, life skills and wholesome sexual behaviour. While teachers may cooperate in educating the children in the way of good character formation, parents are however the first and best educators. We therefore work with governments to improve school systems, educational policies and practices that foster family values.

We would like to call attention to the unwholesome and dangerous ideology called Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) which is being promoted by multiple United Nations representatives and government bodies in Nigeria. Research has clearly shown that CSE is one of the most insidious attacks on the safety, health and innocence of our children. CSE claims to have an “evidence informed approach to effective sex, relationships and HIV/STI education. However, this ideology, which is already in use in government schools and some private schools in our country, promotes such things as abortion, homosexuality, masturbation and other controversial sexual ideologies to our children as young as eight years.

In a Nigerian Social Studies textbook for JSS1 authored by S. O. Omotuyole (page 50), children are taught ways to give and receive sexual pleasure and develop closeness without sexual intercourse such as kissing, mutual masturbation, among other lewd words. A parent reported that she found the following in her daughter’s English note book, were she was asked to define blow job, hanky-panky, pillow talk and the host of others that she is too dumbstruck to mention. The Basic Science textbooks, bear it all for our children on different techniques of sexual perverseness like erections, ejaculation, and sexual intercourse, methods of contraception, withdrawal methods and ways of doing abortion. They demonstrate with mannequins of genital organs how they can enjoy sex without any hitches. This is a gradual process of turning our children into animals and de-civilization of their generation.

Teaching our young children that they can obtain sexual pleasure through mutual masturbation, blow job, etc. is an outrage. There are many who would claim this constitutes child abuse. It is also agreed by many experts that masturbation can and indeed contributes to sexual addiction, while mutual masturbation is nothing but homosexual and lesbian practices. More of such unwholesome words can be found in literature books like Tears of a Bride by Oyekunle Oyedeji, Precious Little Darlings by Olafosu Ayodeji, The Precious Child by Queen Okweshiene and many more. These books are sexualizing our children without parental consent.

One of the guidelines or teacher’s manuals states “Contraceptives and condoms give children the opportunity to enjoy their sexuality without unintended consequences.” In light of statistics of condom failure rates and an active HIV/AIDS epidemic, this statement is unconscionable. Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) guidelines focus on children seeking “sexual pleasure” instead of teaching children the hazards of premarital sex and otherwise respecting the customs, laws and culture of our nation. This is not education. CSE simply stands for Condoms and Sex Everywhere.

Research has proven that school-based sex education does not reduce teenage pregnancies, sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) or any other social problem it may claim to tackle. Rather they are on the increase and the social dysfunctions multiply. Countries who have fully integrated sex education also have legalized abortion, homosexuality, same sex marriage, etc. Is this what Nigerians want or need? If CSE is not repudiated by your Ministry, commissioners of education will bring disrepute upon the entire education system, as more and more parents across the nation learn about and become outraged by CSE guidelines.

We urgently request you also use your good office to address Gender education in the curriculum of our children. Men and women are of equal dignity but are not the same. The differences between the sexes are scientifically proven on physical, mental and affective levels. Gender roles are part of the fabric of our society and many are good and wholesome, based on the truth of differences between the sexes. To discriminate is to make choices based on differences. Consequently there is positive as well as negative discrimination.

While a good many negative stereotypes do cause harm and violence to women, we soundly denounce attempts to introduce a blanket social ban on all gender stereotyping. This has been introduced into our children’s school books as well as the noxious idea the gender is a social construct. It is such fluid definitions of gender that promote homosexuality, lesbianism.

Our honourable Minister, history will judge us parents if we fail to restore our lost values. Let us give our children virtues so they can make the right choices and they will be happier for it. We hope you will join us in this worthy effort to protect our children from receiving inappropriate, dangerous, ideologically driven sex and gender education. God will give the grace for this task, do not fail Him!

Yours faithfully

Ngozi Agu                           

                     

               Chinelo Ujubuoñu

Chairperson                   

                          

                   Secretary    

Cc:     House of Assembly

All States Commissioners of Women Affairs

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