By Abdullahi Mohammed, Abuja
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu remains fully committed to issues of girl-child education and gender empowerment and will promote same in the policies and programmes of the federal government, Vice President Kashim Shettima, said Tuesday.
The Vice President said this when he received a delegation from the United Nations led by the UN Deputy Secretary-General (UNDSG) and Chair of the United Nations Sustainable Development Group, Mrs Amina Mohammed.
She was accompanied by the co-founder of Malala Fund, Ms. Malala Yousafzai and other officials.
“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is fully and unequivocally committed to the girl-child education and gender empowerment initiatives.
“The SDGs goals 4 and 5 will be vigorously pursued by the present administration. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is a passionate and committed advocate of girl-child education.
“He believes in the empowerment of our women. He believes that the prosperity, the respect of every society is directly proportional to the way they treat their women folk,” he said.
The Vice President commended the UNDSG and the co-founder of Malala Fund for their efforts in promoting girl-child education among other initiatives.
“Amina Mohammed stands today as a symbol of hope for the African woman for her resilience, commitment and disposition and most importantly in her integrity. She is an oasis of hope in an unending ocean of poverty and depravity, while Malala as an icon of hope and change in a despairing world,” he said.
He assured the Malala Fund of the federal government’s partnership with the organization for the greater good of Nigeria.
In separate remarks, the UNDSG, Amina Mohammed and co-founder of Malala Fund, Malala Yousafzai, commended the federal government for their efforts in promoting goals 4 and 5 of the Sustainable Development Goals, observing progress in the areas of gender equity and education of girls across the country.
Members of the delegation include the UN Resident Coordinator in Nigeria, Mr Matthias Schmale; the Executive Director, UN Office of Partnerships Ms. Annemarie Hou; the Special Assistant to the DSG, Ms. Hadiza Elayo; the Senior Advisor to the Resident Coordinator, Mr Frederic Eno, and Co-Founder Malala Fund, Mr. Ziauddin Yousafzai.