TheCable

Malala Yousafzai, child rights activist, has asked Acting President Yemi Osinbajo to declare a state of emergency in the education sector.

Speaking with journalists after meeting with Osinbajo on Monday, Malala said she spoke of the importance of the education of boys and girls during her encounter with the Nigerian leader.

She said her goal was to ensure that no child is deprived of basic rights, particularly the girl child.

“It was a very good meeting. We had a fruitful discussion with his excellency, the acting president,” she said.

“I highlighted the need to scale up education, that the government should declare a state of emergency in education because education of girls and boys in Nigeria is important.

“The federal, state and local governments need to be united on this. My goal is that no child should be deprived of the basic right that they have.

“So, I am campaigning for this and I hope that all my Nigerian brothers and sisters can also go to school and learn.”

Also speaking with journalists, Ziauddin Yousafzai, her father and co-founder of Malala Fund, said the vision of the Malala Fund was to ensure that every girl in the world gets quality, free education.

On October 9, 2012, Malala was shot by a Taliban gunman after speaking up on the right of a girl child to be educated and the incident drew the world’s attention to her.