Activist shares strategies to keep Niger girls in school

A Niger State gender activist, Cesnabmihilo  Nuhu-Aken’Ova has disclosed how her Non Governmental Organisation, the International Centre for Sexual Reproductive Rights has helped girls across Nigeria’s northern region, particularly her home state of Niger to remain in schools.

 Nuhu-Aken’Ova said girls in the North are usually faced with challenges which tend to compell them to abandon school for early marriage and other vocations, stressing that her NGO has remained at the forefront of ensuring that the girls take advantage of education.

The former presidential aspirant in the 2023 general election, who spoke to newsmen on the activities of the NGO, stressed that INCRESE has provided succour to school age children by also providing sanitary towels for the girls and other incentives to ensure that they are not distracted from their studies.

While  speaking on her efforts to protect the sexual reproductive health of women as well as fight to curb the prevalence of HIV in the society and Gender Based Violence, which, she said, majorly affects women, the activist, added,

“We have provided sanitary towels to school girls in Niger State, some other northern states and girls in Internally Displaced People’s homes. This is to ensure that they do not abandon school over this challenge.

“With the help of our donors, we are able to provide these sanitary towels to schools.

“We also work with the IDP camps right from Borno to Niger, even training people to work with people who are internally displaced. These were majorly individual donations.

“Today, as I speak to you there are projects in Niger State that address this same population. My work was to establish rights of access to services by removing barriers which include stigma and discrimination that we may be safe, that our pregnant women may be safe that children may not be born again with HIV.

“That’s my mandate, and I did it together with NACA at the federal level, SACA, at the state level and LACA at the local government level,” she highlighted.

The gender activist turn politician clarified a misleading social media report which misconstrued her gender activism with support for same sex relationship saying that since the inception of the NGO in 2000, its activities had been in line with Nigeria’s constitution and not contrary to the law of the land.

Nuhu-Aken’Ova described the social media report linking the organisation to anti-cultural and religious practices as fake report, stressing that such malicious report was aimed at tarnishing the reputation of the organisation which, she said,  has been rendering humanitarian services for many  years.

According to her, the organisation has closed down its office in Niger State due to the threat to life of staff members after the social media report. She informed that the matter has been reported to the appropriate authorities for appropriate actions while noting that the NGO has been working in rendering assistance to victims of all violence such as Gender Based Violence, Violence Against Persons, helping to retain girls in school.

Nuhu-Aken’Ova narrated how she became a presidential aspirant, pointing out that her NGO was at the forefront of agitating for youth involvement in the politics of the country. “I did contest for the seat of the president of Nigeria for the 2023 elections and that is because we have been looking for youth involvement and so, we started a project called connecting the dots and that was to help young people participate in politics.

“So, over the years, we’ve been training young people on how to engage in policies. And so, when this not-too-young-to-run Act sailed through, the young people came together and said we should contest for elections for 2023.

“And it was when we were mapping to contest elections that they said that I should run for presidency. So, I was given the mandate by young people who were graduates of the institute to run for the position of the presidency, and I’m still very active in politics.

Nuhu Aken’Ova, disclosed that the International Centre for Sexual Reproductive Rights has received international recognition, saying, it was recently listed among the top three best projects in the world by working to keep girls in school. “INCRESE has been listed as number three in the world that is working to keep girls in school. It has also been working to reduce the prevalence of HIV/AIDS and protection of human rights,” she said.