C'RIVER MOWA, SCI TAKE GBV ADVOCACY TO IKOM MONARCH, SCHOOLS.

By: Rekpene Uket.

 Cross River State Ministry of Women Affairs, led by the Commissioner, Hon. Edema Irom in conjunction with Save the Children Int'l Organization have taken the Advocacy Against Gender -Based Violence to the Paramount Ruler of Ikom Local Government Area as well as four schools in Cocoa producing communities within Ikom Local Government Area as part of the activities in commemoration of 2025 16Days of Activism Against Gender -Based Violence (GBV).

 In Ikom, the Team visited the Cross River State Broadcasting Corporation (CRBC), Ikom where children from Community Secondary school, Akparabong engaged the Hon. Commissioner and her team in a Radio conversation on issues around GBV.

Some of the questions asked during the Radio show include;  what Cross River State Government is doing to curb GBV in rural communities as well as what modalities the government has put in place to alleviate poverty among rural women noting that most of the cases around child labour sterm from poverty and hunger.

 Responding, Hon. Edema Irom stated that this was the very essence why her ministry in collaboration with their partner, SCI have taken the Advocacy Against GBV to the grass roots adding that, it has been observed that, children in Cocoa producing communities such as Akparabong, Adijinkpor, Balep as well as Opu all in Ikom Local Government Area have abandoned the schools to engage in cheap labour in Cocoa farms.

According to the children "School is Scam", they need "quick money".Hon. Irom explained to the children that education remains the bedrock of any meaningful development. She admonished the children to remain focused in their studies in order to be empowered to contribute meaningfully to the development of the society as future leaders.

The Commissioner also informed that the visit was also to strengthen already existing partnership with Traditional Institutions to ensure that our children remain in schools and GBV perpetrators are reported to the Police in order to ensure they face the full wrath of the Law.

Hon. Irom also maintained that, the "People First" Governor, His Excellency, Apostle Send. Prince Bassey Otu has put so many modalities in place to alleviate poverty at the grass roots such as;  distribution of farm inputs  like - fertilizer, improved variety seedlings, tractors among others to  rural farmers like Women in Agriculture noting that, so many rural women were  economically empowered during the 2025 Int'l Women Day. She also encouraged women to form cooperative groups/societies in order to benefit from upcoming government interventions.

At the  palace of the Paramount Ruler of Ikom Local Government Area, HRM Minen Takon Atangba, the Commissioner for Women Affairs  commended the efforts of the Traditional Rulers so far towards curbing GBV adding that, the fight against GBV is a collective responsibility of all.

She therefore urged the Traditional Rulers to set up a Task Force to ensure that our children remain in schools adding that, Cocoa Merchants should also be encouraged to contribute towards the development of the communities as Community Social Responsibility (CSR).

Responding, HRM Minen Takon Atangba appreciated the Hon. Commissioner and her team for coming and pledged his commitment to continue to support the fight against GBV adding that, recently, he has observed that children are focusing more attention on their phones at the detriment of their studies. He promised to put laws in place to check the menace.

The Team also visited four schools in Cocoa producing communities within Ikom Local Government Area namely; Community Secondary school Akparabong, Government Technical College, Adijinkpor, Community Secondary Commercial School ,Opu  as well as Community Secondary school, Balep .

The students, the Commissioner for Women Affairs gave an overview of the origin of 16 Days of Activism Against Gender -Based Violence (GBV), admonished them to pay attention to their studies, say NO to child labour in Cocoa farms, she also harped on GBV referral path ways among others.

Highpoint of the visits was an interactive session in which questions were put to students on what they were taught about GBV and students who answered the questions correctly were given gifts such as; school bags containing a T-shirt, a dozen of exercise books, mathematical set,pen, pencil ruler among others,  coutersey of Save the Children Int'l  just to inspire the students to take their studies seriously.

The Team Lead for Save the Children Int'l, Mr. Omode Eyimofe Samuel also admonished the students not to hesitate to call the Toll free lines as well as the USSD code of SCI to report cases of GBV. The lines are; 08062255724, 0800-2255-724 and *7006*15#

The Principals of the four schools visited; Mr. Egom Nicholas Ogar, Mr John  Otu, Mr Adomi Patrick as well as Mr Ogonyi Maurice all expressed appreciation to the Hon. Commissioner and her team for the visit and also pledged their support towards the fight against GBV. The Director, Child Development, Ministry of Women Affairs, Mrs Felicia Oti was also in the Commissioner's entourage.