UNILAG Don Tells Women, Girls Not to See themselves as Second Class Citizens
Peter Uzoho
Last weekend, the morale of young school girls was boosted and their minds redirected from the feeling of inferiority and helplessness as they were addressed by speakers at the Maiden Girl’s Summit organised by Impact Her Initiative (IHI), a non-governmental organisation, in collaboration with the Department of English, University of Lagos, entitled ‘Female Empowerment and Sustainable Development’, held at the J.P. Clark Centre in the campus.
Delivering his keynote speech, Head, Department of English, UNILAG and Chairman of the occasion, Prof. Hope Eghagha, reminded girls and women that they were in no way inferior to anybody, adding that they should not see themselves as second class citizens. He stated that too many forces ganged up against the girl-child and against women, noting that “some are cultural while some are societal.”
While noting that even among the female folk, some believed they were second class citizens, Eghagha advised that young girls should be educated very early to be confident of themselves.
The professor challenged girls present at the summit to aim high, not just for the sky but for the moon, urging them to take good advantage of the day’s summit which he said was intended to make remarkable impact in their lives. “Let today make a difference in your life,” he said
Eghagha described the summit jointly sponsored by Whole Woman Network, Glass Door Concepts, and Comic Republic, as a very good one, saying it had provided information for those present at the event. “It
also highlighted the plight of the girl-child, and then made some positive suggestions on the relationship between man and woman, boy and girl, husband and wife about how to empower the girl-child,” he added.
Contributing, Miss Ideal Nigeria 2016, Queen Nkem, who spoke on the topic ‘Female Empowerment: A Sure Way to Sustainable Development’, stated that the current fight for female empowerment was not just for this present generation but for the future ones, stressing that the fight they are engaging presently is to prevent future fight by young girls.