Superhero Chronicles: Boys Breaking Borders
By: Davida Opara
Tags: Magic, Leadership, Social Change

The Magic of Taking Leadership V

When I was planning out what this series: the Magic of Taking Leadership would look like, I knew I had to conclude with stories of seemingly “ordinary” young people that have made magic through their choices. Because there’s this inspiration that comes when we see that one doesn’t need a special quality to make a difference; other than the choice to do something.

One of the challenges that we face today is the problem of gender inequality. Women and girls are often negatively affected by these inequalities that are deeply entrenched in most socio-economic and cultural systems.

However, attempts to change this narrative often focuses on women empowerment only. While this may seem to be the apparent solution, it creates yet another challenge: the neglect of boys and men. Because in truth, these systems that oppress women are also toxic for men. And if we are to achieve gender equality - men’s negative experiences with this toxicity should be acknowledged; and the male gender must also be reoriented and sensitized.

This is a story of John 'Dare Okafor and Solomon Idowu, two friends and students of the University of Ibadan, who decided to do something about this challenge. Together they founded the Boys Without Borders Initiative earlier in 2020. Perhaps the first of its kind in Nigeria, Boys Without Borders is involved in the advocacy, orientation, and sensitization of the boy child.

Boys Without Borders was birthed from the friends' concern at the neglect of the boy child in today's fight against gender inequality. In their words:

“Why has the society neglected the boy child? In the fight against misogyny, abject poverty, ignorance, lack of educational access, abandonment and abuse, boys have been physically and socially ignored. Our society is losing focus through a diminishing perspective about boys, the boy-child is becoming invisible, and the future man is out of the picture. The challenges that the boy-child faces in today’s world especially in the emerging world, doesn’t put a spotlight on the real interpretation of gender equality and the measures to ensure it is realized universally.”

I got to know about the initiative through a particular project carried out in October 2020, tagged: #BoysTalkAboutIt. The project dispelled the myth that boys cannot and do not get raped or sexually abused perhaps because of the wrong notion that "if they enjoy it, it’s not abuse.” It did this by breaking another toxic trait associated with masculinity - it encouraged young men who had experienced sexual abuse to share their stories, which were then posted on social media platforms. These stories were anonymized to protect the survivors. Psychological support was also proffered to the victims through a partnership with Asido Foundation. You can access the stories on the Initiative’s Facebook and Instagram pages.

#BoysTalkAboutIt was really impactful as it gave a lot of these victims an opportunity to begin to heal. It helped to enlighten people generally on the reality of male sexual abuse; and it served as an avenue for healthy conversation on this issue plaguing both genders today.

Yet this is not all the duo have been able to achieve within this short period. Along with their increasingly growing team of vibrant volunteers committed to the vision; they have been able to create a Content Guideline. This comprises of detailed research topics about the boy-child like gender issues, sex education, character building, social and psychological issues, e.t.c. to be taught in primary and secondary schools by the volunteers. Considering the scarcity of resources specifically addressing the boy child, this was no mere feat.

One thing I had to really appreciate about John and Solomon was their dedication to making change happen.

“Strategic actions towards the boy-child is our responsibility as a part of the society, failure to do this is equivalent to running in circles. As an initiative, we won’t stop taking these strategic actions in form of advocacy, orientation and sensitization of the boy-child.”

You can connect with John on Facebook and or on Linkedin. You can also connect with Solomon here.

This much is obvious from their story: Superheroes don’t need capes, only the magic of their choice … their choice to do something.

You too can make some magic today!