As Nigeria joins the rest of the world to mark the 2021 International Day of the Girl Child, the Deputy Senate President Ovie Omo-Agege has said that every girl-child should be given the opportunity to harness and realise their full potentials in life.
A statement by his spokesperson, Yomi Odunuga, said Senator Omo-Agege stated this in Abuja on Monday in his goodwill message to commemorate
this year’s International Day of the Girl Child, organised by the Federal Ministry of Education.
He described the theme of the celebration: ‘Digital generation. Our
generation was apt and encouraged every girl-child in the country to
remain confident and focused in the pursuit of their goals.
Represented by his Chief of Staff, Dr Otive Igbuzor, the Delta Central
lawmaker restated the commitment of the National Assembly to always
make good laws meant to eliminate all forms of discrimination against
the girl-child..
“On the side of the legislature which I represent, we have not been
resting on our oars. Firstly, Nigeria is signatory to typical
international charters that seek to protect the girl child. These
include the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights
(1948); the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) of 1979, among others.
“Secondly, we have a collection of statutes that address issues of
discrimination and undue restriction of the girl. They include the
Child Rights Act (2003) with specific clauses that protect the girl
child; the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act (2015), also
with specific clauses that protect women from violence that could
undermine their psyche and self-worth, among others.
“We are also aware of the popular Bill for an Act to prevent, prohibit
and redress Sexual Harassment of students in tertiary educational
institutions and for matters concerned therewith (2019), which I had
the privilege to sponsor. As we know, the Bill has already been passed
by the Senate and is now only awaiting the concurrence of the House of
Representative,” Omo-Agege said.
The senator made a case for more girls to be part of the new
technology culture, adding that Science, Technology, Engineering, and
Mathematics (STEM) should not be dominated by boys.
