•Girl-child in Nigeria
Despite several activities that mark the annual celebration of the girl-child, the significance of the day is lost on millions of girls in Nigeria who are conditioned not to live up to their potentials by the prevailing economic conditions and societal constructs. KEHINDE AKINSEINDE-JAIYEOBA shares the story of the girl-child in Nigeria today, reports Nigerian Tribune.
Tobi Amuda (not real name) is a young girl of 16 to 18 years old. She has been serving as a house help as long as she could remember. She doesn’t even know her actual age as she goes with the age given to her about 10 years ago when her mother’s family gave her out to serve as house help.
Before then, her childhood memories are vague. All she could remember was that she had lived with so many relatives in a village close to the Nigerian border in Yewa South Local Government Area of Ogun State.
She never knew her father and her mother had died when she was very young. Her relatives, mostly fishermen, took care of her as they live communally.
When a distant aunt suggested that she should be taken out of the community to work at age of about six years old, she said her maternal grandfather was open to the idea because that was what the aunt also did before she got married and had a business of her own.
Now a young girl in her prime, Tobi seems to have mapped out a picture of her future, not based on the hope that a girl-child could be whatever and whoever they dream of. She hopes that her future will be better than her aunt’s because unlike her aunt, she was able to complete her primary and junior secondary school education.
“I believe that with my knowledge and exposure, I can learn a better trade unlike my aunt and the rest of my family that are majorly into fish business. Not that some of them are not doing well, but I don’t want that life. I believe I will live a better life,” she said.
Despite the public enlightenment and education about the importance of the girl-child, many young women are yet to realise their potentials due to the limitations placed by the society on the girl-child.
In October, Nigeria joined the international community in celebrating the girl-child across the country.
While some went along with the global theme: ‘Invest in Girls’ Rights: Our Leadership, Our Well-being’, others celebrated in their own unique way. The bottom line was that the girl-child was celebrated and had her day.
Wife of President Bola Tinubu, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, speaking at the National Girls Interactive Session with policy and decision makers to commemorate the 2023 International Day of the Girl-child, noted that the girl-child must be protected from all forms of violence with a safe and inclusive environment provided for her to thrive.
“Our girls are not just the leaders of tomorrow; they are the leaders of today. It’s high time we broke down barriers that have held them back for long. Education is the key weapon that we must use to ensure that every girl is free from discrimination and intimidation.
“This is one of the reasons I have taken it as a priority to encourage the girl-child so she can achieve her potentials. Under the Renewed Hope Initiative (RHI), we are looking at promoting alternative high school for girls so that despite whatever misadventure they find themselves in, they can still acquire education that could give them access to higher education. I urge all well-meaning Nigerians to help show the girl-child that there is a good way.”
The roots of International Girl-Child Day can be traced back to the United Nations and its commitment to advancing gender equality and girls’ rights. Prior to its establishment, there were several pivotal events and developments in the realm of girls’ rights that laid the foundation for this global observance.
During the celebration, both corporate and public institutions in Nigeria held series of programmes, emphasising the need to empower girls by promoting their rights, encouraging their voices and supporting their personal development, as empowered girls are more likely to break free from the cycle of poverty and discrimination.
Given that girls are often more vulnerable to exploitation, abuse, and violence, the day highlighted the importance of protecting girls from all forms of harm and ensuring their safety by encouraging girls to actively participate in society, express their opinions and engage in leadership roles.
However, these messages from government and civil society placing importance on the girl-child still remain far-fetched to the realities of many girls across the country.
Mary, a 12-year-old girl, who assists her mother in selling plantain in streets around New Oko Oba area in Abule Egba, seemed ignorant of her right as a girl-child. While she is aware of the international celebration of the girl-child, the message was lost as the aim and objectives of the celebration did not make much sense to her.
Speaking with our correspondent, Mary explained that she has been helping her mum sell her goods for the past three years and she fully understand that this is her contribution to the family. Although she is young and definitely not the breadwinner of the family, but she also needs to play her part in supporting the family.
“My dad is a bricklayer, while my mum is a trader. My parents pay my school fee and feed me and my three younger siblings. How do I support them when I can clearly see that feeding doesn’t come cheap? I know my parents would have done more if they can but financially, they are incapacitated. We used to have a shop before where my mum sells plantain but since she couldn’t afford the rent, she opted for hawking her goods. I was the one that even suggested that I will join her to hawk plantain after school,” she said.
Mary explained that though she is a girl, she has never been harassed neither has she been exploited. According to her she doesn’t hawk beyond her environs, unlike some that goes to the main road to sell.
“I sell in about eight to 12 streets around my house. Most of my customers know my parents. I’ve never been harassed by the opposite sex. I don’t go out to sell at night,” she said.
For Temidayo Oreofe, selling bread on the expressway is a trade she learnt and mastered from her elder brother. She explained that she had to compete to find her relevance in the business of selling bread as the trade is male-dominated.
“I know I am wonderfully and fearfully made and there’s a purpose God created me female. But in business, I’ve never brought my femininity into play. I work hard in this business. I am agile and smart and that’s what I use to my advantage and not the fact that I’m a girl.
“There was a time some of the people we sell bread together on this part of the road believed I make more sales because I’m a woman. But now I think their opinion about me has changed because they see that I work very hard, even harder than most of them. They’ve learnt to give me my respect.”
Temidayo, who will be 19 years old in a few months, explained that government had never been fair to children especially the girl-child.
“I am still young but I’ve lost hope in this our government. I’m done with my secondary school education. I’m hoping and praying that I’ll be able to further my education. But even if I do, I’ll still continue with my business because that is my saving grace. The government has never made my life better in any way. I am the one that determines how well my life will be.”
She noted that the government has failed in protecting her as a girl, now the responsibility is on her.
“I have been assaulted on this street, I have been cheated and robbed. Once, I made a complaint to a police officer on duty at the road where I sell my goods. His reply turned me off from ever looking to the government to assist.
“I told the policeman that I was robbed by some thugs and that I know them very well and can identify them. But the policeman said that keeping my money safe is part of the business tricks that I should learn and chasing after thugs that stole my money wasn’t part of his duty.”
In the northern part of the country, terrorists and bandits now habitually kidnap female students. This was clearly exemplified in the 2014 abduction of schoolgirls in Chibok, Borno State.
This, as well as rape, early marriage, banditry, conflicts, and domestic violence have further discouraged the girl-child from getting education.
Overall, Nigeria still remains far behind as statistics have shown that the number of out-of-school girls remains high.
Last year, the federal government said Nigeria’s illiteracy rate had dropped to 31 percent, down from 38 per cent in 2015. Still, this suggested that 76 million are un-schooled.
CountryMeters puts the literacy rate at 59.6 percent, and the United Nations put the rate at 62 percent. Literacy rate for adults is 69.19 percent, and 49.68 percent among adult women.
UNESCO states that Nigeria now has 20.2 million out-of-school children, with over 60 per cent of them girls.
In 2022, UNIICEF said of the 18.5 million out-of-school population in Nigeria, over 10 million of them were girls.
While the government has played a part in promoting girl-child education, these efforts still need to be intensified as the impact is yet to be felt with the rise in population.
Minister of State for Education, Dr Yusuf Sununu, recently noted that no less than three million girls across seven states are currently benefiting from the Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment (AGILE) project of the Nigerian government, aimed at keeping the girl-child in school.
Dr Sununu also said the federal government, under the leadership of President Bola Tinubu, is planning to enrol 10 million out-of-school children as it revives the National Commission for Adults and Almajiris Education, to provide out-of-school children, including Almajiris, “quality education with skills acquisition for better society”.
While so much efforts are made to promote quality life for the girl, especially in the area of education, it is believed the sociocultural factors impeding the girl-child should be carefully dealt with
Akudo Ruth, a volunteer social worker with an NGO that empowers young women, explained that more often than not, sociocultural factors have placed a huge burden on girl-child, constraining her not to live a fulfilled life.
According to Ruth, in her interactions with out-of-school girls, many believed they are ill-fated or created to be subordinates as the culture placed more importance on the boy-child.
“There have been many cases where the father, despite being able to train the daughter, refused to do so because his culture does not give room for women education. There have been cases that we empower the women to be independent, but after the training, they still submitted to cultural pressure that the responsibility of women is to sit at home and cook for the family, even when the man of the house is unable to adequately provide for his family. Some of the women that overcame that cultural pressure are seen as deviants,” Ruth said.
She, therefore, advocates intensified efforts by all to teach the girl-child to be her own person.
“This cannot be done by the government alone. We all need to be involved in this fight for gender equality and fairness. People need to understand we are no longer in the dark age where female are treated as no better than slaves. Yes, government is playing its part to ensure that girl-child education, as the most powerful agency of change for the modern woman, is part of Nigeria’s formal education system. But it goes beyond the four walls of the classroom.”
