On Saturday, October 11, Nigeria joined the rest of the world to mark the International Day of the Girl Child. Workshops were organised to reflect on the theme and significance of this year’s edition and ways of eliminating violence and discrimination against the feminine gender. Senior Correspondent, JUDE KENNETH, recounts some violence against women and role of civil society groups to stem the tide.
The United Nations (UN) General Assembly had, in its Resolution 66/170, adopted, on December 19, 2011, declared October 11 every year as the “International Day of the Girl Child” aimed at recognising and promoting girls’ human rights and other socio-economic challenges such as right to education, gender inequality, violence, discrimination and abuses facing girls all over the world.
The theme of this year’s edition as enunciated by the UN is ‘Empowering Adolescent Girls: Ending the Cycle of Violence’.
In other countries of the world, the day was marked by various civil society groups with various programmes like workshops/seminar, campaigns and rallies. It is the day civil society groups and activists come together under the same goal to highlight, discuss and map out strategies aimed at advancing the rights and opportunities for girls all over the world.
In Pakistan, a child education activist, Malala Yousafzai, jointly won the Nobel Peace Prize for 2014 with an Indian child rights activist, Kailash Satyarthi.
The 17-year-old Yousafzai, who is the youngest ever to win the Nobel Peace Prize, had survived a gunshot in her head by Taliban gunmen in Pakistan two years ago after becoming prominent for campaigning for girls’ education. She won the prize for her heroic struggle for girls’ right to education.
All over the world, girls/women, who are mostly the vulnerable group, suffer human degradation such as rape/sexual harassment, molestation, kidnapping, forced marriages, forced prostitution, female circumcision and discrimination in school enrolment, and even within their immediate environment.
In Nigeria, the story is not different. There have been lots of lull in girl child education, especially in the Northern part of the country. There have been rampant cases of the aforementioned vices against the feminine gender. One of such is the abduction of over 200 secondary school girls in Chibok town of Borno State by the Boko Haram insurgents. The girls, who were abducted in April this year by armed members of Boko Haram that overwhelmed the security guards in the school, have remained in captivity till date. However, it was reported that about 57 of the girls have escaped.
Another unfortunate incident of girl child abuse is the case in which five persons are currently standing trial before a Federal High Court in Lagos for luring and forcing girls between 14 and 17 years into prostitution in a hotel at the Seme border, Badagry Lagos. The National Agency for the Prohibition of Traffic in Persons and Other Related Matters (NAPTIP) is prosecuting the accused persons under Section 15(a) of the Trafficking in Person (Prohibition) Law Enforcement and Administration Act, 2003.
The case of Miss Cynthia Osokogu, a ‘Facebook lover’ who was lured into a hotel by ‘her lovers’ and murdered, is currently before Justice Olabisi Akinlade of Lagos High Court, Igbosere. Her alleged killers – Okwumo Nwabufo, Olisaeloka Ezike, Orji Osita and Ezike Nonso – are charged with the murder case being prosecuted by Ade Ipaye, the Lagos State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice.
In Ekiti State, a 32-year-old police corporal, Olalekan Lasisi, was accused of raping a 12-year-old pupil. The women civil rights group in the state petitioned the Police Commissioner on the criminal act of Lasisi.
There have been cases of illegal and unregistered maternity homes, especially in the Southern part of the country, where teenage girls were ‘recruited’ for the purpose of getting pregnant and producing babies for sale by their employers. These teenage girls, who are in different stages of pregnancy, were discovered in illegal maternity homes at Okitipupa in Ondo State, Aba in Abia State and Owerri in Imo State.
The case of former Zamfara State Governor, Ahmed Sani, who married a 13-year-old girl cannot be easily forgotten by Nigerians. Ditto the public outcry and disenchantment that greeted the passage of unpopular girl child marriage bill by the Senate.
The Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria had on Tuesday, July 16, 2013, passed a bill supporting under-age marriage.
Ironically, the bill was passed at the time the international community and human rights agencies of the UN are campaigning seriously against child abuse, child labour and sexual abuse.
To discourage these inhuman treatments against under-age children, programmes aimed at creating awareness for the promotion and protection of children’s rights were organised by the relevant agencies and non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
Apparently piqued by the development, which is seen as encouraging forceful marriage at any age, some human and child rights activists embarked on protest to drive home their displeasure over the retrogressive bill.
When the leadership of some women groups under the aegis of Gender and Constitution Reform Network (GECORN) led a protest to the National Assembly over the passage of controversial section, Senate President, David Mark, expressed grief over non-appreciation of the Senate for attempting to erase the said portion which had been in the Nigerian Constitution since 1979.
In all, the inhuman treatment being meted on the world/nation’s feminine gender attracted the attention of UN, hence the resolution setting aside every October 11 as the Girl Child Day.
What is its significant to the girl child and civil society groups? Beyond the action of NAPTIP, has the civil society groups done much to stem the tide of issues affecting the girl child?
It is widely believed that the civil society groups are not doing enough in championing the cause of these vulnerable groups. However, Mrs. Ada Agina-Ude, the chairperson of Gender and Development Action (GADA) scored the coalition of civil society groups 50 per cent here.
She posited that civil society groups, most times, come together to pursue a common cause, adding that it all depends on the issue on the ground at a particular time. According to her, lack of funds often affect their activities, unless they have some people who are interested in their programmes and provide the resources to carry out the programmes.
The Policy, Advocacy and Campaign Manager for Action Aid International Nigeria (AAIN), Tunde Aremu, stated that the day signifies the expectation of people all over the world on the value and treatment of the girl child to good healthcare, good education, right to dignity and a meaningful life.
“The girl child should be assured of not only the material needs, but safe environment. The child should be protected from all sorts of violence such as sexual molestation and sexual abuse. She has the same rights as the male child. And she has peculiar needs which the state must recognise,” Aremu said.
Speaking on the action of AAIN, Aremu said the organisation is pursuing a policy environment whereby it engages with policy makers and agencies that are responsible for putting up structures that could enhance the education of the girl child. The organisation engages relevant agencies to put up structures for educational programmes, proper learning environment and peculiar need of the girl child such as toilet facilities which should be separated from that of the men.
The group also ensures that female teachers serve as role models to the girls. It has, therefore, introduced a programme in Zamfara State known as ‘Enhancing Basic Education in Northern Nigeria (EBEN)’, adding that the Sultan of Sokoto has embraced the programme and has taken up campaign for its success.
On funding, he said donors from Europe send resources to sponsor programmes for the children.
“The resources go to their communities for the provision of structures,” he added.
According to Aremu, one of the group’s best achievements was the creation of police gender unit known as Violence Against Women (VAW), which entails working with the police, including training of police officers. The group also introduced another programme known as ‘Safe City’, which involves campaigns to make the city safe for women.
His words: “We are campaigning to make the city safe for our women. We want good legal framework and legislative environment. We need to have our streets, motor parks as good environment, provision of toilets and other facilities.
Executive Director of Civil Society Network against Corruption (CISNAC), Lanre Suraji, told TheNiche that even before the declaration, CISNAC has, in its programmes and campaigns, been demanding the provision of education and infrastructure for the development of young people, including girl child education.
He further said that victims of violence should be properly educated and empowered to defend their rights, adding that people who may want to defend the rights of the victims may not know the peculiarity. His organisation, he said, engages in programmes that empower and educate the vulnerable groups and on how to respond to particular situations.
Executive Director, Women Consortium of Nigeria (WOCON), Bisi Olateru-Olagbegi, spoke on the need to end marginalisation of women and girls in the country. According to her, the positive multiple effect of educating the girl child should not be overlooked by the society, as gender disparity is still very much on in Nigeria.
The Bring Back Our Girls (BBOG) campaign group, while marking the Girl Child Day, implored well-meaning Nigerians to renew the call for the release of the abducted Chibok girls who have been in captivity for over six months now.
In an event organised by the Public Affairs Department of the United States Consulate General’s office to mark the International Day of the Girl Child in Lagos, the convener of BBOG, Prof. Oby Ezekwesili, said she could not help but put herself in the shoes of the missing girls, stressing that the pains of captivity could be better imagined, as the over 200 girls are still out of place.
Her words: “I just look at it and I say that only God knows what these girls are going through. That is why they need a voice, whether the people speaking out for them are 10 or one million; the more the better for them. We must stand and insist that these girls are brought back, safe and alive.
“We do not know who these girls are going to be. They could be the ones that would solve our problems as a nation. So why should we give up on them?
“It comes at a price. I have been pelted with insults, maligned, but it doesn’t matter, because nothing any of us is going through can be compared to the plight of those girls.”
Senator Florence Ita-Giwa said the forum should serve as an opportunity to bring attention to the challenges facing girls around the world, explaining that the issue of the missing Chibok girls “has been a source of concern to everybody”.
“I do wish and hope that soon they will come back home. But as a mother, I cannot even think of what it would be like if it was any of my children that such a thing happened to,” she added.
A pressure group, Team Jonathan Global Initiative (TJGI), on that day, appealed to world leaders to address the issue of gender inequality, stressing that women should be properly integrated into the society, to make them feel that they are part of the society.
Its national coordinator, Shield Nwazuruahu, said in Abuja: “We are appealing to world leaders to stop discrimination against the girl child and bring them at par with their male counterparts.
“There is a fundamental challenge facing the girl child, and there is every need to make them feel they are part of the society. They need not to be relegated to the kitchen. They deserve better attention than the attention being given to them now.”
A member of the group, Miss Tolutope Lawal, pointed out that the era of women being relegated to the kitchen has gone, expressing that women were capable of doing things efficiently without seeking assistance from men.
She commended the federal government for including women in its administration, appealing that more opportunities should be given to the girl child.
To mark the day in Nigeria, President Goodluck Jonathan had ordered the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to allocate N12 billion to women development, education and security.
As we celebrate the girl child, we are humbled by the dismal figures of female literacy and school enrolment in our country, especially in the North. Let all concerned Nigerians, especially the civil society groups, join hands and resources together to bring to an end the discrimination, violence and brutal denial of education to feminine gender.
According to United Nations Resolutions 66/170, “Empowerment of and investment in girls are key in breaking the cycle of discrimination and violence and in promoting and protecting the full and effective enjoyment of their human rights.”
