By Dipo Awojobi – Young African Leaders Initiative Network (YALINetwork), an initiative of the United States of America for young Africans has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to throw more weights behind campaigns for girl child education in the country.
Mrs Moriam Afolabi-Rufai, a Nigerian Ambassador of the Group made the plea during a forum organised for young Nigerians at premises of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Ikeja.
Afolabi-Rufai lamented increase in the number of girls that are out of school and domestic violence against women and girls in the country.
“We have so many Nigerian girls that are out of school, so we are calling on the President of Nigeria. to do everything possible to get every girl child back to school.
“We need to begin to change our curricula to understand the strength of every girl child 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, governments at all levels, religious institutions as well as social institutions should wake up to the counselling and protection of the 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 stays in school the better for the 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 the UN’s statistics revealed that 87 per cent of girls in developing countries enroll in primary schools, but only 39 per cent finish lower secondary school.
She added that only one in five girls in Sub-Saharan Africa makes it to secondary school and that. in the majority of Sub-Saharan African countries, only one in 10 girls graduates from secondary school.
The career civil servant then urged the government to increase the number of girls that are attending schools by making plans to support girls’ education and ending gender bias
YALINetwork, an initiative of President Barrack Obama is aimed at giving African youths opportunity to learn, lead through online resources.
The YALI Network provides virtual resources and vibrant physical spaces to equip young African leaders with the skills and connections they need to foster change in their communities and their countries established in December 2013.
Also speaking at the event, Mr Habeeb Lawal, an Alternative Medical Practitioner, urged young Nigerians, especially girls, to take care of their health to be able to realise their dreams.
Lawal, a legal luminary, said that poor health had kept many young girls away from schools.
