TheCable

For the first time since the abduction of hundreds of schoolgirls from Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State, in April, President Goodluck Jonathan is to meet with their parents “in the next 24 hours”.

Seven of the parents are said to have died already as a result of the traumatic incident which drew global attention.

Jonathan has also promised that the abducted schoolgirls will get scholarships.

The scholarships will cover those who have escaped from captivity so far and those who will escape or be rescued later.

He disclosed his plans when he played host to 17-year-old Malala Yousafzai, the young Pakistani girl-child education advocate who was shot by the Taliban three years ago for her campaign.‎

Yousafzai is currently in the country to support girl-child education and drum up support for the release of the Chibok schoolgirls in commemoration of Malala Day ─ the day set aside by the United Nations for global attention on girl-child education.

‎Jonathan also briefed Malala on the efforts of his government to attack poverty and illiteracy in the north-eastern part of the country.

‎Malala told journalists after the meeting that her foundation had raised $200,000 in support of the education of the abducted girls on their return.

‎She said: “I am here in Nigeria on my 17th birthday for a price which is to see that every child goes to school. This year, my objective is to speak up for my Nigerian sisters about 200 of them who are under the abduction of Boko Haram and I met the President Goodluck Jonathan for this purpose.

“I conveyed the voice of my sisters who are out of school or who are still under the abduction of Boko Haram. And for those girls who escaped from the abduction but still do not have education. And in the meeting, I highlighted the same issues which the girls and their parents told me in the past two days.

“The parents said they really want to meet with the president to share their stories with him. And I asked the president if he wants to meet with the parents of the girls, the president assured me that he would meet with them.

“I spoke to the president about the girls who complain that they cannot go to school despite the fact that they want to become doctors, engineers and teachers. But the government is not providing them any facility. They also need health facility, security, and the government is not doing anything.

“These are the issues I presented to the president today. And the president fortunately promised me that he will do something for these girls and he promised me that the girls under the abduction of Boko Haram will be released as soon as possible. This is the promise the president made and I am hopeful that his promise will come through and we will soon see those girls return soon.

“I am hopeful that these two promises, the return of the girls from Boko Haram and meeting with their parents will be fulfilled and we will see it soon. Even though the promises have been made, it does not mean I am going to stop talking. I will be counting days and I will be looking when those girls are going to be returning home.

“I can’t stop this campaign until I see those girls return back to their families and continue the agitation. This is the position of the Malala foundation. My father and I and the entire family want to speak out for those 10.5 million children who are out of school. They have no access to education because of many problems. And I am hopeful that the international community will take serious action because if we think this country is in Africa and is not going to affect other countries, we are really wrong.

“If we leave 10.5 million children illiterate, these children can become terrorists, they can be violated and they can be deprived of their basic human rights, at the end they will not be able to help their country in developing. So if we want the whole world to be successful, it is important that every child should go to school. Unfortunately, in Nigeria, only 1.5% of the budget is spent on education which is a small amount compared to Pakistan which has increased its own to 4%.

“Money spent on education should definitely be increased. This is how this country is going to be developed and i believe in the power of education. If Nigeria must have a bright future, every child must have an opportunity to go to school.”