NAN-H-124
Education
By Toba Ajayi
Ilorin, Feb. 23, 2017 (NAN) A cleric, Simon Adegoke has called on parents to educate their girl-child in order to bridge the gender gap and create opportunities for them to excel.
Adegoke, pastor of Worshipers Ministry, Gaa-Akanbi, Ilorin made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday.
The pastor, who was speaking on the challenges being faced by the girl child, said educating both sexes was important.
According to him, most parents are of the view that investing on the girl –child is a waste, as they believe that females will be married off some day.
He said most African parents invest and placed more value on their male child education, while they feel any investment on the girl-child was a waste of resources.
“It is very common among some illiterate parents. They think every amount spent on a female child is a waste. They prefer to send them out to hawk around and never ready to give them quality education.
“It baffles me when I see parents not ready to invest on their female child. They think a girl-child is useless and don’t deserve such privilege as a male.
“We can see women both present and past that have made great impact in the country, the likes of Late Fumilayo Kuti, Late Prof. Dora Akunyili, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, and others who have promoted the name of their families as well.
“Both male and female child have equal rights to education. No one is in need of it more than the other. It is time something be done to correct this mentality that is common in our African society.’’
The pastor urged parents to ensure that the best education was bestowed on their female children, adding “they are as useful to the society as the male’’.
He also called on all tiers of government to organise seminars in collaboration with the media to sensitise parents on the need to educate the girl-child. (NAN)
LEX/JIE/EEE
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Edited by Julius Enehikhuere/Ese E. Ekama