Between Northern Nigeria leaders and the legacy of King Faisal and Queen Iffat of Saudi Arabia on education of the girl child

by Eromose Ileso

The education of the girl child in Northern Nigeria has always been a divisive issue. It is an issue that has never been given the attention it deserves by the Northern establishment.

The girl child in Northern Nigeria is largely still regarded as part of the home furniture and most are given away in early marriage. Some in their pre-teen or early teens. This has been the norm and it has continued unabated.

It is an issue that was raised several times by the Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi in his pubic speeches before he was practically boxed into a corner by elements who are against reform and are comfortable with the present status quo.

At various fora, before he went quiet, he harped on the need for Northern Nigeria leaders to fine tune mechanism in educating the girl child. It didn’t come has a surprise therefore that, because his views were largely anti-establishment, it didn’t garner the support it deserved. Instead, the message was cast aside, and the messenger has been curtailed.

These were the Emir's words at an event in April, 2017.

"The people need to prioritise their commitment toward  the education of female just like their male counterpart.

“We appeal to everybody, especially well-meaning individuals irrespective of party differences, to provide the environment to aid girl-child education,”

Now, this is still the position of most elements of Northern Nigeria leaders seventeen years into the 21st Century, where the education of the girl child is still seen as an afterthought. They are instead given away in early marriage thereby altering their development and future prospects.

Most of these leaders hide under the conservative vestries of Islam. Yet this is further away from the reason as could be seen from the legacies of King Faisal and Queen Iffat of Saudi Arabia.

As a way of background, King Faisal (1906-1975), was the king of Saudi Arabia between 1964-1975, before he was assassinated by a nephew. While Queen Iffat (1916-2000) was the wife of King Faisal. Both are credited with laying the foundation for the education of the girl child in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

The Saudis practice the most conservative form of Islam, Wahhabism, where certain rights of women are tightly controlled and restricted. However, King Faisal during his time as head of the Saudi monarchy was able to persuade the obdurate conservative Saudi religious establishment on the need to educate the girl child.

In the words of Dr. Mai Yamani, King Faisal’s persuasion motto to the religious establishment was that “you educate women and they become better mothers”

It was through his words of persuasion, that Queen Iffat was able to pioneer the education for girls in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. To which Mai Yamani, who was the daughter of Saudi’s Oil minister ( Ahmed Zaki Yamani) at the time ended up being an early beneficiary, as she was one of nine female students of one of such schools.

Mai Yamani was eighteen years old when King Faisal was assassinated on 25 March, 1975. Yet the benefit of that early education she gained through the foresight of the King and Queen, was reflected later on in her life. She went on to become the first Saudi Arabia woman to secure a Ph.D in Anthropology from the Oxford University, in the United Kingdom. This was after she had earlier schooled in the United States.

Now, the question is, imagine if Mai Yamani did not get that early education at the time she did? What trajectory would her life had taken?

You guess is as good as mine. Yet some might say, since her father was Saudi’s Oil minister. She would still have gotten the required education outside the Kingdom as shown by her career trajectory, with her father being a lawyer. But that is entirely missing the point.

At the time, King Faisal and Queen Iffat championed education of the girl child, Saudi Arabia as a kingdom was still largely under developed, and was still steeped in Islamic conversativism which by the way they still are. Yet they were able to lay the foundations for the education of the girl child so early in their development. And this is talking of something that is near and/or over fifty years now.

Whereas, by contrast, after over half a century, the education of the girl child in Northern Nigeria has not been given the seriousness it truly deserves. Whereas the girl-child is still being withdrawn from school by parents to work before they are given away in early marriage.

Saudi Arabia is the birth place of Islam. Yet, they laid the foundation of the education of the girl child at the early stages of their development as a kingdom through its third ruler in King Faisal. Northern Nigeria leaders on the other hand, are still loathe to embrace the importance of educating the girl child.

There is a serious lack of commitment on the part of the larger Northern Nigeria leadership to address issues of girl-child education. Many are still hiding under the cloak of religion to subjugate the future of many girls who would have gone on to better their lives if they are given the opportunity to get the required education.

According to available statistics, there are 10-12 million children out of school in Nigeria. A larger proportion of which are in the North, and the girl child's situation within that statistics is even worse off.

This low level of girl child education in Northern Nigeria has continue to cause an increase in early marriages that has resulted in the prevalence of vesico Vagina Fistula (VVF).

The Child Rights Act 2003 strengthens the right of a child to have the right to education and not be given out in early marriage.

However, eleven (11) of the twelve (12) states in Nigeria that are yet to domesticate the law are in the North. (Kaduna, Kano, Sokoto, Kebbi, Borno, Yobe, Gombe, Adamawa, Bauchi, Katsina and Zamfara).

Whereas, sixteen (16) of the seventeen (17) states in Southern Nigeria have domesticated the law with only Enugu state the odd one out. While it just eight states out of the Nineteen (19) Northern states that have domesticated the law.

Even though, record shows that only Lagos and Akwa Ibom states have actually started implementing the law since they domesticated it. Yet, a child cannot walk without first clawing.

The states that are yet to domesticate the law have not even started. Unlike those that have domesticated it since it was passed by the National Assembly fourteen years ago. (Southern Nigeria is dominated by predominantly Christians unlike Northern Nigeria)

There is an adage that, “you cannot be more Catholic than the Pope”. This applies to the situation with what King Faisal and Queen Iffat did to advance the fortunes of the girl-child, and what currently obtains in most of Northern Nigeria.

The birth place of Islam is in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Despite the strictest form of Islam in the form of Wahhabism that is widely practiced in the kingdom, the fortunes of the girl-child relative to education has not been subjugated the way it has been in Northern Nigeria over the years.

Rather, the authorities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia are removing obstacles that have stood on the rights of women for decades.

On 26th September, 2017, King Salman issued a degree that would become effective from June, 2018 that allows women to drive themselves. A decision that many did not see coming despite years of women activism for them to be allowed to drive vehicles.

The question remains that if the most conservative Islamic nation on earth is moving towards advancing the cause of the girl child, what is the excuse of Northern Nigeria leaders?