By Aisha Audu.
Chairman of the Kogi State Security Trust Fund, Hon. Teina Abdulmalik has said that the best protection and source of confidence for a girl child is to be properly educated in order to find her rightful place in the society.
Abdulmalik made the statement on the occasion of the 2020 International Day of the Girl Child in Lokoja the Kogi State capital; stressing that it is the responsibility of the parents and the society to provide a safety environment for the girl child.
According to him, the theme of this year’s celebration – ‘My Voice, Our Equal Future’ – could not have come at a better time considering what the girl child has gone through these few months of Covid-19 lockdown.
He said when you give a girl child a voice by educating her, you educate the world as well as securing her future. He further advised the girl child to avoid any situation that would lead to rape or other violence against them.
Hon. Abdulmalik called on parents, especially mothers, to always look out for their children especially the girl child and to make sure they are educated on where to be and where not to be at a particular time.
He called on the world leaders to fufill all the promises made concerning the welfare of the girl child twenty-five years ago at the Beijing Conference in China.
“The global take over is a call to action for radical, social and political change to tear down the barriers of discrimination and prejudice that continue to hold the girl child back,” he said.
He thanked Governor Yahaya Bello for the passing and the domesticating of the Kogi State Child Right law and also for the protection of the girl child in the state.
Hon. Abdulmalik also called on both the state and the federal governments not to only arrest rapists but to give them serious and strict penalties for rape cases.
