By Jonathan Lois
The Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Benjamin Okezie Kalu has expressed concern over the rising number of uneducated girl-child and the incidence of Sexual Gender-Based Violence against girls in Nigeria.
Kalu expressed the concerns on Thursday when he received a delegation from the Female Student Vanguard for Girl Child Education in Nigeria from Kano State who paid him a courtesy visit to his office at the National Assembly complex Abuja.
He observed that the issues if not tackled will have negative consequences on the child’s physical, mental, and emotional well-being.
Kalu lamented that legal instruments and several policies formulated to address gender inequality in education have not been implemented well enough to yield the desired results.
The Deputy Speaker therefore called for the establishment of more schools in rural areas to reduce the exposure of girls to social violence, especially rape.
He said: “The long distances girls have to travel to school, expose them to gender-based violence, including sexual harassment like you mentioned such as rape. The closer we bring the schools to the communities the better. Within every 5 kilometers, there should be a school. So that girls in the rural areas will not be exposed to this violence”.
Kalu noted that the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led administration is committed to addressing challenges militating against girl-child education and gender empowerment.
While thanking the advocacy group for honoring him with an icon of exemplary leadership award, the Deputy Speaker pledged to adopt the Female Students Vanguard for Girl Child Education as one of his pet projects.
They expressed optimism that with the help of compassionate individuals like Kalu, their objective of reducing women’s illiteracy in Nigeria by getting more girls into school will be achieved.
“We have been following your track record, the role you played in carrying everyone along in your policy-making, irrespective of gender, cultural background, or faith. So we are here also to present you the female student instrument of commendation as an icon of exemplary leadership. You represent the very best, you’re polite, simple, straightforward, confident, intelligent, an outstanding figure, and an efficient team player,” the group added
