*GIRL CHILD EDUCATION: CHIEF MRS ROSEMARY EMMANUEL CHARGES PARENTS, GOVT.*

*....Kicks Against underage Marriage.*

By Amb Timothy Nwachukwu
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*The Founder Egobekee Foundation For Better Living and the CEO of N-Petals Credit and Thrift Co-operative Society Limited, Chief Mrs Rosemary Nwakaego Emmanuel has charged parents to attach great importance to the education of their girl child.*



*She stated that Education is a fundamental human right,It is the light that shows the way by removing the darkness of ignorance; salt that gives the taste of life; the medicine that cures and the key which open doors and one of the most critical areas of empowerment that should be availed to every girl child irrespective of the age and nationality as It is central to the development and improvement of the nation.*



She expressed concern that the girl children are still grossly left behind with respect to education in Nigeria due to multifarious factors such as poverty, early marriage and pregnancy, religious isolation, cultural and societal discrimination against women, and not surprisingly, illiteracy playing key roles and all these factors are intertwined and overlapping.



*She observed that when a girl is given out in marriage at a very tender age, her right as a human has been abused and has also been deprived of her right to education and will be doomed to be an illiterate forever if her husband does not give her opportunity to school.*



She opined that the greatest favour a girl child can get is “to get education” and “to give others education" because it is a powerful ‘equalizer’, opening doors to all to lift
themselves out of poverty as to educate a girl child means to train her mind, character and abilities, therefore, the importance of education in the life of a girl child can never be over-emphasised.



She listed some of the benefits of educating the girl child to include reduction of poverty, promoting gender equality, lower child mortality rate, reduce fertility rates and enhance environmental
awareness, Improve Health and Nutrition, Reduces Inequality and illiteracy which is one of the strongest predictors of poverty.


*©Amb Timothy Nwachukwu, A Media and Public Relations Consultant can be reached via +2348097311499.*