The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Malala Yousafzai

  • Jonathan, Malala and Chibok girls

    Jonathan, Malala and Chibok girls

    Newspapers missed both the strident tone and essence of the message Malala Yousafzai passed on to President Goodluck Jonathan during her visit last Monday. The Pakistani girls’ education advocate was in Nigeria for a two-day visit to further her global campaign, advocate urgent efforts to rescue the 219 schoolgirls abducted by Boko Haram militants, and ask the president to meet with the anguished parents of the abducted girls. She, however, managed in the process to lecture the president in surprisingly severe tones on his duties and responsibilities to his country and the girls in particular. Somehow, everyone seemed to have focused on her reprise of the discussions she had with the president, during which she donated $200,000 to girls’ education in Nigeria.

    Immediately after Malala met with the president, Dr Jonathan extended an invitation to the Chibok parents who had travelled to Abuja to meet the girls’ education advocate. But this invitation immediately became controversial because the Chibok parents declined to meet with the president due to extenuating circumstances. Prickly presidency spokespersons however misconstrued this snub as a plot by opposition forces who it claimed had hijacked the BringBackOurGirls protest. But it turned out that the few parents in question needed time to receive a fresh mandate from other Chibok parents to meet with the president. The meeting, it now seems, has been rescheduled.

    Two major issues come out of the Malala meeting with Dr Jonathan. First is the unfortunate fact, already highlighted in the ongoing controversy surrounding the presidential audience granted the girls’ education advocate, that it took Malala’s visit for the president to appreciate his obligation to meet with the Chibok parents. Second is the even sadder fact that the president does not appear to appreciate the irony, if not irresponsibility, of asking to meet a few of the parents in Abuja. Does he think a crash meeting in Abuja would obviate the need for him to visit Chibok? And does he hope that such a meeting, if it takes place, would atone for his unstatesmanlike behavior in abandoning Chibok?

    At the time of this writing, the Chibok parents do not appear to mind visiting the president in his office. But unlike the president, they give indication they know it is wrong to meet anywhere else but in Chibok. The Chibok parents travel to and fro Chibok, with all the security issues surrounding the trips. Why has it been impossible for the president to plan even a one-hour visit to the troubled town? The Chibok parents may be ashamed for the president and might honour his invitation, but they really do not owe him any obligation to save him from the global embarrassment of failing to visit the town, like any president would have done.

    More and more, Dr Jonathan proves himself unworthy of the country he presides over. First he didn’t believe there was any abduction, as if Boko Haram gave him the impression the sect was incapable of such overwhelming monstrosity. Then he rules out a swap arrangement to free the girls without replacing that option with anything tangible. Furthermore, citing security concerns, he has refused to visit the town or the anguished parents of the schoolgirls, and did not think it fit to invite those parents until Malala emotionally and almost disrespectfully spoke with him. Finally, he has started to blame his failure and negligence on the opposition, even as he plans four more undeserving years in office. But four more years of what?

  • Jonathan: Chibok girls ’ll be rescued alive

    Jonathan: Chibok girls ’ll be rescued alive

    FOR the umpteenth time, President Goodluck Jonathan promised yesterday to rescue the 219 Chibok schoolgirls in Boko Haram’s custody —more than 90 days after their abduction.

    Dr. Jonathan also dismissed the insinuation that the government had done little to rescue the girls.

    The President spoke during the visit of Malala Yousafzai, the teenage Pakistani girl-child education campaigner, to the Aso Villa, Abuja.

    The President explained to Malala, who was accompanied by her father and other members of her Foundation, that the Federal Government’s efforts were constrained by the overriding imperative of ensuring that the girls’ lives are not endangered in any rescue attempt.

    He said: “Terror is relatively new here and dealing with it has its challenges. The great challenge in rescuing the Chibok girls is the need to ensure that they are rescued alive.”

    According to him, the Federal Government and its security agencies are very mindful of the need to avoid the scenario in rescue attempts in other parts of the world where lives of abductees were lost in the effort to rescue them.

    “The time it is taking to achieve that objective is not a question of the competence of the Nigerian Government. We have had teams from the United States, Britain, France, Israel and other friendly nations working with us here on the rescue effort and they all appreciate the challenges and the need to tread carefully to achieve our purpose,” he said.

    Jonathan said that he would meet with the parents of the abducted girls before they leave Abuja to personally comfort them and reassure them that the Federal Government was doing all within its powers to rescue their daughters.

    He reiterated his administration’s commitment to ensuring the safe and proper education of all children.

    He said: “I personally believe that since about 50 per cent of our population is female, we will be depriving ourselves of half of our available human resources if we fail to educate our girls adequately or suppress their ambitions in any way.

    “We are, therefore, taking steps to curb all forms of discrimination against girls and women, and have also undertaken many affirmative actions on their behalf.”

    The President said that the Federal Government was also proactively evolving and implementing policies and measures that will benefit the abducted Chibok girls when they are safely rescued, as well as others that have been adversely affected by the Boko Haram insurgency.

    These, President Jonathan said, includ the establishment of a Victims’ Support Fund, the Safe Schools Initiative and the Presidential Initiative for the North East.”

    He said he would inaugurate tomorrow a National Committee to oversee fundraising for the Victims’ Support Fund, which will also cater for families of security men and women who have died in the war against terrorism.

    Malala, who was shot by Taliban three years ago for campaigning for girls’ education, speaking at a news conference after her meeting with the President, said Jonathan assured her that everything was being done to ensure the safe release of the girls.

    According to her, the annual budgetary allocation to education in Nigeria is too meager.

    The Director of Communication of Malala Foundation, Eason Jordan, said Jonathan also promised to ensure scholarship for all the girls. Malala pledged to support the scholarship with $200,000.

    Malala said: “I am here in Nigeria on my 17th birthday for a price which is to see that every child goes to school. This year, my objective is to speak up for my Nigerian sisters, about 200 of them who are under the abduction of Boko Haram and I met the President, Goodluck Jonathan, for this purpose.

    “I convey the voice of my sisters who are out of school or who are still under the abduction of Boko Haram. And for those girls who escaped from the abduction but still do not have education. And in the meeting, I highlighted the same issues which the girls and their parents told me in the past two days.

    “The parents said they really want to meet with the President to share their stories with him. And I asked the President that if he wants to meet with the parents of the girls, the President assured me that he would meet with them.”

    She went on: “I spoke to the President about the girls who complained that they cannot go to school despite the fact that they want to become doctors, engineers and teachers. But the government is not providing them any facility. They also need health facility, security, and the government is not doing anything.

    “These are the issues I presented to the President today. And the President fortunately, promised me that he will do something for these girls and he promised me that the girls under the abduction of Boko Haram will be released as soon as possible.

    “This is the promise the President made and I am hopeful that his promise will come through and we will soon see those girls return. He has made promises, but in politics, nothing is clear. But the President said these girls are his daughters and he is pained by their suffering and that he has his own daughters and he can feel what they are feeling.”

    “The President has expressed his solidarity with those girls and his sadness. He has assured that these girls will come back home safely. He has several options but that he will choose the best to ensure the girls are released safely.”

    “Yesterday I also met with the parents of these girls who are still under the abduction of Boko Haram and they were crying and hopeless.

    “But still, they have this hope that there is still someone who can help them. They asked  me if there is any chance for them to meet the President because at this time, they need the President’s support, so I asked the President if it is possible for him to go and see them to encourage them and the President did promise me that he will meet the parents of these girls.”

    Continuing, she said: “I am hopeful that these two promises – the return of the girls from Boko Haram and meeting with their parents  –  will be fulfilled and we will see it soon. Even though the promises have been made, it does not mean I am going to stop talking. I will be counting days and I will be looking when those girls are going to be returned home. I can’t stop this campaign until I see those girls return back to their families and continue the agitation.

    “This is the position of the Malala foundation. My father and I and the entire family want to speak out for those 10.5 million children who are out of school. They have no access to education because of many problems. And I am hopeful that the international community will take serious action because if we think this country is in Africa and is not going to affect other countries, we are really wrong.”

    According to her, if the 10.5 million children are left to be illiterates, there is a risk that they will become terrorists; they could be violated and deprived of their basic human rights.

    Minister of State for Education Nyesom Wike, during his meeting with Malala, said: “From present efforts on ground, we hope to reduce the number of children who are out of school by at least two million pupils by the beginning of the 2015 academic session, by September next year. This is a pledge we make and we are committed to the realization of this goal”.

     

     

    He said that the Jonathan administration was working hard to address years of neglect suffered by education, through increased budgetary allocation, special programmes and projects and key interventionist programmes.Wike assured the international community that the Safe School Initiative was in place, with the Federal Government and states collaborating to ensure that children learn under a conducive environment.

  • ‘Jonathan needs to do more on Chibok girls’

    ‘Jonathan needs to do more on Chibok girls’

    Malala Yousafzai is a global education advocate and co-founder of the Malala Fund. In this piece written for Washington Post, she examines the plight of girls worldwide as regards access to quality education as well as the need to free the Chibok girls

    Birthdays are a time to move forward. We look back with gratitude on what has passed and decide that this year we will be even stronger.

    I have already lived what many people might say is a lifetime. I was 11 when I started speaking out against the Taliban and for my right to go to school. I was 12 when I had to leave my home in Pakistan’s Swat Valley as terrorism and extremism raged in my city. I was 15 when I was shot by the Taliban and almost died but was given another life. I was 16 when I once again raised my voice for girls’ rights and education, this time on an international stage. This past weekend, I turned 17.

    The first time Malala Day was celebrated, in November 2012, I was in the hospital, barely clinging to life. People across the world came together to pray for my recovery and to raise their voice for girls’ rights, to say that together we were stronger than terrorism, stronger than violence.

    Last year the United Nations officially declared my 16th birthday, July 12, to be Malala Day. I spoke before the U.N. General Assembly with Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, special U.N. envoy Gordon Brown and other great leaders. On that day, I raised my voice not for myself but so that those without a voice could be heard. I spoke of strength and power: “One child, one teacher, one book and one pen can change the world.”

    As we celebrate Malala Day on July 14, I have both hope and heartbreak. I thought we had hit a turning point in our history, that never again would a girl face what I had to face. I did not think that, just one year after my U.N. speech, more than 200 girls would be kidnapped in Nigeria by Boko Haram simply for wanting to go to school. These girls are my sisters.

    Every day women and girls face unspeakable challenges. More than 66 million girls are still out of school around the world. In Pakistan, my sisters are taken out of school and made into brides when they still are children. In India this May, two of my sisters were raped and killed, their bodies left hanging in a tree. I struggle to even understand such a devastating act of violence.

    I think of the girls from Syria who not so long ago knew what it felt like to be in a classroom and now live in refugee camps while the world stands by as they become a lost generation. I think of girls who are caught in the crossfire of conflict between Gaza and Israel, heads down as they hear the terrifying sound of the air-raid siren instead of heads down in a book, as they should be.

    No student, anywhere, ever, should be a target of conflict or violence.  Let us all lay down our weapons.

    We cannot sit on the sidelines and let this continue. Each of us is responsible. We cannot rest until we have justice and freedom for every girl and every boy. Since last Malala Day, I have been working to help my sisters, raising my voice. But we must all do more.

    I know education is what separates a girl who is trapped in a cycle of poverty, fear and violence from one with a chance at a better future. During my school holidays, I traveled to help my sisters through my organisation, the Malala Fund. I have visited refugee camps in Jordan, spent time with girls facing poverty in Kenya, and even been to New York City, where girls face bullying and violence.

    I know that my small contribution is not enough. But it is a start; I am just one girl.

    Everywhere I have gone, I have been humbled by the power of all my sisters. I am grateful to have met many world leaders and inspiring people. But it is my sisters I carry with me. We all may seem different from far away. But up close, we face the same fears, and we own the same courage, if we only look deeply enough to recognize it.

    We raise our voice so that those without a voice can be heard. We pledge not to forget the voiceless. Not to get tired of calling for the creation of a world that we want to live in. Not to lose hope, and not to stop caring.

    Last Malala Day I told the world my story. This Malala Day, I have come to Nigeria to honor the stories of these brave girls who have sacrificed so much to get an education and achieve their dreams. I am meeting with some of the abducted schoolgirls who have now escaped Boko Haram and also some of the families of girls still in captivity, to listen to their stories and call on Nigeria’s President Goodluck Jonathan to do even more to help them. They suffer, but I believe they are stronger than their oppressors. Will you listen?

    We are stronger than those who oppress us, who seek to silence us. We are stronger than the enemies of education. We are stronger than fear, hatred, violence and poverty.

    My birthday wish this year is that we all raise our voices for those under oppression, to show our power and to demonstrate that our courage is stronger than their campaign of fear.

    The road to education, peace and equality is long, but we will succeed if we walk it together.

     

  • Jonathan to meet parents of abducted girls

    Jonathan to meet parents of abducted girls

    President Goodluck Jonathan on Monday assured the young Pakistani girls’ education advocate, Malala Yousafzai, that he is ready to meet the parents of the over 200 schoolgirls abducted in Chibok, Borno State, on April 14.

    Malala, who was shot by the Taliban three years ago for campaigning for girls’ education, disclosed this at a press conference after meeting behind closed door with President Jonathan.

    She said President Jonathan also assured her that efforts are ongoing to ensure safe release of the girls from terrorists’ den.

    Malala said she believed President Jonathan was serious with the two promises, adding that she looks forward to the girls’ release.

    She insisted that Nigeria’s annual budgetary allocation for education  is too meager.

    The Director of Communications, Malala Foundation, Eason Jordan, said at the briefing that President Jonathan also promised to ensure scholarship for the abducted girls.

    Jordan stated that Malala pledged to support the scholarship with $200,000

    Malala said: “I am here in Nigeria on my 17th birthday for a price which is to see that every child goes to school. This year, my objective is to speak up for my Nigerian sisters about 200 of them who are under the abduction of Boko haram and I met President, Goodluck Jonathan for this purpose.

    “I convey the voice of my sisters who are out of school or who are still under the abduction of Boko Haram. And for those girls who escaped from the terrorists’ den but still do not have education. And in the meeting, I highlighted the same issues which the girls and their parents told me in the past two days.

    “The parents said they really want to meet with the President to share their stories with him. And I asked the President that if he wants to meet with the parents of the girls, he assured me that he would meet with them.”

    She went on: “I spoke to the President about the girls who complained that they cannot go to school despite the fact that they want to become doctors, engineers and teachers. But the government is not providing them any facility. They also need health facility, security, and the government is not doing anything.

    “These are the issues I presented to the President today. He promised that something would be done for these girls.”

     

  • BringBackOurGirls: Malala dares Boko Haram

    BringBackOurGirls: Malala dares Boko Haram

    • Due in Nigeria for Chibok girls

    Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani pupil activist and United Nations Ambassador was due in Nigeria last night to show her solidarity for the over 200 school girls in Boko Haram captivity.

    She was scheduled to arrive in Abuja in time to beat the deadline for the closure of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport.

    Her visit is to encourage parents and pupils in the North-East who have been displaced by the Boko  Haram insurgency.

    The plan was known to only a few people at press time for what sources called logistic reasons.

    The Nation gathered that her visit is part of the effort to project the $100million Safe Schools Initiative Project which was launched at the last World Economic Forum (WEF).

    A reliable source familiar with the arrangement said: “There is a proposal to bring Malala because her story will assist to bring dropouts back to schools. We are expecting her on Saturday night.

    “With her activism against the Taliban in Pakistan, we can re-awaken the CAN DO spirit in our people, especially those being ravaged by Boko Haram insurgency.

    “Many Nigerians are ready to listen to her inspiring story. We hope she will be able to come to this country.”

    Another source added: “The 17-year old activist has offered to be in Nigeria from Sunday, July13, 2014 to meet with President Goodluck Jonathan, some parents of the abducted 223 girls from Chibok and BringBack-OurGirls campaigners.

    “In fact, she said she cannot be part of the BringBackOurGirls Campaign without visiting Nigeria. She said if it means being abducted by Boko Haram, she is prepared to visit Nigeria.

    “She was being expected as I am talking to you. She is likely to meet some interest groups.

    “What we have done is to ensure her security including her daring insistence to be part of the sit out by BringBackOurGirls campaigners.”

    Although no government official was willing to talk on the planned trip of Malala, it was gathered that security had been beefed up at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport as at press time.

    Malala was born on July 12, 1997 in the town of Mingora in the Swat District of Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province.

    Her visit will complement the Safe Schools Initiative Project in the country.

    President Jonathan had on Wednesday decried the high percentage of school dropouts in Nigeria, saying the rate, which is as high as 70 per cent in some parts of the country, was “too high”.

     

  • ‘One child, one teacher….can change the world’ – Malala Yousafzai at UN

    ‘One child, one teacher….can change the world’ – Malala Yousafzai at UN

    Malala Yousazai, 16-year old Pakistani teen activist who was shot on the head on October 9, 2012, by Taliban gave an inspiring speech few days ago to the UN General Assembly. Her speech harps on forgiveness, girl child education, rights among others.

    Below is the full text of her speech

     

    Honourable UN Secretary General Mr Ban  Ki-moon, respected president of the General Assembly  Vuk Jeremic,  honourable UN envoy for global education  Mr. Gordon Brown, respected elders and my dear brothers and sisters: Assalamu alaikum.

    Today is it an honour for me to be speaking again after a long time. Being here with such honourable people is a great moment in my life and it is an honour for me that today I am wearing a shawl of the late Benazir Bhutto. I don’t know where to begin my speech. I don’t know what people would be expecting me to say, but first of all thank you to God for whom we all are equal and thank you to every person who has prayed for my fast recovery and new life. I cannot believe how much love people have shown me. I have received thousands of good-wish cards and gifts from all over the world.

    Thank you to all of them. Thank you to the children whose innocent words encouraged me. Thank you to my elders whose prayers strengthened me. I would like to thank my nurses, doctors and the staff of the hospitals in Pakistan and the UK and the UAE government who have helped me to get better and recover my strength.

    I fully support UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in his Global Education First Initiative and the work of UN Special Envoy for Global Education Gordon Brown and the respectful president of the UN General Assembly Vuk Jeremic. I thank them for the leadership they continue to give. They continue to inspire all of us to action. Dear brothers and sisters, do remember one thing: Malala Day is not my day. Today is the day of every woman, every boy and every girl who have raised their voice for their rights.

    There are hundreds of human rights activists and social workers who are not only speaking for their rights, but who are struggling to achieve their goal of peace, education and equality. Thousands of people have been killed by the terrorists and millions have been injured. I am just one of them. So here I stand, one girl among many. I speak not for myself, but so those without a voice can be heard.

    Those who have fought for their rights. Their right to live in peace. Their right to be treated with dignity. Their right to equality of opportunity. Their right to be educated.

    Dear friends, on 9 October 2012, the Taliban shot me on the left side of my forehead. They shot my friends, too. They thought that the bullets would silence us, but they failed. And out of that silence came thousands of voices. The terrorists thought they would change my aims and stop my ambitions. But nothing changed in my life except this: weakness, fear and hopelessness died. Strength, power and courage was born. I am the same Malala. My ambitions are the same. My hopes are the same. And my dreams are the same. Dear sisters and brothers, I am not against anyone. Neither am I here to speak in terms of personal revenge against the Taliban or any other terrorist group. I am here to speak for the right of education for every child. I want education for the sons and daughters of the Taliban and all the terrorists and extremists. I do not even hate the Talib who shot me.

    Even if there was a gun in my hand and he was standing in front of me, I would not shoot him. This is the compassion I have learned from Mohamed, the prophet of mercy, Jesus Christ and Lord Buddha. This the legacy of change I have inherited from Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela and Mohammed Ali Jinnah.

    This is the philosophy of nonviolence that I have learned from Gandhi, Bacha Khan and Mother Teresa. And this is the forgiveness that I have learned from my father and from my mother. This is what my soul is telling me: be peaceful and love everyone.

    Dear sisters and brothers, we realise the importance of light when we see darkness. We realise the importance of our voice when we are silenced. In the same way, when we were in Swat, the north of Pakistan, we realised the importance of pens and books when we saw the guns. The wise saying, “The pen is mightier than the sword.” It is true.

    The extremists are afraid of books and pens. The power of education frightens them. They are afraid of women. The power of the voice of women frightens them. This is why they killed 14 innocent students in the recent attack in Quetta. And that is why they kill female teachers. That is why they are blasting schools every day because they were and they are afraid of change and equality that we will bring to our society. And I remember that there was a boy in our school who was asked by a journalist: “Why are the Taliban against education?”He answered very simply by pointing to his book, he said: “A Talib doesn’t know what is written inside this book.”

    They think that God is a tiny, little conservative being who would point guns at people’s heads just for going to school. These terrorists are misusing the name of Islam for their own personal benefit. Pakistan is a peace-loving, democratic country. Pashtuns want education for their daughters and sons. Islam is a religion of peace, humanity and brotherhood. It is the duty and responsibility to get education for each child, that is what it says. Peace is a necessity for education. In many parts of the world, especially Pakistan and Afghanistan, terrorism, war and conflicts stop children from going to schools. We are really tired of these wars. Women and children are suffering in many ways in many parts of the world.

    In India, innocent and poor children are victims of child labour. Many schools have been destroyed in Nigeria. People in Afghanistan have been affected by extremism. Young girls have to do domestic child labour and are forced to get married at an early age. Poverty, ignorance, injustice, racism and the deprivation of basic rights are the main problems, faced by both men and women.

    Today, I am focusing on women’s rights and girls’ education because they are suffering the most. There was a time when women activists asked men to stand up for their rights. But this time we will do it by ourselves. I am not telling men to step away from speaking for women’s rights, but I am focusing on women to be independent and fight for themselves. So dear sisters and brothers, now it’s time to speak up. So today, we call upon the world leaders to change their strategic policies in favour of peace and prosperity. We call upon the world leaders that all of these deals must protect women and children’s rights. A deal that goes against the rights of women is unacceptable.

    We call upon all governments to ensure free, compulsory education all over the world for every child. We call upon all the governments to fight against terrorism and violence. To protect children from brutality and harm. We call upon the developed nations to support the expansion of education opportunities for girls in the developing world. We call upon all communities to be tolerant, to reject prejudice based on caste, creed, sect, colour, religion or agenda to ensure freedom and equality for women so they can flourish. We cannot all succeed when half of us are held back. We call upon our sisters around the world to be brave, to embrace the strength within themselves and realise their full potential.

    Dear brothers and sisters, we want schools and education for every child’s bright future. We will continue our journey to our destination of peace and education. No one can stop us. We will speak up for our rights and we will bring change to our voice. We believe in the power and the strength of our words. Our words can change the whole world because we are all together, united for the cause of education. And if we want to achieve our goal, then let us empower ourselves with the weapon of knowledge and let us shield ourselves with unity and togetherness.

    Dear brothers and sisters, we must not forget that millions of people are suffering from poverty and injustice and ignorance. We must not forget that millions of children are out of their schools. We must not forget that our sisters and brothers are waiting for a bright, peaceful future.

    So let us wage a glorious struggle against illiteracy, poverty and terrorism, let us pick up our books and our pens, they are the most powerful weapons. One child, one teacher, one book and one pen can change the world. Education is the only solution. Education first.

    Thank you.