…Group makes him Grand Patron
The Deputy President of the Senate, Ovie Omo-Agege, has canvassed trauma-informed education to assist children recover from the experience of insurgency, banditry, brigandage and other social vices bedeviling the country.
He spike at the International Conference of the Association of Professional Counsellors in Nigeria (APROCON) in Abuja on Tuesday, Omo-Agege called for the adoption of trauma-informed education in Nigeria.
He described the theme of the event, ‘Trauma informed Education in Nigeria’ as apt, coming at a time the country is faced with challenges of insecurity.
Represented by his Senior Special Assistant on Electronic Media, Ms Lara Owoeye-Wise, Omo-Agege said: “In recent times, trauma-informed education has become recognized in many nations that are forward-looking and moving with the times. This has been made even more relevant, given the ever-increasing tension spots in the world. countries, especially in Africa; particularly sub-Saharan and the Sahel region, have become hot spots of terror and all the trauma that goes with it.”
According to him, in the past 12 years, Nigeria has been battling on many fronts against insurgency, banditry, brigandage and sundry violent maladies that have impacted negatively on many children, further driving the need to take this form of special education more seriously.
While noting that social dislocations like divorce are on the increase, Omo-Agege added:
“No doubt, such a scenario where families are dislocated, has an adverse effect on the children, particularly the young ones of such homes. What we have ultimately would be subtle trauma, especially psychological, that manifests in many ways. These may include withdrawal syndrome on the part of such children, peer ridicule, stigmatization and even victimization, bullying sometimes and even rejection. At the end, we find that such children would begin to tend towards falling into the ‘special needs’ category, and needing special education techniques, methodology and methods.”
“Another factor that causes subtle trauma is the generally growing gap between the rich and the poor; a situation that is fast becoming a serious issue in these sub-Saharan African countries referred to earlier. This is why Nigeria has taken the initiative to put programmes in place to lift 100 million people out of poverty in the next ten years. Studies have shown that when a child feels threatened by extreme social or economic conditions such as poverty, there is a range of traumatic events he or she is highly susceptible to,” he declared.
He expressed support for APROCON’s push for a legislative framework to professionalize counselling in Nigeria.
The high point of the event was the conferment on the Senator of the prestigious title of the Grand Patron of APROCON.
