Sexual Activity and the Nigerian Youth

Growing up, we were told that sex is a reproductive act between a man and a woman that could result in a baby. Religion has always confined its rightness to the marriage bed, but with the changing times, came changing values. At first, we as a society normalised sexual intercourse between people who were dating, “boyfriends and girlfriends”. But more recently, it is becoming acceptable for people to have what is called “casual” sex. People, especially youths, victims of their own youthful exuberance, allow their heightened hormones to get the better of them, and hook up with just about anybody.  

Why Sexual Activity is prevalent amongst our Youths

Our values as a race {of humans} have changed at a very rapid pace in the last 50 or so years, with more and more allowances for sexual indiscipline. The true meaning of liberalism is being misunderstood by many to mean they can do whatever it is they want to do with themselves, and at the forefront of this miseducation is the “two-headed goat” of media and entertainment.  

Instead of fulfilling their informative function, because of the quick financial gain that lying about this topic gives, the media is now overemphasizing the euphoria that sexual pleasure gives. It seems that our youth are being intentionally uninformed of the true meaning of sex, and what it means for those who engage in it. The media is withholding valuable information concerning sex, and instead, just glorifying how fun it is in the heat of the moment. 

The problem is that euphoria is a feeling, and feelings do not last forever. So our youth are left to figure out their twisted emotions after the high has come down, and post-nut-clarity hits. It is not an easy thing to deal with, and the chaos that its attendant confusion causes is the end of many a relationship. 

Sex is great in itself, but only when it's between two people who are adequately prepared for it, our youths have too much else going on in their lives to be ready for sex. Let’s see how it affects them. 

Effects of Premarital Sexual Activity on Nigerian Youths

Best believe that confusion is probably the least negative effect of sex among young people who should be going about the business of finding themselves. 

Sex scenes in movies are over - sexualised  and therefore do not offer any reliable amount of sex education for their viewers. This means that many of the young people having sex today are grossly under-educated on how to protect themselves while at it. The result? A lot of unwanted pregnancies. 

For those who feel they would be unable to cope with the stress of having to birth a baby at such a young age, abortion is the next option on the table.

Of course, not everyone is able to forget their strong religious backgrounds, and for other reasons besides this, some girls decide to keep the babies.

This means that people who haven’t even fully mastered how to be accountable for themselves are now forced to become responsible for an infant, alone, as many times, their families are too enraged to help them with taking care of the newborns. 

Youth parents, as we will call them in this article, are forced to give up their youthhood for the responsibility that parenthood brings, and they’re very unprepared. Like it or not, being a parent puts a limit on the amount of motion that one can have. Certain dreams would have to be shelved, and academic pursuits get thrown out the window. As a premature father, you lose your social life, and there’s certainly no more gallivanting around for the mothers either. However, this is for those who feel they can’t cope with the guilt of leaving their children behind, and even if they run, they’re left to deal with the guilt for the rest of their lives. 

Finally, Sexually Transmitted Diseases. Studies by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation show that the prevalence of these STDs among Nigerians between the ages of 15 to 24 is on a very quick rise, and the reasons aren’t so far-fetched if we’re being honest.    

How NBYF Can Help curb the prevalence of Sexual Activity in Nigerian Youths

But we can’t throw the baby out with the bath water. Yes, our youth are wrong to allow their hormones and society’s noisy prodding to get the better of them. However, they are our future, and we can’t give up on them. 

At NBYF, we recognize that a lot of youths are inadequately educated on what to do with their bodies and hormones, since sex education is still a highly shushed topic in African homes. So someone has to teach them, and that’s what we’re doing. 

With your donations, we can intensify our efforts at providing secondary school students with age-appropriate information on what sexual activity is, and what it means for them. This would help to defuse the problem before it gets really out of control when they’re older with fewer regulations restricting them from exploring. 

For those who are already sexually active, the situation isn’t unsalvageable. Counselling is always going to be a way into the hearts of our youths, and your support would go a long way in helping us get qualified counsellors to talk our young people through this turbulent period. Girls who may have undergone an abortion need someone to help move past the feelings of guilt that they might feel, and those who feel ready for the unplanned responsibility of motherhood will still receive the support of our counsellors.

For those who have fallen pregnant but are still too afraid to choose between aborting their babies, or keeping them, part of our restorative plan is to offer them a way out by connecting these young mothers to good families who would be ready to adopt their children and train them as their own. 

Some youths eventually contact those dreaded STDs and resign to fate. It is our intention to help them come back to life through counselling that would resurrect their minds, as well as medicine that can help them manage these conditions before they worsen. 

It is important that the youths learn discipline, being responsible and accepting the consequences of their actions. But it is much harder to be a youth now, than it was some fifty years ago. So we just have to help them, they’re our only chance at a brighter tomorrow. Your penny goes a long way in re-educating and re-orient the Nigerian Youth 

Donate to NBYF today, and save the country's future, one young person at a time!