Seventeen-year Badiya Mu’azu Yahaya made her sponsors, Girl Child Concern, GCC, a non-governmental organization, proud when she emerged her school’s best graduating student. GCC sponsored the girl through her secondary education in Kaduna, along with 99 others. She is one of the 15 who graduated, and GCC in collaboration with Unicorns commemorated International Day of the Girl Child, 2021 by receiving them.
The event which held at Government Girls College, Maiduguri, was dubbed ‘Digital Generation, Our Generation,’ to celebrate the achievements of the girls and make digital accomplishment a mark of motivation for them.
Dr. Mairo Mandara, the NGO’s chairperson, said its programme, Keeping Girls in Schools, KGIS, is giving opportunities to young girls in Borno to study in different parts of the country in a bid to eradicate illiteracy, especially among internally displaced persons.
She said this year’s celebration focuses on the importance of girl child education especially in innovation and technology.
‘Six years ago, GCC took a group of 100 students from various IDP camps in Maiduguri to various secondary schools in Kaduna, they were 10 to 12 years by that time, they came back few days ago to Borno for the first time to resume back their lives,’ she said.
‘One of them was best graduating students in Government Girls, Kawo,’ Dr. Mairo said, referring to Ms Badiya, adding that there is ‘another one in Government Girls Giwa and about ten of them were best in some of their subjects’.
She explained that this shows that all of them have potentials, ‘the only difference between them and my daughters is opportunity and now that we have given them the opportunity we feel if you give Borno ten years you will not recognise Borno.’
Ms. Badiya told our repoter that the secret of becoming the best is the kind of mentorship she receives from her parents and GCC.
‘The opportunity of sending me to school by this organization, gave me the strength to study hard, I cannot sit for two hour without reading my books.
‘Now that am a graduate, thanks to God, I appreciate it.
‘I now want to go to the University of Maiduguri to study but before getting the admission I will make myself busy with things that we learnt during our stay in school,’ she said.
Hajiya Falmata Babagana, wife of the Governor of Borno and her entourage, joined the event, to commemorate the day.
‘When girls and women are educated, the whole economy develops, so offering girls a sound education is a primary step in developing her family, community and a primary step in developing future generations,’ Haj. Falmata said.
