In the discourse of building a sustainable economy, securing a nation or establishing family legacy, there must be ethical men to drive this future.
However, a silent concern is growing at the foundational level of Nigeria’s human capital pipeline: the neglect and cultural misconditioning of the boy-child.
At the recent 5th Anniversary Summit and Book Unveiling of the Boy-Child Transformation Centre (BTC) held in Lagos, a high-level panel of policymakers, leadership experts, and civil society leaders gathered to address this developmental blind spot.
The consensus was clear: raising emotionally intelligent, ethically grounded boys is no longer just a social preference—it is a macroeconomic requirement for a thriving society and a secure economy.
Since its inception in 2021, the BTC has stood at the frontline of this advocacy. Over the past five years, the center’s mandate has undergone a strategic transition—evolving from merely protecting young boys from immediate societal hazards to actively equipping them to become the conscientious role models, collaborative CEOs, ethical statesmen, and dedicated fathers of tomorrow.
The anchor of the summit was the official unveiling of Unboxed, a strategic book designed to serve as an executive manual for parents, educators, and institutional stakeholders.
Nkiruka Moghalu-Joel, Founder of the BTC and Managing Director/CEO of Avenu Consulting, explained that the book targets the systematic deconstruction of what she terms the “Macho Box”—a rigid societal construct that dictates how manhood is defined and how young boys are raised.
“The ‘Man Box’ is a silent killer,” Moghalu-Joel asserted. “From a very young age, everyone is training the boy-child based on the singular, flawed premise that he must simply ‘man up.’ We tell them that showing emotion or being vulnerable is a sign of weakness, as if blood is not supposed to flow through their veins. We teach them to conceal their struggles, which ignores the deep-seated issues they carry inside.”
Moghalu-Joel noted that out of this “Macho Box” emerges a skewed worldview where emotional intelligence is discarded, emotional expression is shamed, and women are treated as mere objects rather than partners.
One of the keynote figures at the summit shared a personal paradigm shift, noting that he has intentionally committed to letting his own young sons cry and freely express their feelings, breaking the cycle of emotional suppression.
To replace this toxic framework, Unboxed introduces the Mantra Framework, a structured, three-dimensional developmental model.
The book utilises the real-world narrative arcs of three characters—Harvey, Jay, and Kel—tracking their psychological and social experiences from ages 5, 11, 12, up to 18 and 19. The framework provides a practical guide for stakeholders to step in at critical life stages and nurture character over caricature.
Values, Incentives, and Education
Providing a sharp macroeconomic and historical diagnosis of the crisis, Dakuku Peterside, leadership expert and former Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), argued that Nigeria’s current social instability and leadership deficit are rooted in three foundational failures.
The Value Crisis
According to Peterside, the country is facing a severe identity collapse that transcends basic morality.
“Nigeria is getting it wrong in three distinct dimensions,” he stated. “First, there is a core values crisis that nobody is structurally addressing. It is deeply embedded in the fabric of how we co-exist, and we are ignoring the rot at the foundation level.”
Perverted Economic Incentives
Peterside delivered a stinging critique of Nigeria’s contemporary reward system, pointing out how the economy inadvertently funds social decay.
“As a country, we reward wealth without enterprise, we reward crime, we reward vanity, and we reward mediocrity,” Peterside argued. “There is a direct line from our values crisis to our economic incentives. What you reward, you incentivize, and what you disincentivize, people lose interest in. Because we do not place a premium on honesty, integrity, and hard work, the younger generation simply isn’t interested in those ideals anymore.”
Educational Model
The third structural failure lies in the nation’s classrooms. Peterside noted that the country remains stubbornly wedded to an obsolete, colonial-era British educational model that over-indexes on paper qualification at the expense of human capacity.
“We are using a model that emphasizes certification over character, competence, and skill,” he warned. “We raise children to chase paper degrees in the hope that the certificate automatically grants them a job. We don’t care about attitude; we don’t care about societal impact. Parents, unfortunately, have been completely sucked into this system. They are no longer intentional about what they incentivize in their homes.”
Representing the public sector, Abisola Dokunmu-Adegbite, the Permanent Secretary of the Lagos State Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education, confirmed that the government is beginning to recognize the strategic necessity of balancing gender-focused development.
Reflecting on the timeliness of the summit, Dokunmu-Adegbite noted that modern digital distractions and devices have escalated the vulnerability of young boys, making immediate intervention imperative.
“This program couldn’t have come at a better time,” Dokunmu-Adegbite stated, adding her voice to the advocacy. “For a long time, the collective focus has concentrated heavily on the girl-child, effectively leaving the boy-child behind in the development loop. Thankfully, there is a massive wave of awareness building across the country now.”
The Permanent Secretary revealed that the initiative has secured high-level political will. The First Lady of the Nation, Oluremi Tinubu, alongside Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu, the First Lady of Lagos State, are both actively passionate about driving structural reforms for the boy-child.
To transition this passion into policy, Dokunmu-Adegbite disclosed that a formal Steering Committee has already been institutionalized in Lagos State, stemming directly from a federal framework, to design and execute state-led interventions for boy-child development.
Winner Of WIMS Challenge
The tangible value of providing young men with platforms for self-expression was on full display during the presentation of the Walk-in-My-Shoes (WIMS) Unboxed Challenge.
The competition’s winner, Alade Daniel Adedayo, a law student and spoken-word poet from the University of Abuja, shared the heavy personal narrative that inspired his winning submission. Adedayo turned to his creativity to confront one of the most destructive coping mechanisms of the neglected boy-child: substance abuse.
“I submitted an entry focused strictly on drug abuse because I lost a close friend to it,” Adedayo shared. “Drug abuse is a highly salient societal issue that we frequently sweep under the carpet. When I saw the WIMS challenge, I realized it was the perfect avenue to lend my storytelling and creativity to the cause. Of course, the prize money was also a great motivator to give it my absolute best.”
Adedayo’s experience also shed light on the pervasive imposter syndrome and performance pressures young men face. “I came here hoping and expecting to win because I poured everything into my entry,” he admitted. “But the moment I arrived at the summit and saw the sheer
caliber of the other displayed entries, my confidence started dropping. I’m incredibly glad and honored that I won.”
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