Girl child education in Nigeria: Cultural impediment and role of United Nations

Girl child education in Nigeria has been bedeviled with various challenges with a view to creating an equal forms of formal education between the male folk .

Education as the name implies is the basic fundamental human rights and this has been acknowledged since the 1948 adoption of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights.

Different cultural and social values have undoubtedly contributed to gender disparity and girl child academic attainment in Nigeria.

It is culturally prominent in the Northern parts of the country for women to constantly remain at home to take care of the family needs

rather than enrolling them in schools instead engaging the boys to participate actively in the acquisitions of western education than the girl child due largely to inadequate knowledge of the positions of culture to the socialisation of the girl child through western education.

Time immemorial, series of misconceptions of the position of cultural dynamic on the girl Child Education in Nigeria has been variously advanced among the diverse ethnic Nationalities

occasioned by insufficient exposures and understanding of the applications of cultural beliefs, norms and values in acquisition of western education by the girls child.

Pathetically, this development were among the militating factors hindering the scope of reasoning of some parents or guidance to incubate and nurtured the believed that western education is not in any standard meant for Northern girls

thereby discouraging female child from competing favorably with the male child in pursuance of formal education.

To further elucidate on the cultural barriers against the girls child education in Nigeria, is the erroneous belief that when female child is educated,

it makes them look down on men consequently discouraging majority of the rural adults from getting married to classes of women that are academically balanced and vibrant

while others are of the view that if ladies spent so much time in the school might make them vulnerable to all forms of social abuses by men as a result of being a single lady with their parents making it extremely difficult to get married after graduation.

This development culminated into the low levels of investment in the girls child education by some parents who held strongly onto this cultural beliefs taking into cognizance the financial wastages

and involvement inherence in educating the girls child without corresponding benefits to the family and at the end become a laughing stock to the members of the family.

This was according to investigations the main reasons why girls child education in some parts of the country has been relegated to the background in the past.

In view of the above, the United Nations General Assembly after painstakingly evaluations of the plights and dehumanization of the girls child, swung into action on December 19th 2011, Adopted Resolution to Declare 11th October every year as the International Day of the Girls Child.

The aim of the declaration among other thing is to recognize girls Rights and the unique challenges confronting girls to actualize their dreams and potentials around the World.

However, the International Day of the Girls Child mainly focuses attention on the need to holistically and proactively address the socio-cultural, Economic and political challenges confronting the girls child from attaining greatness

and promote girls development and empowerment as well as the fulfillment of their human Rights to compete favorably with their male counterparts.

According to the United Nations General Assembly Resolution on the Girls Child, Adolescent girls have the Rights to a safe , education and healthy life throughout the formative years to womanhood.

Similarly, Girls Child have enormous talents and potentials to develop and transform the World to an enviable height as mothers and future leaders .

However, over a decade ago, the global community as parts of effort to galvanize support towards uplifting the virtues and dignity of girl Child, has made significant and concerted effort with a view to project and improve the lives of the girls Child through the provisions of various aids and assistance toward better the lots of girls.

It is however pertinent to note that Nigeria government and other critical stakeholders have on different occasions made appreciable effort to drastically encourage parents and guidance on the need to pay adequate attention to develop and improve the educational needs of the girls Child.

The theme of this year International Day of the girls Child is ‘’Empower girls Child emergence response and resilience planning’’

Sadly enough, girls globally are vulnerable to sexual molestation, early child marriage,abuse and exploitation during conflicts violence particularly in the refugee camps ,

hence the need to accord them maximum protections during arms conflicts and other internal crises toward ensuring full realization of their dreams as mothers and future leaders.

Moreover, Girls Child in Nigeria have been confronted with different challenges raising from force labour,house girls, hawking on the street, prostitution for survival and other forms of enslavement numerous to mention.

Consequently, Nigeria government and other Humanitarian organizations working in the country have made a concerted efforts in this regards through vigorous campaign and synergy to fight against the abuse of the girls child and out of School girls across the country.

As the World mark yet another International Day for the girls Child, leaders at all levels should make the best use of this opportunity to drum support against discrimination on education of the girls Child.

As part of the abuse to limit the educational attainment of the girls child is the urgly practices of the early marriages as one of the greatest development challenges facing the girls child.

From all ramifications, it has considerable implications for socio- economic development of girls child to be fairly socialized in any society.

There is gain saying the obvious that education is an important determinant of an individual’s attitudes and general overview on ones life.

To educate the girls child achieve better results than educating the male child.

For instance, when you educate girls child, it tend to delay them from getting marriage early and it as well make them healthy, socialize, knowledgeable and contributes to development and growth of the economy than to make them permanently dependable in life without education.

Nigerian women’s access to formal education in some parts of the country is variously perceived as a legal way of licensing women into prostitution thereby making it sacred for girls Child to be socialized and exposed to gaining western education.

If education is forbidden or a no going area in the North or other parts of the country it would not have been possible for Nigeria to produce some prominent women that are currently in the corridors of power across the globe.

It is imperative to mention in this clime that the relevance of education to human diversification cannot be quantified considering the numerous achievement attached to girls child education globally.

Parents, traditional institutions, Civil society organization, Faith based organization and NGOs should not relent in their efforts to ensure that appropriate approach to bring about equal treatment on the education and care of the girls Child should be effectively and appropriately given a priority.

Again, Education is the only viable legacy parents and government all over the World can bequeaths on to the lives of the girls Child to prepare them morally, socially and politically for future responsibility no matter what it takes to get there.

Appropriate and adequate sensitization and mobilization of critical stakeholders such the National Orientation Agency, UNICEF, Traditional institutions and other relevant NGOs

should come together to cross fertilize idea on the need to appropriately enlightening and educating parents and guidance to support, synergize and revamp the low levels and backwardness hitherto witnessed on the girls child education in Nigeria

by according them all the necessary attentions through the provision of aids and other incentives to encourage less ambitious girls to go to school rather than falling headlong into marriage and thereafter begins to face the challenges of matrimonial responsibilities and childbirth at the early stage.

Shaibu Danjuma (Shaibudanjuma165@yahoo.com)