Girl child rights activist, Malala Yousafzai met with Vice President Kashim Shettima, at the Presidential Villa Abuja, on Wednesday.
The visit was in continuation of her advocacy for girl-child education.
Speaking to State House Correspondents shortly after the visit, she estimated that over 120 million female children were still deprived of education, despite the benefits inherent in it.
She said, ”I am here in Nigeria to celebrate my 26th birthday. 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 communities, 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”.
She urged all tiers of government in Nigeria to make deliberate efforts to send girls to school and ensure that every child in Nigeria has access to complete education.
“I make bold to say that every child should have access to free and quality education, I also ask that we make a full financial commitment to ensure that no child is left behind in this country,” she said.
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