First Lady of Ekiti State, Erelu Bisi Fayemi has disclosed that new advocacy aimed at keeping girls in school will begin during the next academic session in September.
The First Lady said the new advocacy which is termed “Keep Girls in School” will be based on existing policies and laws and in collaboration with educational institutions, parents and organizations.
Erelu Fayemi made this known during a meeting with the leaders of Non-Governmental Organizations operating in the State at her office in Ado-Ekiti on Monday.
The First Lady also expressed sadness on the alarming rate of out-of-school children, especially girls in the country. “The number of girls dropping out of school in Nigeria is becoming alarming, we have 15 million of the kids out of school now and out of them, 70 percent are girls,” she said.
Erelu Fayemi warned that failure to address the negative trend might have negative consequences on the lives of the girl-child and the society at large. “Looking at it from the perspective of national development, if this trend continues, it means that in 10-20 years time we will have reduced number of doctors, engineers, and other professionals that should have been produced. And for every girl child that drops out of school, they are going to be part of what I called a cycle of generational poverty in our society because it will affect them, their children and grandchildren who would also roam the streets”, she said.
Erelu Fayemi emphasized that the new advocacy is driven by the necessity to stop girls of school age from roaming the streets. According to her, the government will support the advocacy with assistance for indigent kids to have vocational training and skills acquisition.
Appreciating the First Lady on behalf of her team, Mrs.Abimbola Aladejare of the Girl Generation End FGM Ambassador, Nigeria advocated for an adolescent center which will further cater for the needs of women and girl child and assist in further preventing issues of early pregnancy, rape and other forms of oppression against the female.
