For the first time since the abduction of
hundreds of schoolgirls from
Government Girls Secondary School,
Chibok, Borno State, in April, President
Goodluck Jonathan is to meet with their
parents “in the next 24 hours”. Seven of
the parents are said to have died already
as a result of the traumatic incident
which drew global attention. Jonathan
has also promised that the abducted
schoolgirls will get scholarships. The
scholarships will cover those who have
escaped from captivity so far and those
who will escape or be rescued later.
He disclosed his plans when he played
host to 17-year-old Malala Yousafzai, the
young Pakistani girl-child education
advocate who was shot by the Taliban
three years ago for her campaign.
Yousafzai is currently in the country to
support girl-child education and drum
up support for the release of the Chibok
schoolgirls in commemoration of Malala
Day ─ the day set aside by the United
Nations for global attention on girl-child
education. Jonathan also briefed Malala
on the efforts of his government to
attack poverty and illiteracy in the
north-eastern part of the country.
Malala told journalists after the meeting
that her foundation had raised $200,000
in support of the education of the
abducted girls on their return. She said:
“I am here in Nigeria on my 17th
birthday for a price which is to see that
every child goes to school. This year, my
objective is to speak up for my Nigerian
sisters about 200 of them who are under
the abduction of Boko Haram and I met
the President Goodluck Jonathan for this
purpose. “I conveyed the voice of my
sisters who are out of school or who are
still under the abduction of Boko Haram.
And for those girls who escaped from the
abduction but still do not have
education.
And in the meeting, I highlighted the
same issues which the girls and their
parents told me in the past two days.
“The parents said they really want to
meet with the president to share their
stories with him. And I asked the
president if he wants to meet with the
parents of the girls, the president
assured me that he would meet with
them. “I spoke to the president about the
girls who complain that they cannot go to
school despite the fact that they want to
become doctors, engineers and teachers.
But the government is not providing
them any facility. They also need health
facility, security, and the government is
not doing anything. “These are the issues
I presented to the president today.
And the president fortunately promised
me that he will do something for these
girls and he promised me that the girls
under the abduction of Boko Haram will
be released as soon as possible. This is
the promise the president made and I
am hopeful that his promise will come
through and we will soon see those girls
return soon. “I am hopeful that these two
promises, the return of the girls from
Boko Haram and meeting with their
parents will be fulfilled and we will see
it soon. Even though the promises have
been made, it does not mean I am going
to stop talking. I will be counting days
and I will be looking when those girls
are going to be returning home.
“I can’t stop this campaign until I see
those girls return back to their families
and continue the agitation. This is the
position of the Malala foundation. My
father and I and the entire family want
to speak out for those 10.5 million
children who are out of school. They
have no access to education because of
many problems. And I am hopeful that
the international community will take
serious action because if we think this
country is in Africa and is not going to
affect other countries, we are really
wrong. “If we leave 10.5 million
children illiterate, these children can
become terrorists, they can be violated
and they can be deprived of their basic
human rights, at the end they will not be
able to help their country in developing.
So if we want the whole world to be
successful, it is important that every
child should go to school.
Unfortunately, in Nigeria, only 1.5% of
the budget is spent on education which
is a small amount compared to Pakistan
which has increased its own to 4%.
“Money spent on education should
definitely be increased. This is how this
country is going to be developed and i
believe in the power of education. If
Nigeria must have a bright future, every
child must have an opportunity to go to
school.”
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