On Wednesday, Vice President Kashim Shettima stated that the Tinubu-led administration was committed to educating girls in order to position them as vital contributors to national progress.
“President Bola Tinubu is fully and unequivocally committed to the girl-child education and gender empowerment initiatives,” Shettima made the remarks while receiving a United Nations mission led by UN Deputy Secretary-General and Chair of the United Nations Sustainable Development Group, Mrs Amina Mohammed, at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.
Olusola Abiola, the State House Director of Information in the Vice President’s Office, stated this in a statement issued on Wednesday titled ‘Tinubu Administration Fully Committed To Girl-Child Education, Gender Empowerment Initiatives, Says VP Shettima.’
The VP stated that Tinubu remains totally dedicated to issues of girl-child education and gender empowerment and will promote them in Federal Government policies and programs under his supervision.
According to him, “the present administration will vigorously pursue the SDGs goals 4 and 5.
“President Bola Tinubu is a passionate and committed advocate of girl-child education.
“He believes in the empowerment of our women. He believes that the prosperity and respect of every society is directly proportional to how they treat their women folk.”
The Vice President also praised the UN Secretary-General and the Co-Founder of the Malala Fund for their efforts to promote girl-child education, among other initiatives.
He said, “Amina Mohammed stands today as a symbol of hope for the African woman for her resilience, commitment and disposition and, most importantly her integrity.
“She is an oasis of hope in an unending ocean of poverty and depravity, while Malala is an icon of hope and change in a despairing world.”
He told the Malala Fund that the Federal Government would work with them for the better good of Nigeria.
Separately, the UNDSG, Amina Mohammed, and Malala Yousafzai, Co-Founder of Malala Fund, praised the Federal Government for their efforts in promoting Sustainable Development Goals 4 and 5, observing progress in the areas of gender equity and girls’ education across the country.
Mrs Mohammed told reporters after the meeting that she was in the state house with Ms Yousafzai, whose story and influence may improve Nigeria’s drive for female child education.
“Ten years ago, Malala made her speech at the UN. She is the UN Peace Messenger.
“This time around, she decided on her 10th anniversary she wanted to make the advocacy for education here in this country,” she said.
According to the UN Deputy Scribe, Nigeria has many out-of-school children and poor educational standards in most regions.
“An advocacy to an administration that is coming in, that believes in education is an important timing.
“So, her (Malala) voice, her inspiration, not just to government, but the rest of society, to governors that we met yesterday, is extremely important as this administration begins its journey of the next four years,” she added.
Malala also called for free and high-quality education for all children in the country.
“I would ask here in Nigeria that all governments of states, all party members commit to ensure that every child in Nigeria has access to a complete education, which includes senior secondary education as well; that every child has access to free and quality education and the second I ask is that we make a full financial commitment to ensure that no child is left behind in this country,” she said.
The delegation included the UN Resident Coordinator in Nigeria, Mr Matthias Schmale; the Executive Director of the UN Office of Partnerships, Ms. Annemarie Hou; the Special Assistant to the DSG, Ms. Hadiza Elayo; the Senior Advisor to the Resident Coordinator, Mr Frederic Eno; and Mr. Ziauddin Yousafzai, Co-Founder of the Malala Fund.
