In Nigeria, curation of culture and arts has experienced a remarkable change from being a mere showcasing to life-changing impacts through expressions. In today’s world, the curators are more concerned with leveraging societal culture and arts to portray stories of real experiences and inspire social change.

To this end, there are growing attention around promoting societal change for certain groups, to emphasise in particular, the protection of the girl child against vices, social stratification and abuse which has characterise most advocacies and humanitarian activities involving sanitary pad distribution to girl children in schools, raising awareness against abuses and partrichial marginalisation, and other meaningful activities, without the curation of art.

A closer look at the arts curation space in Rivers State reveals a rich colorful cultural life, which mirrors the outstanding work of the founder of Egbema Girl Child Education Foundation (EGCEF), Anointing Nkeiruka Ijeoma.
The organisation uses art curation to highlight the voices of young girls and raise awareness on female genital mutilation, girls education, gender expectations or identity, and against social vices like sexual assault and all forms of abuse,.

Ijeoma has built upon her curative initiative over the years by significant pioneering programs like the ONELGA girl child Day and Ohaji Egbema Girl Child Day in 2020, Orashi Girl Child Day in 2021, and Rivers State Girl Child Day in 2022. These programmes features mixtures of expression through music, dance, spoken word, drama, and other creative expressions to celebrate the girl child and narrate the untold stories of the girl child  in an unprecedented way.

As a curator, Ijeoma has gained prominence through its vision that brings the ideal girl child transformation into existence, the tenets of which are based on her training as a lawyer, who graduated from Rivers State University (RSU), Port Harcourt, and an unassuming quest built upon solid familiarity with her moral cultural background as a native of Egbema in Rivers State, Nigeria. These attributes form the curative qualities that has distinguished her creative expression in the art scene.

Ijeoma considers as most primary mission, the opportunity to change the narrative of every downtrodden and disadvantaged girl child by inspiring confidence in young teenage girls through the expressions of art.
Recently, on July 17, 2026, at Omoku, Ijeoma curated Her Stage, a platform that was used to give a voice to the girl child through expression of art. The guiding philosophy of Her Stage was simple yet powerful, reflecting one stage, many voices, and countless stories.

It featured a multi-disciplinary art making platform that brought together many girl-children in a room, showcasing rich moral rectitude that enriches the cultural bank of Rivers State and Nigeria at large, with a message that speaks through the lens of arts and culture by giving every girl child in attendance, a chance to be heard, bringing expression to life, creating social dialogue, and projecting their concerns to the fore.

The curative works of Anointing Nkeiruka Ijeoma are not just about creating arts for entertainment purposes, but to deliver a message that rejuvenates and motivates every girl child, spurring them to discover their identity and own their voice, so they can be heard; most importantly an exhibition that has inspired a generation and mentally prepared them to mitigate gender marginalisation and abuse, turning exclusion into inclusion, and creating a world where every girl child can actualise their dreams without barriers.
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