“Everyone is an agent of change as regards bringing Female Genitals Mutilation to zero level and making the society especially Ekiti State, free of the barbaric harmful practices”.
The wife of Ekiti State Governor, Dr Olayemi Oyebanji, stated this in Ado Ekiti while declaring opened a symposium on international day of zero tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation, put together by a non governmental organization, New Generation Girls and Women Development Initiative, in conjunction with different international Organizations.
She noted that the theme of this year’s celebration; “Stepping Up the Pace: Strengthening Alliance and Building Movement to end FGM underscore the need for collaboration.
The governor’s wife expressed dismay that the effects of FGM are devastating and causing lifelong health complications such as infections, infertility and complications in childbirth.
“Today, over 230 million girls and women worldwide are FGM survivors. The stakes are high: an estimated 27 million additional girls are at risk of undergoing FGM in the next five years. In 2025 alone, nearly 4.4 million girls are projected to be at risk” (UNFPA. 2025).
Today provides the opportunity for Governments, Civil Society Organizations, Development Partners, Activists, and other relevant stakeholders to raise awareness, renew commitments and reiterate that Female Genital Mutilation is an unacceptable harmful practice and a violation of women and girls basic human rights. She added.
Also speaking at the event, the Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development, Mrs Peju Babafemi, noted that the government had provided legal and policy frameworks for the total eradication of female Genital Mutilations as the state has zero tolerance.
In their messages of good will an official of United Nations Population fund, Mrs Uzoma Ayodeji and the Executive Director of NIGWARD, Mrs Bimbola Salako emphasized unwavering commitment to ending this violation of human rights, which has caused lifelong physical, emotional, and psychological harm to millions of girls and women worldwide.
