From Ighomuaye Lucky, Benin
Wife of the Edo State governor, Betsy Obaseki, yesterday, called on young girls in the state to seek role models that will continue to inspire them to greater heights in their chosen careers.
The governor’s wife, in a statement, referring to this year’s United Nations’ theme further urged girls to harness the opportunities provided by online platforms in making significant success within their chosen spheres of influence.
Mrs. Obaseki said “the last two years have been rather unsettling for the world due to the Covid 19 pandemic.
“Health and safety measures such as the lockdown and increased reliance on online platforms for work, worship and leisure are still in place to prevent and curb the spread of the virus.
“The girl child has however borne the hardest brunt of this global misfortune”, she said.
She said the abusive conditioning of young females with rape, child marriage, teen pregnancy, domestic violence and gender inequality is now on an astronomical high.
She stressed that this year’s theme for the International Day of the Girl-Child is “Digital Generation: Our Generation.” It calls to mind the need to harness this vast online space for learning, earning and connecting in ways that will create new tech pioneers in today’s world.
She added that the challenges of the girl-child have increased in the past two years, requiring more strength and resolve to surmount them.
According to her “I have always sign-posted successful female trailblazers to inspire us in this regard and I urge you to look for those in your chosen fields and let them mentor you to succeed.
“On my part, I will continue to create and support improved platforms that address and counter gender inequality, the most recent being the Betsy Obaseki Women Football Tournament.
“Happy International Day of the Girl Child”.
