Politics
Focus on your goals, Omo-Agege tasks Nigerian girl-child
Ovie Omo-Agege
As Nigeria joins the rest of the world to mark the 2021 International Day of the Girl Child, the Deputy Senate President, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, has advised every girl-child in the country to remain confident and focused in the pursuit of their goals.
Omo-Agege, in his goodwill message to commemorate this year’s event organised by the Federal Ministry of Education, however, stressed the need for every girl-child to be given the opportunity to harness and realise their full potentials in life.
He described the theme of the celebration: “Digital generation. Our generation” as apt and encouraged every girl-child in the country to remain confident and focused in the pursuit of their goals.
The Deputy Senate President, who was represented by his Chief of Staff, Dr Otive Igbuzor, 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 lawmaker 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.
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