The government of President Bola Tinubu remains fully committed to issues of girl-child education and gender empowerment and will promote same in the policies and programmes of the Federal Government under his watch, Vice-President Kashim Shettima has said.
He stated this in his remarks Wednesday when he received on a courtesy visit to the Presidential Villa, a delegation from the United Nations led by the UN Deputy Secretary-General (UNDSG) and Chair of the United Nations Sustainable Development Group, Mrs Amina Mohammed.
She was accompanied on the visit by the Co-Founder Malala Fund, Ms. Malala Yousafzai and other officials.
Sen. Shettima reiterated President Tinubu’s commitment to issues of education and empowerment of women, noting that “President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is fully and unequivocally committed to the girl-child education and gender empowerment initiatives.”
According to him, “the SDGs goals 4 and 5 will be vigorously pursued by the present administration. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is a passionate and committed advocate of girl-child education. He believes in the empowerment of our women. He believes that the prosperity, the respect of every society is directly proportional to the way they treat their women folk.”
The Vice President then commended the UNDSG and the Co-founder of Malala Fund for their efforts in promoting girl-child education among other initiatives.
“Amina Mohammed stands today as a symbol of hope for the African woman for her resilience, commitment and disposition and most importantly in her integrity. She is an oasis of hope in an unending ocean of poverty and depravity, while Malala as an icon of hope and change in a despairing world,” Sen. Shettima noted.
He assured the Malala Fund of the Federal Government’s partnership with the organization for the greater good of Nigeria.
In separate remarks, the UNDSG, Amina Mohammed and Co-Founder of Malala Fund, Malala Yousafzai, commended the Federal Government for their efforts in promoting goals 4 and 5 of the Sustainable Development Goals, observing progress in the areas of gender equity and education of girls across the country.
Amongst members of the delegation were the UN Resident Coordinator in Nigeria, Mr Matthias Schmale; the Executive Director, UN Office of Partnerships Ms. Annemarie Hou; the Special Assistant to the DSG, Ms. Hadiza Elayo; the Senior Advisor to the Resident Coordinator, Mr Frederic Eno, and Co-Founder Malala Fund, Mr. Ziauddin Yousafzai.