The Gombe State Chapter of the Medical Women’s Association of Nigeria, along with its affiliate group, the National Young Doctor’s Forum has celebrated the Girl Child International Day with student girls in the Government Day Secondary School, Gandu, Gombe Metropolis.
The women doctors said the essence of the sensitisation visit was to spur the young girls to greatness.
They took turns to inspire the girls on the need for them to be assertive in their choices, saying “They can be the best at whatever field or career they choose, once they put their minds to it.”
VON reports that all the speakers encouraged the lasses to be bold and confident in their choices in life.
The Medical Women’s Association of Nigeria comprises senior doctors and consultants, while the National Young Doctor’s Forum is made up of young female doctors below the age of 40, as well as student doctors.
All those who spoke to the girls emphasized the need for young girls to be strong, focused, confident, and determined so that no form of challenge will distract them from becoming great in their chosen fields.
Dr. Mercy Raymond, the Coordinator of the Gombe State Young Doctors Forum, encouraged them to learn from her humble beginning, saying “despite the challenges of being raised by a widowed mother, she remained determined and focused, even as a child.”
Dr Raymond said, that despite losing her father at the age of four, she had been able to rise to the level of a Consultant Paediatrician, through the help of her mother.
She said; “Our prayer is that you will become great in life and turn to help Gombe State, you will help Northern Nigeria, you will help Nigeria. Above all, do not forget your parents, because parents sacrifice so much to ensure that you succeed in life and not bring shame on your parents. I have become a Consultant Paediatrician and I am still going. So, I know that if you make up your mind, you will be great. In those days, it was sometimes difficult to pay my school fees. My mother sometimes borrowed before paying my school fees when I was in secondary school. My mother’s salary was just N2,000 and my school fees were more than N3,000. She must borrow to pay to pay my school fees. But I made up my mind that I must be successful and I can say that at least I have made my mother proud. My mother is very proud of me.”
The National Coordinator of the Young Doctors Forum of the Medical Women Association of Nigeria, Dr. Safiya Tanko, spoke on the theme of the day, “Invest in Girl Rights, Our Leadership, Our Well-Being” and why they embarked on the school advocacy.
Dr. Tanko emphasized that everyone must invest in the girl child.
She, however, said the girls must be determined to first get an Education which would be the pillar on which their progress would be propelled.
“Whatever it is a girl child wants to achieve, she will have to be educated. If she wants to become a doctor if she wants to become a lawyer, or even if she wants to go into something else, whatever she has to do, education is paramount. She needs to be educated, her rights need to be met and such rights need to be invested in because for her to have an education, she needs sponsors,” Dr. Tanko said.
Dr. Fatima Usman from the Medical Women’s Association of Nigeria emphasized that girls could become doctors at an early age, just as she is, while still becoming wives and mothers too.
She, however, said this could be possible only when they were determined through education.
Dr. Halima Abdulkarim, also from the Medical Women’s Association of Nigeria, on the other hand, dwelt on four key areas of spiritual, emotional, physical, and social well-being of the girl child.
She said those qualities of being prayerful, being confident, physically fit, and interacting with others would qualify her to attain greatness.
Two of the Student Doctors who spoke with the girls said they were graduating at a very young age because they believed in themselves and also set goals for themselves, which they remained focused on achieving.
Miss Jemimah Simon Hosea encouraged the girls to develop self-confidence, by telling themselves that they could make it no matter the odds, saying this will enable them to achieve their set goals in life.
Miss Talatu Abdulkarim told the girls that they could become anything they wanted to become, by studying hard and being the best at their chosen career.
A Female Lawyer, Mrs. Martha Daniel from Tracka, an organization focused on tracking the implementation of government projects in various communities in Nigeria, to ensure service delivery, encouraged the girls to be outspoken and bold, despite the opposition from the public.
Mrs. Debora Luka, from the Gombe State Ministry of Women Affairs, focused on self-control and determination by the girls.
She said she believed that no one else could make them great, unless they were determined to pursue education and discard any deception from boys, so that they will become great.
The Senior Mistress of the Government Day Secondary School Gandu, Gombe, Mrs. Awa Jacinta Iliya, thanked the women doctors for choosing their school for the sensitization, which she said had broken the stereotype that the choices of girls are limited.
Mrs. Iliya encouraged the girls to believe that there was no mountain that they could not climb.
The Medical Women’s Association of Nigeria also distributed detergents to the female students to encourage hygiene in their homes.
Mercy Chukwudiebere
