Dr Olubunmi Mokuolu of the Department of Water Resources and Environmental Engineering, University of Ilorin (Unilorin), on Thursday advocated education as panacea to the discrimination of the girl-child.
Mokuolu made the call in her paper presentation at the annual Association of Professional Women Engineers of Nigeria (APWEN) Week and Public Lecture, organised by the Ilorin chapter of the association, a division of the Nigerian Society of Engineers.
Her paper was entitled: “Growing threats to girl-child safety around the world:Using Nigeria as a case study”.
She stated that the girl-child or a female gender in any part of the world has peculiar problems, adding that the status of girls is significantly less than that of boys.
According to her, this makes girls more vulnerable to discrimination and neglect.
“Evidence has shown that girls are discriminated against from the earliest stages of life in the areas of nutrition, health care, education, family care and protection.
“Girls are often fed less, particularly when there are diminished food resources. A diet low in calories, protein and nutrients negatively affects girls’ growth and development,” she said.
Mokuolu submitted that girls are more likely to be denied education while also at increased risk of childhood mortality.
She noted that in 2007, an estimated 101 million children, worldwide; the majority of whom were girls, did not attend primary schools, according to UNICEF 2010 report.
“Africa, the Middle East and South Asia have the largest gender gaps in education and girls from poor and rural households are especially likely to be denied education.”
The expert on environmental health engineering added that knowledge and skills are needed for employment, empowerment and advancement in status often are withheld because of customary attitudes about educating boys over girls.
She lamented that girls are more likely to be used as child labour inside and outside of the home, while observing however that there are many benefits of investing in girls’, especially in education.
“Violence against the girl child is perpetrated on every continent. Forced child marriage, female genital mutilation, sexual exploitation, prostitution, trafficking, sexual harassment in schools and the workplace, among others.
“Discrimination and harmful practices against the girl child vary from one county to the other depending upon cultural context.
“For instance, intentional abortion of female fetuses and female infanticide are common practices in East and South Asian countries where sons are strongly preferred,” said the don.
She reminded that the girl child is one of the 12 critical areas in the 1995 Beijing Platform for Action, which recommends elimination of all forms of discrimination and abuse of girls and protection of their rights.
Mokuolu said governments efforts and initiatives as well as collaborative efforts with international development partners and best practices employed, should continue.
“The benefits of educating the girl child in terms of human, political, cultural; social and economic, which will lead to her full potential and sustainable development.”
She charged the society from the family level to ensure inclusive empowerment of girls and women with life-enhancing skills, entrepreneurship.
She also appealed for the need to change mindsets, thereby healing the harms and negative influences, which will lead to
achieving a sustainable development in Nigeria and globally.
Also speaking, Dr Folashade Ayoade, the Secretary to Kogi State Government, emphasised the importance of women activities in Nigeria.
Ayoade, who was represented by Mr Ephraim Olu, the Permanent Secretary Administration, Kogi, added that professionalism is key to development of any society.
According to her, this is important in ensuring Nigeria is developed into an industrialised nation.
Earlier in her welcome address, Mrs Oluwatoyin Babatunde, the Chairman of APWEN, Kwara chapter, observed that eruption of insurgency in Nigeria in the North East has caused a lot of threat to the safety of young girls which has adversely affected their education.
“As a professional body, APWEN is concerned about addressing the growing threats to the girl child safety around the world and Nigeria in particular,” she said.
According to her, the association has given scholarship to student in Ilorin, who is also being mentored by the society.
She also said they have been mentoring young girls into the sciences and particularly the Engineering profession.
The National Daily reports that some of the members of the association that were honoured, included Dr Mokuolu, and posthumous award to Mrs Bolade Eyinla, the pioneer chairman of APWEN, Kwara chapter.