Vice President Senator Kashim Shettima has emphasised the critical importance of prioritising girl child education in Nigeria, calling for a concerted, multisectoral approach to address gender-based barriers to quality education.
According to him, government at all levels, traditional rulers, religious leaders, civil society organisations (CSOs), and partners in the donor community must come together “with a singular focus: ensuring that every Nigerian child, regardless of gender or geography, receives quality education.”
The Vice President, who gave the charge when he declared open the International Conference on Girl Child Education in Nigeria, held at the Banquet Hall of Presidential Villa, Abuja, noted that the dignity of the girl child defines every civilisation.
Represented at the event by Deputy Chief of Staff to the President (Office of the Vice President), Senator Ibrahim Hadejia, Senator Shettima said, the most powerful tool the nation could offer the girl child was education.
“We must enhance educational programmes that inform girls and women about their rights and the risks they face if denied the opportunity to make informed choices, especially in matters of health.”
In a statement signed by the Senior Special Assistant to The President on Media & Communications, Office of The Vice President, Stanley Nkwocha, while outlining statistics on out-of-school children in Nigeria, including the latest Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS), the Vice President warned that “each child abandoned to the streets is a liability that the nation will one day pay for”.
The Vice President, however, assured that the National Economic Council (NEC), which he chairs, has already set out to guarantee the future of the girl child, adopting education as one of its critical thematic areas of intervention.
Writing by Olaedo Mbiwe; Editing by Muzha Kucha-FRCN
