The senator who represented Kaduna Central Zone in the 8th National Assembly, Shehu Sani, has called on the leadership of the North to prioritise education in order to tackle challenges bedeviling the region.
He made the call at the Kaduna Girl Child Conference/Awards 2024 organised by the Creative Think Tank Group with the Theme: ‘Girl’s Vision for the Future’.
According to him, the insecurity in the North is caused by illiteracy.
“The problem we are facing today would not have reached this level if we had taken education seriously. Northern Nigeria is lagging in the aspect of education. If people are educated, they will be empowered, liberated, energised, society is secured, and peace is guaranteed. When you have illiteracy, you have poverty, and when you have poverty, you have insecurity.
“The way the political elite are reasoning is not in the region’s best interest, as if without oil and taxes we can’t survive,” he said.
Earlier, the chairman, Think Tank group, Don Olivera Idahosa, highlighted the importance of empowering a girl-child.
He noted that their aim was to see the girl-child flourish and actualise her dream.
“We discovered that the reason why poverty is increasing is because girl-child is not allowed to do skills, especially in this part of the country. We believe that women are drivers of the economy. If these young girls are captured at the early stage, let them be self-reliant, we believe it will have a positive effect on our economy.
“We also want to see how we can empower up to 200 girls where we engage them with skills so that after one year when we will be doing the second edition those girls will be celebrated. We are passionate about the girl-child, we want to see them flourish,” he said.
Idahosa called on the government, religious leaders and the traditional rulers to work together in order to break barriers stopping girl-child from flourishing.
One of the facilitators, Dr. Patience Elijah Dodo, a chief lecturer at the Kaduna Polytechnic, encouraged girls to be courageous.
“You should have vision of what you want to achieve from today, build your capacity. Your vision makes your life meaningful,” she said.
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