[In Nigeria: sexual permissiveness and sex education].

Considering the population explosion in Nigeria which is due both to medical advances and traditional beliefs in large families as well as the recent trend of sexual permissiveness which involves the teenagers population, the author of the article considers that sex education is imperative in Nigeria. However, he sees many obstacles standing in the way of general acceptance of sex education. The husband-wife relationship does not encourage free communication on the subject and colonization has removed the traditional forms of sex education through initiation rites and pre-marital counseling by the elders so that young people nowadays rely mostly on peer information or erotic movies and publications. It seems to the author that the only avenue left open is to teach sex education through the school systems. A systematic review of the provisions for sex education in primary and secondary schools as well as teacher's training colleges bring the author to the conclusion that although the sex education curriculum seems comprehensive on paper, they are mere copies of similar American or Canadian programmes with very little attempt at indigenizing them. Furthermore, the syllabus seem to be concentrated on one year instead of being spread out over the school career. The author expresses his conviction that the topic could easily be made acceptable with the right approach and he advocates grounding sex education teaching in the traditional roots of the students.