‘So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; MALE and FEMALE he created them.’

Genesis 1: 27

I am glad I am with you dear friends today as we journey on to the promised land of safety.

Most importantly I am happy that I will be sharing with you matters that have to do with gender and the rights we all have concerning same.

We need to consider these tips because gender is today is a touchy issue for young people particularly in Africa. The reason is that we live a society that is male dominated and many still nurse the backward notion that the girl child is inferior to the boy child.

This unfounded belief of the superiority of one gender over the other or inferiority of one gender to the other has passed from one generation to the other. It is sad that this belief is finding its way in the midst of today’s children and young people.

By virtue of what the society teaches, many young people believe today that they are superior just by the fact that they are boys. On the other hand many believe that they are inferior merely by the fact that they are girls.

Having worked with children and young people in the last 20(twenty) years, we see this belief affecting the relationship which exists between the male and female genders, even from your age as young people.

It is sad that despite many achievement of the female gender, the majority of the society still do not believe that the girl child is a complete child.

On October 11, 2012 International Day of the Girl Child was declared by the United Nations to call attention to the many issues that the girl child is faced with all over the world.

The major focus of these series of tips on rights and gender issues is to help children and young people understand and accept that God created us MALE and FEMALE in HIS IMAGE for a reason. He did not make a mistake.

It is important to note that in the story of creation as found in the Holy Writ, the female gender is not an after-thought. It was not after God created man that he now thought of creating woman.

In fact in the story of creation, God placed the order for the creation of man and woman same time and blessed them equally with dominion. In the book of Genesis 1: 26-27, the Bible records as follows: ^26 ‘Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” ²⁷ So God created MANKIND in his own image, in the image of God he created them; MALE and FEMALE he created them.’

Oh, you may argue that the man was formed before the woman. Yes agree with you, but that does not mean the man is superior. Let consider the example of twins, they are both created and stayed in womb, but one arrives on earth before the other. Does that make the first to arrive superior to the last to arrive? No, not at all…It is not the issue of superiority. If is an issues at all, it is an issue of ‘order of arrival.’

So the big question, should the first to arrive consider himself/herself superior just on the basis of arrival or be compelled by his/her world to think he/she is superior and treat the other as inferior? Now, if he/she could do that, it will also mean that our positions of influence in life and the respect we accord to people should only be determined by their age, the first to arrive on the scene by the purely reckoning of biology. The oldest person in the world should be richest and the youngest the poorest; the oldest person in a country should be the president and the youngest person, the least respected; the oldest person in a company(in age and hiring) should be the Chief Executive officer and the youngest person the office assistant or clerk. If the order of arrival does not carry the significance of superiority, why should the case be different when it comes to gender?

I beg you my dear children/teenagers and young people to allow me to conclude that we must never confuse arrival to creation. Man may be older than woman in arriving on the earth, but they were both created together and granted same permission on earth to excel in all things and do exploits.

Again, our society mistake the role of a woman as person for the role of a woman as wife. We must not get things twisted please. A woman is first a woman before she is a wife and she is not a better woman because she is married or a lesser one because she is not. Again her role as a partner in marriage is not inferior to that of man and the responsibility to make a marriage work, if she decides to get into one is laid on the shoulders of both genders. So, within and outside marriage, God has a plan for the woman as He has for a man within and outside marriage. Therefore, the totality of a woman is not defined by her marital status but by her contributions to life.

I really want to help you, dear precious children and young people to understand and accept that gender is a gift from God and an expression of His diversity and difference in manifestation.

It is been a long discussion today, longer than usual. It is because I just a passionate fellow about gender issues. Please forgive me. I will see you tomorrow by God’s grace. Do have an INSPIRED day.

The THINK Factor

I charge you to this about this: Gender places no limit on any child or young people. Therefore, gender has nothing to do with superiority or inferiority. It has all to do with the role, which God has assigned to each gender and must be understood and accepted that way. Record your thoughts in your Personal Journal, share your thoughts with your parents, friends and trusted and trusted caregivers.

Extracts from my book for Teenagers and Young Adults:  S.A.F.E™ (Securing A Friendly & Protective Environment) forYOU: 120 Daily Tips, due to be presented to the public on Monday, November 20, 2017.