Source: independents ng
Lagos – According to research, a child born to a mother who can read and write is 50 percent more likely to survive past the age of five, and educating a girl can break cycles of poverty in just one generation. With these statistics, the education of the girl child becomes much more imperative, and this, among other factors is what inspired the Green Girl Company Limited; organisers of the Miss Nigeria Pageant, to hold the first edition of the Raising Girl Summit.
On October 11, 2019, which marks the International Day of the Girl Child, the Green Girl Company gathered over 1000 schoolgirls from primary and secondary schools across Lagos at the Incubator Event Centre Victoria Island, Lagos to inspire, educate and speak on issues that affect the girl child in Nigeria.
In attendance were remarkable women from diverse fields of interest who have over the years recorded success in their fields.
Among those present were Helen Prest Ajayi, former Miss Nigeria; Chioma Udeh, Director United Nations Information Center; Linda Ikeji, media influencer; Nimi Akinkube; Ronald Kayanja; Chidinma Aaron, the 42nd Miss Nigeria, and many others.
Speaking at the event was the Chief Executive Officer of the Green Girl Company, Dr. May Ikeora, who explained that part of that empowerment Green Girl Company does is to give the girl child a chance to deliberate on issues that affect them.
“Green Girl Company organises the Miss Nigeria pageant that started in 1957. We call this the Raising Girls Summit for a reason. The first point of contact for these girls is the home. When it comes to family issues, everybody says they do not want to put their mouth but we are very quick to say that ‘it takes a whole village to raise a child’. But when something is happening in someone’s family, we do not want to put our mouth there. If you go to the United Kingdom, they have the Department of Family and Children, which we do not have here in Nigeria. When things happen in the family, people turn their backs and say it is their family issue, when actually this is where the government should be putting their eyes. All the boys in prison today, and most of the girl children that are molested, the problems start within the family. So parents are a huge recourse to raising children. The parents need support as well. They have inherited how to raise children from their own parents which should be looked into as well, to find out if their inherited ways are the right way to raise girls for better tomorrow,” she said.
She stated that the company intends to take the summit around Nigeria but it can only be achieved with support from partners and companies. She called on all First Ladies of the different states in Nigeria to come and join them to empower Nigerian little girls, stating that catching them young is the key to a better future.
The event had three-panel sessions where the panelists discussed things like raising girls to be confident and to be aware of their environment. They also found ways to encourage girls to be involved in STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics). The girls had breakout sessions where they discussed the issues tabled at the summit. The different groups of girls came up with their solutions to these problems and presented them to the panels.
For the organisers, it was a way of hearing from the girls and for Nigerians to know what the girl child needs.
At the tail end of the event, girls who were called STEM champions were given awards to help inspire other girls to also become STEM Champions.
Also speaking at the event, the 42nd Miss Nigeria beauty queen, Chidinma Aaron, said she has always been excited about anything that would inspire young girls to be better. She explained that the summit is unique because the participants were shared in groups to proffer solutions to some of the issues that affect them.
