Taimur Samad, the World Bank’s Deputy Country Director for Nigeria, revealed that more than two-thirds of Nigerian girls abandon their education before reaching junior secondary school. Samad made this disclosure on Tuesday while representing the Country Director, Ndiame Diop, at a national conference on girls’ education and empowerment in Abuja. The event, themed “Effective Partnerships on Girls’ Education, Out-of-School Children Education for National Development,” was organized by the Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment (AGILE). Samad highlighted the major barriers to girl-child education in Nigeria, including high dropout rates, early marriages, and teenage pregnancies. He stated, “Over 66% of…

While very few Nigerian children are still able to have tea and bread under the warm roof of their parents, many are now sourcing for their daily bread (scavenging) from refuse dumps. Beginning from the new year, many of these children, between the ages of nine and 14, can be seen carrying sacks filled with various kinds of dirt, ranging from used cartons, empty drink cans and used plastic bottles and bowls. Economy&Lifestyle’s encounter with Jacob Olorunfemi, a 10-year-old, revealed that the economy is dealing blows of hunger and difficulty on his parents and making him unable to attend lessons.…