Lucky Obukohwo Reporting
The governor of Kebbi State’s wife, Hajiya Zainab Nasiru-Idris, has criticized the high rate of rape, saying that the fact that 39 incidents have been reported in the past six months is alarming and needs to be investigated.
Idris made this statement while receiving a courtesy visit from representatives of the National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN), Kebbi chapter, and the National Union of Kebbi State Students (NUKESS) at the Government House in Birnin Kebbi.
The unsettling statistic was revealed earlier by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Women Affairs, Hajiya A’isha Muhammad-Maikurata, in a speech to the female students who were Vice Presidents of their respective tertiary institutions and organisations’ Students Union Governments (SUG).
The governor’s wife called the statistic frightening and emphasized that rape continued to be an offensive trend in gender-based violence (GBV), which needed everyone’s support and collaboration to end.
She asked the parents to uphold their moral and religious obligations and expressed concern about the state’s high rate of out-of-school youth.
She cites a number of factors, including a lack of access to high-quality education, that contribute to young people engaging in robbery, kidnapping, and other societal problems.
at order for pupils to become independent and steer clear of vices, the governor’s wife made a pledge that the state government would make sure they learned skills and trades at their lower levels of education.
Idris urged the students to work with her to raise awareness about hygiene and GBV while promising to develop a program to address some societal issues.
Muhammad-Maikurata earlier disclosed the 39 rape instances that had been reported between January and June, lamenting the fact that GBV had spread like wildfire throughout the state.
In order to stop the threat, she urged the students to stay watchful and help uncover any cases.
Hajiya Rafa’atu Noma, a former permanent secretary, chastised lecturers for abusing students sexually. She suggested that everyone work together to reduce the threat of GBV.
Hajiya Asma’u Bala-Yauri, the Secretary to the State Government’s wife, ascribed the issues with education to a variety of causes and added that teachers in Kebbi needed retraining and training in order to provide high-quality education.
She recommended everyone to give back to society by helping their previous schools in every way possible to increase access to education, especially the rich ones.
The students previously identified a number of issues that hinder the expansion of education in the state. Bahalura Muhammad-Marafa, the president of NUKESS, bemoaned the lack of teachers, hostel space, and basic facilities at the majority of the state’s schools.
In order to address the issue of menstrual hygiene among young girls in the state, Zinatu Yusuf of NYCN argued for providing free menstruation pads to young girls.