Popular activist and president of Centre for Change, Dr. Josephine Okei Odumakin, has called on all stakeholders, particularly the government, to create an enabling environment for the development of girls so that they can voice their opinions.
She made the call while speaking at an event that brought secondary school girls together in commemoration of the International Day of the Girl Child organised by Hacey Health initiative with support from Access Bank Plc for the eighth time in Lagos.
Although this year’s theme was GirlForce: Unscripted and Unstoppable, the organisers canvassed for investment in girls under theme: Empowering Girls for a Brighter Future.
Originally celebrated on October 11, the global event is a time when the pains, gains, and future of the girl child are brought to the fore. The annual celebration highlights the issues concerning gender inequality facing girls. The main aims of the day are to promote girl’s empowerment and fulfillment of their human rights.
“The government has not done enough in addressing the issues concerning the girls and ensuring more girls get into schools,” she said.
These issues—nutrition, legal representation, medical care, protection from discrimination, violence against the girl child, child marriage, right to education/access to education are the challenges girls face all over the world.
Odumankin said education leads to growth and if it is not taken seriously, it would impact negatively the development of the nation.
“The girl child remains the lubricant for the survival of a great country called Nigeria, and that’s why we need more awareness, and we also need parents to change their mind-set, (about) early childbirth, early child marriages. Some of them don’t even know what reproductive rights is all about.
“The success or failure of the girl child resides in the community, parents and the government. Government has to be more responsive and responsible in creating an enabling environment in terms of security, in terms of making education free or less expensive, in also having a strong judiciary so that anyone that flouts the regulations will be brought to book as to serve as a deterrent,” She said.
Odumakin also said parents and guardians should know that they do not have any right to keep their wards out of school for them into trading their bodies.
She encouraged girls, (and women by extension) to be bold, confident, brave, and ensure that they acquire knowledge.
“For those who are not properly educated, this is the time for education to be made free, and parents should know that they have the chunk of the blame if they do give their young ones moral upbringing. It is the responsibility of all of us, but in particular, the girl that is involved must be brave, courageous, speak up, and realize that where determination exist, failure can never dismantle the flag of success,” Odumakin said.
Answering questions on the event, Rhoda Robinson, Executive director, HACEY Health initiative said the event was to celebrate girls who are the focus of the organisation.
They are our source of content, our source of information, and bringing them together today shows that we’re prioritizing their voices and needs, what they require and asking them to lead the way in development processes as well. Today we’re bringing them together to celebrate the girl child, to recognise how powerful, strong, and unstoppable the girls can be, Robinson said.
“We’re calling people to invest in empowering girls because when you empower girls, you’re empowering a nation. It has multiplier effects, and this is one of the investments that we need to push across sectors tom ensure that everybody knows how important this is at the end of the day,” she said.
ForMeWithMe, an initiative aimed at empowering girls so that they can take their place when it comes to decisions concerning development that pertains to them; and the Girl Talk Show, a TV show that gives girls the platform to speak up about issue about them and important to them; were launched at the event.
“Access bank strongly believes that investment in women and girls is an important key to achieving gender equality and promoting development. This is why as an organisation, we have dedicated resources and funding to our women banking and other initiatives directed primarily at empowering women and girls,” Omobolanle Victor-Laniyan, Head Sustainability Access bank Plc noted.
Desmond Okon
