A professional educationist and the former principal of Queen’s college, FGGC Gboko, and FGC Warri, Mrs Ekwutozia Martha Osime has evoked her experience of her 35-years sojourn in the educational sector and the need to empower the girl child in the book titled: A girl and proud.
•Mrs. Abike Dabri, the author Osime and guest
In the book, Osime pays tribute to the girl child while essentially highlighting societal constraints impending quality education of the girl child and copiously drawing for her life experiences to drive home her points. The book gives an insight into the negative effect of gender bias in the provision of qualitative education in particular and girl’s child empowerment in general.
The inspiration to write this book, according to her was borne out of the need to share her thoughts and the compulsion to speak for these voiceless children, especially the greater number who are so marginalized the street hawkers, the house helps or slave workers, the kidnapped children, the abused child.
Osime opined that yet I single out the girl child for attention, the most compelling reason being the reflections of my childhood days, when quite a handful of girls were denied secondary education either because of poverty or ignorance, though steadily and reasonably ebbing in the southern part of Nigeria, the fact that of Nigeria, the fact that parts of the country still suffer same fate today does not assuage the ache”.
However, the author reinstates that things are looking up. Gender discrimination in sending the girl child to schools is thinning out, albeit only in some parts of the country. Reviewing the book Professor FA Osanyin noted that “A girl and proud, is not only a must -read but also a must have book for that girl child who also a must have book for that girl who needs to step out as a confident woman to conquer her barriers and that boy child, tomorrow’s father who must now begin to view the girl child as equal in all aspects of human endeavour and social development”.
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Recommending the book, Dr Macjohn Nwaobiala former permanent secretary federal ministry of education said that the book will be useful for all parents, guardians, counselors and other caregivers who desire a good future for their children. Educational institutions nationwide will find the book a valuable aid to teaching the need for meritocracy.
“Apart from reading the book for pleasure. Every family should have a copy. It is a needed asset government agency that is working to achieve peaceful and progressive community relations, especially those that concern girl child empowerment issues. International concerns that promote girl child interests will definitely find this book a useful resource material” he added.
In her keynote address titled the Mathematics, Economics and Politics of empowering the girl child Mrs Ifueko Omoigui-Okauru, said that girl child empowerment is important to achieve gender inequality, to empower women and girls to eliminate all forms of violence, eliminating all forms of forced marriage. “You need to be self-dependence before interdependence.
Studies have shown that women are more likely to help in families than men if they are empowered. And if we really want this country to we will not go far if we do not take the empowerment of girl child seriously.
This book helps for those who want to know, we need more book and stories to support Nigerian empowerment. And those who can do something about it are actually perplexed because they don’t know what to do”. Undoubtedly, the book will elicit attitudinal changes in family and public spheres towards facilitating support for girl education and gender attention and respect.
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