Malala Yousafzai, Amina Mohammed Advocate for girl-Child Education in Nigeria

This was Malala’s third visit to Nigeria.

In 2014, she visited Nigeria to express solidarity with the country following the abduction of 276 schoolgirls by Boko Haram insurgents, and in 2017 she visited again to support education activists working with school-age girls.

The challenge of millions of out-of-school children in Nigeria is influenced by various factors, including child marriage and the economic background of school-age children. Only one in four girls from poor, rural families manage to complete their Junior Secondary education.

The security situation in some regions of the country, marked by attacks on schools leading to abductions and killings, further discourages parents from sending their children, especially girls, to schools in unstable environments.

“In northeast Nigeria, at least 496 classrooms have been destroyed and 1,392 classrooms have been damaged but repairable,” reports UNICEF.

However, efforts are underway to improve the low enrollment of girls in schools. Between 2012 and 2022, for example, the Nigerian government, the UK’s Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and UNICEF, working under the Girls Education Programme Phase 3 (GEP3), invested $109 million and enrolled an additional 1.5 million girls in schools across six northern Nigerian states—Katsina, Kano, Niger, Sokoto, Zamfara, and Bauchi.

Vice President Shettima conveyed the administration’s support for Sustainable Development Goals 4 and 5, which prioritize education and gender equality.

“President Bola Tinubu believes that the prosperity and respect of every society is directly proportional to the way they treat their women folk,” Mr. Shettima asserted.