Date: 2015-10-16

Wife of the President of the Senate, Mrs. Toyin Saraki, on Wednesday called on parents, guardians and governments at all levels to put an end to the tradition of girl-child marriage.

Mrs. Saraki, who is also the Founder of the Wellbeing Foundation Africa (WBFA), stated this in her message to mark this year's "International Day of the Girl Child" with the theme: "The Power of the Adolescent Girl: Vision for 2030."

She further urged Nigerians to intensify efforts at supporting the education of the girl-child and investments in interventions aimed at adolescent girls in local communities.

She noted that empowering the girl-child to grow into respectable womanhood takes lots of challenges, while urging the people to move away from the culture or belief that training a girl-child is unrewarding.

Mrs. Saraki tasked governments to continue to associate with the global campaign to end child marriage by 2030 in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

She said: "The danger posed by teenage pregnancies should not be underestimated. Few things are so dangerous and barbaric to life as children delivering children.

"With adolescence being an important transition phase which determines many of the opportunities and challenges that girls will later face as they become women, empowering girls at this stage with education, protection and opportunities, will set them on the right path to being empowered women and mothers.

"I hereby call for improved access to educational opportunities for adolescent girls, both in the formal and informal education spaces and for improved access to health services and commodities." Mrs. Saraki stated.

The Wife of the Senate President further frowned at gender-based violence which she said usually result in total loss of confidence and moral values among female folks in our society.