The forgotten gender: Stakeholders lament neglect of boy-child in Nigeria, say it fuels insecurity, domestic crises

By Uche Okobi
Ibrahim grew up in the Crittall-Hope area of Barnawa, Kaduna, Kaduna State. By age 11, he became the man of the house in a one-room dwelling that he shared with his mother and four sisters when his father left for Lagos in search of work in August 2020, shortly after the COVID-19 lockdown and easing of restrictions, and never contacted the family again. His mother, a petty trader, had five other mouths to feed and no time to ask where her only son disappeared to after school. By 13, Ibrahim dropped out of school and began running errands for a gang around Kingsway, along Ahmadu Bello Way.
 

It was said that Ibrahim died in 2023 in the runup to the general electio...