Rights activists on Saturday walked through major streets in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital to mark the 2014 International Day of the Girl Child and to push for more attention to be given to the girl child.
According to them, the Nigerian state has not accorded the girl child the needed prominence she deserved in the society.
The International Day of the Girl Child was set aside by the United Nations in 2011 to increase awareness of the inequalities faced globally by the girl child.
October 11 every year was adopted by a resolution of the United Nations General Assembly in 2011 to mark the International Day of the Girl Child.
The theme for this year’s celebration is; ‘Empowering Adolescent Girls: Ending the Cycle of Violence’.
According the the UN, about 120 million girls between the ages of 15 and 19 globally are victims of physical abuse.
In Nigeria, such abuses include rape, kidnapping, societal discrimination which often lead to lack of education for the girl child, practices that Nwaruruahu Shield Tolulope Lawal, two of the activists, condemned.
While commending the Nigerian government for including women in its administration, activists say more opportunities should be given to the girl child.
Three years after this day was set aside, many people are beginning to see the importance of a girl child in the society.
It is hoped that with this kind of awareness created every year, the girl child would be recognised the same way her male counterparts were respected around the world.