Education
Malala Advises Government to Declare a “State of Emergency for Education”
Nobel peace laureate Malala Yousafzai has called on the government to declare a “state of emergency for education” in the country.
20-year-old Malala made the suggestion on Monday, July 17, at a meeting with Acting President Yemi Osinbajo at the presidential villa in Abuja, after which she met some of the Chibok schoolgirls whose cause she advocated for.
The global education campaigner told newsmen: “I highlighted a few issues.
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“The first was to ask the government to declare a state of emergency for education because the education of the Nigerian girls and boys is really important.
“The federal government, state government and local government should all be united for this. Secondly, the spending should be made public and thirdly, the Child Rights Act should be implemented in all states.”
Nigeria has the highest number of children out of school globally, amounting to 10.5 million children. where the Boko Haram insurgency is most experienced. The UN children’s fund, Unicef has reported 60 percent, many of whom are in North-Eastern Nigeria.
Yousafzai said Acting President Osinbajo has made a “positive response” to the suggestion .
A notable symbol of attack on girls’ education is the abduction of over 200 school girls by the Boko Haram Islamist sect from their school in the Chibok in April 2014.
Malala, awarded the Nobel peace prize in 2014, supported the online #BringBackOurGirls movement to demand their release, along with celebrities, politicians and campaigners from around the world.
106 of the kidnapped girls have been released, rescued or escaped after being held captive for over three years, whereas 113 are still being held captive by Boko Haram.
Malala expressed that she was “very happy” to meet with some ofthe girls, who are currently residing in a government-run facility in Abuja.
“I’m really excited to see them going back to their homes and to their families and continuing their education,” she added.
“But I hope the other girls who are still under abduction of Boko Haram are released.”
Meanwhile, Boko Haram released a video on Monday, 17th July, showing the 10 women they captured from police convoy in Borno State in June.
