THE BRAVEST GIRL(S) IN THE WORLD

Dear diary,

Last night I watched Christiane Amanpour's interview with Malala Yousafzai, apparently the bravest girl in the world. She is the 16 year old Pakistani school pupil that was shot in the head by Taliban gunmen because she wanted to go to school.

On January 15, 2009, the Taliban announced on the radio that from that day, "no girl must go to school." Malala was born into a family that believes in freedom. According to her father, its better to be free for one day than to be  enslaved for eternity. She wanted to become a doctor in the future, have a positive impact in the society and the only way to achieve that was to go to school. On october 9, 2012, Malala was shot in the head by Taliban gunmen on her while returning home from school. She was in a critical condition and had to be flown to England for recuperation. The whole world gathered to pray for her defying religion and ethnicity, and today she can tell her story.

As I watched the interview, so many things came to mind; Ghost law against women and education, Boko haram insurgence against western education and Child marriage.

Malala's story is similar to that of a lot of girls in some parts of Nigeria. The only difference is that they have been stopped from going to school by their very own parents and family in the name of culture and tradition. I call it a ghost law because such parents would never agree with you that such a law is in place, but they abide by it. The girls want to go to school and become relevant in the society too but that dream cannot be a reality because their people believe a woman's place is in the kitchen.

According to his excellency, Boko haram has always been in Nigeria but it presented itself to the public after it claimed responsibility for the Independence day bombing of 2009. I've lost count of the number of schools that have been bombed over the years and even the number of students that have been killed or maimed for life. They wanted to go to school too but they were not given the chance too. Those that still go to school do so with fear and trembling in their heart, expecting the expected. The militants say they are against western education, yet they use the internet to upload videos claiming responsibility for attacks.

Child marriage has always been among us as a nation but few a ready to stand against it. We know it exists, our brothers and fathers are marrying the little girls and instead of the society to speak against it, we look the other way. Children are bethrothed to older men and have no chance of education. The child is damaged emotionally, psychologically, physically and mentally. She is programmed like a machine and is left with no choice than to obey.

Malala is just like the average teenage girl in Nigeria. What differentiates her from the girls' here is that she has been given a voice to speak out. Who will give the girls' here a voice?

Just thinking.