International Journal of Educational Development SEPTEMBER Edition
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
1 YOUNG PEOPLES SEXUAL AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH EDUCATION AND DEVELOPMENT IN THE NIGER DELTA. Briggs, L.A., Ph.D.,1 Peter-Kio, O.B. MPH2 Department of Human Kinetics, Health and Safety Education. Ignatius Ajuru University of Education, Port Harcourt. Abstract Young people of today remain the largest cohort ever and there has been increasing awareness of the need to address their sexual and reproductive health, education and development needs. The main focus of this review was young people sexual and reproductive health needs and education. Young people around the world including the Niger Delta region engaged in risky sexual behaviour which is characterised by decreased age at sexual debut, multiple sexual partners and unsafe sexual intercourse. Sexually active young females stand the risk of pregnancy, since pregnancy usually occurred when least expected, many young people resorted to clandestine and unsafe abortion. There is an urgent need for an integrative approach to addressing young people sexual and reproductive health, education and development needs. Introduction The Niger Delta (ND) used to be referred to all those areas at the outmost southern part of Nigeria covering a range of creeks and swamps. During the British Colonial era the inhabitants of this area were called the Ijos (new spelt “Ijaws”) and are mostly fishermen/women. The Niger Delta now comprises of nine states; Rivers, Delta, Edo, Cross River, Akwa-Ibom, Bayelsa, Imo, Abia and Ondo states of Nigeria (Niger Delta Development Commission, 2005). The ND is border to the south by the Atlantic Ocean and to the east by Cameroon. It occupies a surface area of about 112,110 square kilometers and represents 12% of Nigeria’s total surface area. It is estimated to have a population of about 27million which represents about 23% of Nigeria’s total population (140million) (National Population Commission (NPC), 2006). About 62% of the populations are aged below 30 years. There are about 40 different ethnic groups, 250 languages and dialects in this area. The majority of the settlements are in the form of small settlements of fewer than 5000 inhabitants. However there are urban settlements which include Port- Harcourt, Warri, Asaba, Benin, Akure, Calabar, Uyo, Owerri, Aba and Yenogoa (Okonta, 2007; Niger Delta Development Commission, 2005). The Niger Delta is the oil rich area of Nigeria where 90 percent of Nigeria’s wealth and resources are derived and all of the crude oil in Nigeria comes from the numerous, large, producing fields located in the swamps of the ND. Nigeria produces over 2 million barrels of crude oil per day and is the 7th largest producer of crude oil in the world. The region is also rich in natural gas which was previously being flayed but is now being harnessed and exported as liquefied natural gas (Udonwa, Ekpo, Ekanem, Inem, &Etokidem, 2005). It has been debated whether the presence of crude oil in the region has been a blessing or a curse. Some have argued that the years of oil exploration activities with frequent spillages have led to severe environmental degradation with resultant destruction of farmlands and aquatic flora and fauna. Consequently the oil boom has become to the people of the ND, a doom. Years of official neglect has resulted in the ND of today being the epitome of hunger, poverty and injustice. It is estimated that 10million people in the area are destitute with 14 million people living in poverty in rural communities (Okonta, 2007). 2 Adolescence means a period of life that starts at puberty and ends at the culturally determined entrance to adulthood (social maturity and economic dependence). The period of life beginning with the appearance of secondary sex characteristics and terminating with the assertion of somatic growth, roughly 11-19years of age. However the World Health Organization (WHO) defined adolescents as those aged between 10 and 19years (WHO, 2009) while young people are those between the ages of 10 and 24years of age with a population of 1.8billion about one fourth of the world’s population (WHO, 2009; UNFPA, 2011). At both the International Conference on Population and Development(ICPD) and its five years review in 1999 and 2004, participants identified adolescent as a particularly vulnerable group. At those world conferences, governments committed to meet the needs of adolescents and youth for information counseling and high-quality sexual and reproductive health services as a way to encourage them to continue their education, maximize their potentials and prevent early marriages and high risk child bearing. Recent programme experiences shed light on practical ways to provide the adolescents with information, social support, and services that they need to protect themselves from sexual and reproductive health problems. This paper reviews young people’s sexuality and reproductive health education and development in the Niger Delta. The main focus is young people sexual and reproductive health. Specifically, sexual and reproductive health needs and consequences of early pregnancy; knowledge, information and services available for young people. Adolescent sexuality and fertility Fertility usually refers to the reproductive performance of males and females or couples in a given population. The production of live-births in a population is related to the number of marriages, the age at marriage (or cohabitation), the availability, physical and economic accessibility and use of contraceptives and abortion, economic development and income earning opportunity for women, the educational and occupational status of women and the age-sex structure. One measure of fertility is the Total Fertility Rate (TFR) representing the average number of children that would be born alive to a woman during her life time, if she is to pass through all her child-bearing years conforming to the age specific fertility rates(fertility rates obtained for a specific age group) of a given year. Nigeria currently has a TFR of 5.6 and a growth rate of 3% (National Population Commission (NPC), 2009). If nothing is done to this population it will double itself by 2050 Age at sexual debut had declined in recent year’s globally and sexually active adolescent females stand the risk of pregnancy, since pregnancy usually occurred when least expected, many adolescents resorted to clandestine and unsafe abortion. Unsafe abortion according to the WHO(2003) is any procedure for termination of pregnancy either by individuals without the necessary skills or in an environment that does not conform to minimum medical standard or both. Unsafe abortion mainly endangers women in developing countries including Nigeria where abortion is highly restricted by law. Every year an estimated 19-20million unsafe abortion takes place out of which 97% are in developing countries and 68.000 women die every year from unsafe abortion (Grime, Benson, Singh, Remero, Ganatra, Okonofua & Shah, 2006). Despite its frequency unsafe abortion remains the most neglected global health challenges. Serious risk and consequences accompany increase premarital sexual intercourse, particularly when combined with inadequate information and reproductive health services. Increased sexual activity places young people at a greater risk of unintended pregnancies and Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) including HIV/AIDS. Many unintended pregnancies end in abortion, but complete data on abortion is hard to come by. Unsafe abortion, which is sometimes self-induced, can result to severe illness, infertility and death. Even in places where safe abortion services exist, access is often restricted for adolescent girls. 3 Complications from unsafe abortions are leading cause of death among adolescents in some countries (Sanderowitz, 1995) and a major contributor to maternal mortality ratio. Nigeria currently has a maternal mortality ratio of 630 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births the second highest after India globally (WHO, 2012). Premarital sexual activity is common in many parts of the world and is reported to be on the rise (Population Reference Bureau (PRB),1998). In many countries adolescent girls and boys are under strong social and peer group pressure to engage in premarital sexual intercourse. Also, some features of modern life may increase both the desire and opportunity for sexual activity; the mass media, the breakdown of traditional families and norms, increased migration, urbanization and materialism. For a substantial minority of boys and girls, early sexual activity is not consensual. This collaborates the findings of Imaledo, Peter-kio, &Asuquo (2012) in Rivers State were 21.7% of the study respondents reported that their sexual debut was non consensual. Survey shows that on the average, 43% of adolescents in sub-Saharan Africa and 20% of Latin America have had premarital sexual intercourse before age 20. Sexual activity among adolescents is even higher in some developed countries. For instance, in Sweden 95% girls of 15years old have had sexual intercourse; in the United States and France 68% and 72% respectively of adolescents have had premarital sexual intercourse before age 20 years (Alan Guttmacher Institute (AGI), 1994). However, sexual intercourse before marriage is more common among young men than women. In many societies double standard exist; sexual intercourse is viewed as a sign of maturity and status for adolescent boys while for young girls it is forbidden and shameful (Barnett & Stein, 1998).This may be due to the fact that there is no yardstick to measure the