14-year old Special* is from North Central Nigeria
“Discrimination against girls is a major problem in Nigeria. Some girls do not go to school because their fathers think they end up in the kitchen anyway so it’s a waste of time. Some boys struggle with their sisters going to school. They would laugh and say ‘sit down there your education ends in the kitchen.’
Early marriage is also a big problem. When a girl is married, her life changes. She wouldn’t go to school anymore and her husband will need her to have a child, stay at home and do chores.
A girl should be married when she is at least 24 or 25 years old, that's when she is mature enough and able to carry a child in her womb.
If someone said to me that I’m not allowed to go to school I wouldn’t agree because I know the value of education. I want to bring solutions to the world. I want to have a future.
It’s important to listen to girls because we are the future and without us there will be no growth or development. We feel it is our right to express our views. We want people to listen and help us actualise our dreams.”
Read Special's poem below.
Goats
Carried and sat upon
Springs out in a friendly spring
Her minds rotating in the deep
Oh! What a life
Of hiding in a hive
Afraid to be killed like a goat
Scared of being carried away
In the slippery mirrey clay
Down to where I would be slayed
Oh. What a life
Of staying in the dark
Leaning against the wall with my back
Waiting and struggling to eat
But yet caught and beaten
Then tied up and down a seat
Dragged and put down by force
As If I was a curse
Shaking to breathe and be freed
Oh what a life
