*Attending girls come to school with nylon bags, tattered uniforms

By Ebunoluwa Sessou

The story of out of school children in Nigeria is alarming. From the six geo-political zones of Nigeria, the stories are different.

Despite efforts put in place by international organizations, government and individuals to educate the girl child, the percentage of out of school children seems not to drop.

Shockingly, in Nigeria, out of over 10 million children in Nigeria who are out of school, 60 percent of them are girls according to UNICEF.

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At a CSR event organised by Evolve in partnership with Polaris Bank in commemoration of the International Day for Education, the  Director, Head of Counseling Unit Education District 6, Bola Lawal, said, most single mothers found it difficult to take care of their children and cannot send their children to school.

A man impregnated two siblings, 13 and 15 years old because their mother does not have shelter for them. The two girls gave birth.

The story of Aisha and her eight sisters whose father decided not to send them to school but rather married them off was pathetic as told by Mrs. Omolara Awosan, Principal, Opebi, Junior Grammar School.

Today, they are back in their father’s house with their children. According to Awosan, “Some of the children come to school with nylon bags.  Girls are easily lured by flimsy promises”, she said.

Bamidele Esther, a student of Omole Senior School also shared her experience. According to her, “Most of the students in my school are impoverished. We do not have a good uniforms; school bags, not even writing materials. We do not concentrate on our studies because of our condition.   

Interestingly, the narrative is changing as more organizations have decided to help these children, especially the girls, gain access to education. For them, school materials including school bags, uniforms, shoes, and books, stationeries among other things that post challenges to these children are being taken care of.  

For Kehinde Kuponiyi, sharing her experience as a house help in Lagos was something that would catch your attention.

“I am a student of Opebi Junior Grammar School, Lagos. I was nine years old when I was sent to Lagos by my mother because of financial challenges. We are six children and I am the only girl.

“My siblings are not well educated. Some of them dropped out in JSS1. But, my mummy made up her mind that I must be educated. She doesn’t want me to be a drop out. She said, “I want you to become great in life. To achieve greater heights in future.” And I promised her that I would not let her down.

“She brought me to Lagos through one of her friends; she wanted me to go to school in Lagos. I promised I would fulfill her dream.

“I started living with some people. I almost gave up. I almost ran out of the house but I remembered my promise to my mother that I will achieve my goals. I took the courage to stay back and continue my education. I did not want to be a drop out.

“Some of my school mates come to school with nylon bags, tattered uniforms. Some of the girls have lost their self esteem because of it.

“I am fifteen years old now and I am in JSS 3. I am the head girl of my school. I had one uniform all through until an NGO brought some uniforms to our school and I was happy that I will not be going to school with tattered uniforms again.

“I want to become a lawyer to fight for the cause of girls”, she said.

Addressing the global challenge of climate change through the education of underprivileged girls, Evolve, a non-profit organization has designed its five year plan to impact over 50,000 direct beneficiaries and 200,000 indirect beneficiaries.

Focusing on girl-child education, Evolve alongside its lead partner, Polaris Bank have restated their commitment to curbing global warming through intervention in girl-child education in Nigeria.

Group Head, Customer Experience Management & Sustainability, Polaris Bank Bukola Oluyadi, said “We recognize that education and youth empowerment are the most significant indicators of social progress.

“Our commitment to these has been the drive for the empowerment of the girl-child and thus the partnership with Evolve. Since 2021, we have partnered with Evolve and adopted several schools across Nigeria to cater for the needs of the girl child.”

“Through the S-connect, Evolve initiative reaches out to educational institutions mostly secondary schools across the country by providing their female students with basic school supplies in fulfillment of Evolve’s mission to tackle Climate Change by empowering the girl-child.

“Since its inception, Evolve in collaboration with all of its partners has donated school supplies including school uniforms, sandals, notebooks, pens, and bags to over 10,000 female students in 32 schools across nine states in the country.

Asides Polaris Bank, the organization has received support from other partners to achieve its mission of empowering girls to eventually reduce global warming. These partners include OVH Energy Marketing now NNPC Retail Ltd, Bic and Crownstar who have supported Evolve with school supplies as well as Hill and Knowlton strategies, an international PR consultancy supporting the project with media and publicity.