A Lawyer and Girl/Women Rights Advocate, Hannatu Dauds Simon has called for the elimination of biases and discriminatory practices against the girl-child in Nigeria.
She made this charge in her statement in commemoration of this year’s International Girl-Child Day.
According to the statement made available to TheNigeriaLawyer, Hannatu declared that now is the time to secure the future of the adolescent female. She condemned various forms of oppression, neglect and molestation which young girls are subjected to in Nigerian societies.
She said; “Now is the time to make real the prospects of the Girl child! Now is the time to secure the future of the adolescent female! She plays divergent roles in her life: She runs the home, shapes morality and balances the society. Yet she is continually oppressed, neglected, molested and denied educational opportunities.”
She called on the society as a whole to commit to the preservation of the rights of the girl-child to aspire and achieve her aspirations as the world marks the 10th International Day for the Girl-child.
“As we commemorate the 10th anniversary of the international day of the Girl child, we call on the society to renew its commitment to give the Girl child a feeling of belonging, listen to their voices, groom them for a better tomorrow and shape them for an investment in realizing their mental, physical and will power .The time is now! We shall no longer sit and watch the promises of the girl child buried in the quick sands of anonymity. We shall no longer smile to Educational bias.”
She continued, “We shall no longer turn our faces away when our daughters are stripped of their dignity and pride. The whirlwind of our patriotic cries will continue to rage against discriminatory walls of the Girl Child until the Girl Child is liberated from the discriminatory shackles of female circumcision, rape, sexual exploitation, child labour, child marriage, domestic servitude, forced criminality and Educational bias.”
According to the Lawyer it is time to crush stereotypes which conceive the girl-child as merely for pleasure purpose, and emphasized that society will witness an uptick in the quality of life and standard of living if the future of the girl-child is secured.
“Yes! we must crush the stereotype that the girl child is but a pleasure toy.
When we secure the future of the Girl child, Economic growth Increases, wages and jobs increase, lives of Children and their mothers are more secured, families are sustained and health is maintained.”
Great one.