PRESIDENT Bola Ahmed Tinubu has
promised that his government will con- tinue to support, nurture and empower
the girl-child. The President, who made
the promise in his message to com- memorate the 2023 International Day
of the Girl-Child, eulogised the girl-child
thus: “she is not merely a gem; she is
a treasure, a beacon of hope and resil- ience.” Tinubu also urged other stake- holders to join him in creating a world
where every girl’s potential is realised
and celebrated.
In his message on the occasion, for- mer Anambra State governor and La- bour Party (LP) presidential candidate
in the 2023 election, Peter Obi, called
for massive investment in education,
especially at the primary level, for the
benefit of the girl-child. Similarly, a
non-governmental organisation, Fam- ily and Youth Support Initiative (FYSI)
advised female adolescents to stop
playing the second fiddle to their male
counterparts. Its Executive Director,
Bukoladeremi Ladigbolu, enjoined the
girls to take charge of their future and
become leaders in all spheres of life.
The International Day of the Girl-child
(IDG) is observed annually on October
11. It is a global platform to advocate
for the full spectrum of girls’ rights. The
theme of this year’s celebration, “Invest
in Girls’ Rights: Our Leadership, Our
Wellbeing” is a clarion call on world
leaders, development partners and
other stakeholders to invest in the girl-
child. The United Nations Children’s
Fund (UNICEF) and partners are call-
ing for a $1 billion increase in invest-
ments for adolescent girls by 2025.
This year’s IDG is coming at a time
when the plight of the girl-child has
increased. Young school girls have be-
come victims of sexual violence, ritual
murder, kidnapping and abductions in
many parts of the country. It has also
come at a time many young girls consti-
tute the bulk of the over 13.2 million Nigerian out-of-school children.
Despite the prohibition of child marriages, it is still practised in some countries, includ-
ing Nigeria. The same applies to child-labour, where the girl-child is equally exploited.
Available data from UNICEF show that nearly 1 in 5 girls do not complete lower-sec-
ondary and nearly 4 in 10 girls do not complete upper-secondary school today. And in
certain regions, the numbers are even more dismal. The data also reveal that around 90
per cent of adolescent girls and young women do not use the internet in low-income
countries, where their male peers are twice as likely to be online.
Globally, girls aged 5-14 spend 160 million more hours every day on unpaid care and
domestic work than boys of the same age. Also, the unequal distribution in unpaid work
increases in adolescence with serious implications for girls’ wellbeing. UNICEF further
says that adolescent girls continue to account for 3 in 4 new HIV infections among ado-
lescents.
At the same time, meeting adolescent girls’ demands for family planning with modern
methods has been slow, increasing from 55 per cent to 60 per cent since 2012. Even
before the COVID-19 pandemic, 100 million girls were at risk of child marriage in the
next decade.
We call on the President, governors and other stakeholders to go beyond their prom-
ises for improving the condition of the girl-child and empower the young girls by invest-
ing so much in their education. The first step towards ensuring a better future for the
girl-child is to bring to the classroom millions of them, who are still outside the school
system.
An educated girl-child will be free from child marriage, child labour and sexual slavery.
The government should champion the campaign to end child marriage and violence
against the girl-child. Therefore, the federal, state and local governments should invest
billions of naira in the education of school-children, the girl-child inclusive.
The place of the girl-child should not only be in the ‘kitchen and the other room.’ The
girl-child should aspire to reach any height attainable by her male peers in the society.
The government, development partners and other stakeholders must work together
to dismantle cultural and social barriers that inhibit the dreams of the girl-child from
achieving their goals in life.
The government must factor the girl-child in its development agenda. Nigeria’s growth
and development will be stunted or even vitiated if the girl-child is neglected in its na-
tion-building plans. The laws against child marriages and abuse of the girl-child should
be strictly enforced.
There is need for a national policy that will ensure the protection of the girl-child
against harmful cultural practices, including female genital mutilation. The policy should
also stipulate that every girl-child is educated up to the senior secondary school level.
