We often discuss the kind of men we want in society, but we tend to forget the boys we are raising. What does it actually mean to raise a balanced boy? A balanced boy is not just one who follows rules or excels academically. Rather, he is learning to understand his emotions and strengths, communicate […]
10-year-old Ade had always wanted to be a cook. One evening, while ravishing his mum’s delicious Semo and Egusi, he blurted out his long-held dream. Almost immediately, his dad put down his spoon. “Tufiakwa! Over my dead body,” he remarked. His mum, leaning from the doorway, added, “Ade, cooking is for girls. You cannot do
“Three sons, but you are the daughter I never had” My mother said to me in Idoma that evening after coming back home tired from work to meet the concoction rice I had surprisingly prepared. Although, the eleven-year-old me was already preparing a response to give if she asked “is that the kind of food
The title of this essay opens with a claim that, in a Nigerian’s worldview, might read like a fallacy. One may ask: by that question, do you seek to incite a prayer to God, or are you simply making a statement of how things ought to be? For it seems that in our world, our
By: Sharon Makanjuola Daniel is 14, a teenager. He sits in the classroom with his peers like every other student, but he always keeps to himself. Not because he doesn’t want to talk to them, but because no one really expects much from him and he has quietly accepted this as his reality. When he
Boys Without Borders Nigeria, through the generosity of Mr Chidera Anushiem, is officially calling for entries for the 2026 Chidera Anushiem Essay Competition. This undergraduate essay competition is a part of BWB NG’s annual International Day of the Boy-child (IDBC) campaign. Through this initiative, Boys Without Borders Nigeria aims to foster intellectual engagement on pressing
Dear Boy Child,
I know how loud the voices can be, the voices of your parents, your teachers and persons around you. The ones that already picked your career, your hobbies, even the way you should walk into a room. They have picked what kind of colours you should and shouldn’t like. Maybe they said, “This is who you must become,” as though anyone’s life was a Nollywood script with no room for edits.
In celebration of the International Day of the Boy Child, Boys Without Borders NG hosted her second edition of Ibadan Boys Conference on Saturday, May 17, 2025. The event, themed “Charting a New Course: Inspiring Minds and Transforming Futures,” held at the Faculty of Agriculture, University of Ibadan, brought together over 100 boys from secondary
Silence becomes their shield, and their prison. Pain turns inward. Sadness turns to anger, loneliness into isolation. A boy who never learns to say “I’m struggling” grows into a man who suffers in silence. The world calls him strong, but inside, he’s breaking.
In commemoration of this year’s International Day of the Boy-child (IDBC 2025), Boys Without Borders Nigeria presents the second edition of the Chidera Anushiem Essay Competition. This essay competition is open to all male undergraduate students of any Nigerian university and is made possible by the generosity of Mr. Chidera Anushiem alongside the partnership with
Over the years, issues surrounding the boy-child and his development have not been given enough attention as required, thereby causing the areas essential for his growth to be treated with levity.
