Group wants Buhari to support girl-child education campaign

Young African Leaders Initiative Network, a U.S.-based Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) of young Africans, on Friday called on President Muhammadu Buhari to support campaign for girl-child’s education in the country.

A leader of the group, Mrs Moriam Afolabi-Rufai, made the call at a forum organised for young Nigerians at the Lagos State House of Assembly, Ikeja.

Afolabi-Rufai decried the rising rate of violence against women and girls in the country and increasing record of girl dropping out of school or not enrolling at all.

“We have so many Nigerian girls out of school; so, we are calling on Nigeria’s President to do everything possible to get back every girl-child to school.

“We need to begin to change our curricula to understand the strength of every girl and the importance of educating them. If we train a girl-child, we will be training a generation.

“Let’s find practical ways of putting our girls in school. We need to put our girls in school to make our society better.

“The President is a symbol of authority; he should put his weight behind girl-child education,” she said.

According to her, government across levels, religious institutions as well as social institutions should wake up to counselling and protecting girl-child from sexual harassments and early or forced marriage.

Afolabi-Rufai, who called for cultural and religious reorientation, said that the more the girl-child stayed in school, the better for Nigerian society.

“When women and girls have equal access to education, societies prosper. There are numerous benefits to individuals, families and communities when we prioritise girls’ education,’’ she said.

She said that UN’s statistics revealed that 87 per cent of girls in developing countries enrolled in primary schools, but that only 39 per cent finished in lower secondary.

Afalabi-Rufai added that one out of every five girls in Sub-Saharan Africa made it to secondary schools, and that in the majority of Sub-Saharan African countries, one out of every 10 girls, graduated from secondary school.

She urged governments across the country to encourage the increase in number of girls’ enrolment in school by creating plan to support girl-education and eschew gender bias.

In his contribution, Mr Habeeb Lawal, an Alternative Medine practitioner, urged young Nigerians, especially girls, to take care of their health to enable to fulfil their dreams.

Lawal said that poor health had kept away many young girls from school.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that YALINetwork, an initiative of President Barrack Obama, is aimed at giving African youths the opportunity to learn and lead through online resources.

The network established in December, 2013, provides resources and vibrant physical spaces to equip young African leaders with skills and connections to foster change in their communities and countries.