The maiden edition of Wise Walk Foundation’s “Teens Against Addictions” (TAA) Secondary School tour has kicked off in Lagos.
The campaign against abuse and addiction saw approval from Lagos State Ministry of Education (Div IV) kicked off this week with over 700 girls at Herbert Macaulay Girls High School, Yaba, Lagos, enlightened on the dangers of common addictions and how to avoid them.
TAA is a novel initiative aimed at helping secondary school students avoid and deal with habits and dependencies that can ruin their lives, such as drugs, gambling, sex, gaming, and other addictions. The Foundation also distributed free copies of a book titled “Addictions That Can Ruin A Youth” to all the students.
“Our moral, social, and educational values are deteriorating dramatically, especially among teenagers. Therefore, we seek to help these future leaders unlearn ‘weird’ beliefs about addictions,” Emike Oyemade, convener/facilitator, Wise Walk Foundation, said.
The campaign, which saw sponsorship from Zenith Bank, intends to reach over 11,000 secondary school students across 10 schools in Lagos Mainland during the second term in the schools’ calendar. Other schools to be visited include Aje Comprehensive High School, Lagos City College, Wesley Girls’ High School, Eletu Odibo High School, Mainland School, Nawar-Ur-Deen High School, His Glory Plus College, and Strength College.
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“We cannot pretend to be oblivious to the rising level of abuse and addictions prevalent among teenagers and adolescents in Nigeria. We took up this enormous task in line with our vision to impact and improve the vulnerable by educating for empowerment, enlightening for a purposeful life, and advocating for recovery from abuse and addiction,” Oyemade said.
Temitope Fasoranti, executive director, Zenith Bank, noted that the organisation recognises the need to support campaigns that positively affect the young generation. “As a responsible corporate citizen, giving back to the communities where we carry out business is an integral part of our overall strategy. Zenith Bank is happy to throw its weight behind relevant and impactful campaigns like these.”
Abiola Oloruntobi, principal of Herbert Macaulay Girls High School, urged corporate organisations, religious societies, parents, and the public to support initiatives like the TAA, saying, “Instilling the right values through anti-abuse and anti-addiction campaigns will go a long way to ensure that our children turn out good now and in the future.”
The Foundation has not only advocated against abuse and addictions, Oyemade said, saying, “Over the years, we have also provided basic human needs for people in distress, promoted entrepreneurship and empowerment programs, provided social support to under-served communities, and advocated for formal education, vocational studies, and life skills.”
Wise Walk Foundation, a fully registered not-for-profit organisation head-quartered in Lagos, is passionate about working with secondary school students, especially in the areas of teenage/youth counselling. In the last four years, the organisation has conducted several seminars and workshops on abuse, addictions, and how to recover from these and other youth-related issues.
