Pakistani education activist, Malala Yousafzai says the commitment of government, the work of civil society and the determination of girls in Nigeria give her hope that the future of Nigeria is bright.
The Noble Peace Prize laureate expressed her optimism for Nigeria’s education on Wednesday while speaking with State House correspondents after she met with Vice President Kashim Shettima at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Malala, who was accompanied on the visit by the UN Deputy Secretary-General, Nigeria’s Amina Mohammed, said a lot has changed in Nigeria since her last visit in 2017.
I’ll be speaking on the anniversary of my first @UN speech at 9:00 am EST. I hope you can watch ❤️https://t.co/5GCj2F9rzI
— Malala Yousafzai (@Malala) July 12, 2023
“I am here again and I have seen how much has changed in the past few years and it is because of the commitment of government officials and also the work of the civil society and education activists and the determination of girls.
“I was able to meet girls and hear from them directly how they are standing up for their rights, they are not remaining silent.
“They want a better education; they want quality education for themselves. So, that is what gives me hope and that is what brings me to Nigeria and I think that tells us that the future of Nigeria is bright if you give girls a chance and if you invest in their education.”
Pointing out that it was the third time she has been in Nigeria, Malala said she first came to Nigeria in 2014 “to show solidarity to the Chibok girls who had been abducted and I was able to meet their parents as well,” and “in 2017 and I saw more of the work that activists are doing and I met girls.”
26th Birthday
Malala said she came to Nigeria as part of activities to mark her 26th birthday anniversary, and added that she has been going around the world and meeting girls.
“Since my UN speech at age 16, I have been going around the world meeting girls from different parts of the world and raising awareness about the issues that girls face.
“We know that there are more than 120 million girls who do not have access to education right now and just as people spoke out about my education I want them to think about the education of other girls as well.
“In Nigeria, I’m here because girls’ education is important here; it will determine the future of Nigeria.
“So, I’m here because I want to bring attention to those issues. I’m here to speak as well and share my thoughts with the commonalities, and also lucky that I was able to meet girls in Abuja.
“I was also able to go to Borno State and meet incredible girls, visit their schools and also meet the education activists.
“It is the work of the education activists, girls and civil society and government that gives us hope that we can have a better future for the education of all children, especially girls here.
“I was very lucky that I had the meeting with the vice president and he gave us his time; he gave us his support.
“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 full financial commitment to ensure that no child is left behind in this country.”
Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations, Amina Mohammed, said Malala was using the opportunity to advocate for education in Nigeria.
“Ten years ago, Malala made her speech at the UN. She is the UN Peace Messenger, this time around you decided on her 10th anniversary she wanted to make the advocacy for education here in this country.
“We have a large number of out-of-school children. We know that the quality of education is not what every child should have in this country and an advocacy to an administration that is coming in; that believes in education is an important timing.”
Mohammed said that the Nobel laureate’s voice and her inspiration to the government and the rest of society would be important as the new administration in Nigeria begins its journey of the next four years.
