Today, the book on the table is based on a true life story. The book discusses the phenomenon of child sexual abuse and what to do to eliminate the incidence of child sexual abuse in society. The book is titled: “The New Game,” written by Ibukunoluwa Otesile, an associate member of Chattered Institute of Personnel Management with training in marketing communication, mediation and child sexual abuse. The book was published in 2018 by King’s Publication in Ibadan. Otesile runs child sexual abuse awareness campaigns to teach parents and children body safety and protection and she is founder of Hope for Second Chance Foundation, an NGO that employs public advocacy in fighting the prevalence of child sexual abuse and juvenile delinquency.
The book by Ibukunoluwa Otesile is therefore is an advocacy tool about child abuse, and it tells the story of a family, the Josephs.
Mr Joseph is an executive in a big corporation, and his wife Mrs Joseph is a successful entrepreneur. The Josephs’ three children are Derayo, Molayo and Ayodele. We are told that they live in Owode city in the South West of Nigeria and they have three maids, a cook and a driver.
In this work, we are told that Mr and Mrs Joseph are very busy, in fact, too busy to play or discuss with their children. Thus the children have no one to relate with. It is this situation that gives one of the maids, Bisade, the opportunity to get very close to Ayodele, the youngest child of the Joseph family. Bisade therefore plays with Ayodele, looks at his toys, and sometimes, she even buys him ice cream.
Most days, when Mr and Mrs Joseph don’t have time to attend to the children, especially Ayodele, so they allow Bisade to take him to his room for study. So while the parents are in their own rooms, Bisade takes Ayodele to his room and introduces a game to him. It is called the touch game. But after getting his word that he would not tell anyone about their game, Bisade informs Ayodele about the rules of the game.
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The touch game “is hide and seek”, she tells Ayodele. According to the story, we see that Bisade then touches Ayodele under his pants. She also makes the scared, reluctant Ayodele touch her underwear.
In the book, The New Game, we read that Ayodele becomes sick and taken to the hospital. At the hospital, the doctors informs Mr and Mrs Joseph that their son is HIV positive and upon examination evidence shows that he has been sexually abused. At home, they get a confession from Bisade (who herself is HIV positive) and hand her to the police for child sexual abuse.
The author, Ibukunoluwa Otesile, discusses in this book, The New Game, the problems that can occur in homes and families when the parents are too busy to carve out time for their children. This lack of parental attention gives way to strangers’ incursion on their homes and into the hearts of the children.
From the story, we also learn that it is important for parents to give a listening ear when their children make the move to speak to them and also for parents to be attentive to the unspoken communication of children in the home.
In the final analysis, the book, The New Game is a well written story with colourful illustrations especially suited for young minds. The author, Ibukunoluwa Otesile also deployed easy to read language to aid easy and quick understanding of the message she has tucked into the book.
Olatunbosun is a broadcast journalist, fact checker and book reviewer at Splash FM 105.5, Ibadan. He can be reached via 08023517565 (WhatsApp and SMS only) and email molatunbosun@splashfm1055.com.
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