Life has taught me that any challenge that comes my way is a route showing an
Opportunity to learn. The ability to face life challenges and overcome it with dignity is what stamps our place of pride as a girl child. Over the years I have learnt from my parents, teachers and personal experience never to allow pressure of societal trend, quest for quick money and inordinate ambition lead me into making decisions that are against moral principles but rather chest these situations and come out of them undeterred.
This write up will therefore x-ray the menace of hook-up on campus with reference to the girl Child, while examining these problem via research and also giving possible reflective solutions through which it can be avoided.
The contemporary trend of societal demands have seen the girl child gone far off the line of morality to the point of now championing moral Decadence leading to the societal trend called HOOKUP especially on campus. The unwillingness to work hard for better self and a better future even as a student is the sole architect if hookup. In clearing the air of ambiguity one may ask; what then is hook-up?
Hook-up is a rebranded name for prostitution business where ladies invest their bodies as sex workers without a fixed prostitution house and get profit in return for their services. Through this, Ladies get engaged with different men from all corners of the cosmos defiling their bodies just to meet their financial needs. The question is, is hook-up the best or only way? The answer is NO for there are lots of things out there to do to earn a decent living.
One of the reasons why ladies involve in hookup is laziness. This girls are not ready to work hard for money but cannot in turn resist the fleeting attraction of money and would want to meet every financial needs. “me I no fit dey do that pos work, I prefer this sharp way” said a young lady I met at anyingba hotel opposite Prince Abubakar Audu university.
The girl child is stranded financially today and runs into body investment as the only option because they have failed to acquire basic skills and handwork that will help them earn a decent living. “Hand work self no be anything this days, you fit learn am no fit set up or see customers that’s why I leave the work” said a young girl who stopped learning the hair dressing she was registered for by her brother, she is currently into hookup and stays away from her home.
A girl child you did not bring up informing her of the dangers ahead is prone to grow up and feel it’s a free world where anybody can live anyhow they please. This is why young girls who are students especially on campus will tell you ” na my life be dis, I go live am anyhow I want” this they say when they’re been cautioned anytime they set out to go meet their clients for the day. Young girls that are not taught that men are not their source of income but are tutored in the fact that hardwork is what pays is prone to dive into a deep sense of entitlement and when there’s nobody to satisfy their wants they head straight to the business of the day. “my boyfriend no fit give me wetin I want so I need do hookup as side hustle make I meet up,” said Vera who left her father’s house at Egume to lodge at early base hotel Anyingba for her hookup business. This, she said, when she was slapped by her boyfriend after he caught her with another man, this happened right in my presence because the receptionist of the hotel happened to be my friend and I was with him as at that time.
On campus the pursuit of academic excellence often collides with the quest for fleeting pleasures. Hookup which is fueled by peer pressure has become a challenge for many girls, their self worth is now equated with their physical appearance and sexual conquest. Sarah a student shared her experience and said “I thought hooking up was just fun but it made me feel used and unhappy, I felt like I needed to look and act in a certain way to be liked especially by my friends”.
The statistics from some campus organization like: student health services, campus women centers, students counseling services etc shows 60% of the girl child on campus are into hookup. The consequences are not far reaching, affecting academic performance, relationships, physical health, societal decadence and the danger of untold death possibilities. But there is hope, campus organizations and support groups like: women technology empowerment center (W.TEC), Empowering women for excellence initiatives Nigeria(Ewei), Give girls a chance etc are warming up to combat hookup and empower the girl child.” we want the girl child to know their self worth, be proud of who they are and focus on their strength ” said Juliet Yahaya Onechojo, student union government (SUG)director of women affairs Prince Abubakar Audu University.
Parents, teachers and the society should teach and preach hard work to children especially the girl child, making them understand that there’s need for hard work therefore skill acquisition should be encouraged in institutions of learning just like the entrepreneurship development studies(EDS) been carried out in prince abubakar audu university, it helps students learn baking, tailoring, soap making etc.By this, students, especially the girl child learns and get busy with their hands which will in turn kill idleness, improve their self growth, have money of their own when the skills and creative talents are put into use. They will be no time to think of men who will settle their financial needs in exchange for their bodies because they have their own money.
Amidst all, the hookup trend or culture is never the best or only way to go when stranded financially as a student or a girl child, there are better options to take to earn a decent living such as: selling of snacks or other valuables, working as sales girls in shops or been a pos operator and other available menial jobs.Therefore let the student girl child be guided and go after profitable ventures that will earn them a decent name, a good legacy and a culture or trend that respects the girl child because if the girl child fails today there will be no women to call mothers tomorrow.
Finally, life itself is not measured by its duration but by its donation. A girl child should make up her mind not to die as a woman but as an institution.
– Agbo Beatrice Ehi
A Mass Communication 300l Student of Prince Abubakar Audu University Anyingba Kogi State.
