The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Bauchi Field Office, says girls are not just survivors of adversity, but are leaders shaping a better future.

Mr Raphael Aiyedipe, the Education Officer, UNICEF Nigeria, Bauchi Field Office, stated this in Bauchi on Saturday during the commemoration of the 2025 International Day of the Girls.

According to him, across the globe, girls are rising, leading movements, challenging norms, innovating in science and technology, excelling in classrooms, and building communities.

Aiyedipe, however, said that yet, millions of girls still face barriers-violence, child marriage, lack of education, and mental health challenges.

He added that the facts were sobering, but the solutions were within reach.

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“Today, we gather not just to commemorate, but to commit to amplify the voices of girls, to champion their rights, and to invest in their futures.

“This day is a call to action; a reminder that every girl deserves the freedom to dream; the tools to thrive; and the power to lead.

“It is a moment to listen to girls; to learn from them; and to stand beside them as allies and advocates, ” he said.

According to him, together let us amplify girls’ voices; support their leadership; and commit to creating safe, inclusive spaces where they can thrive.

“Together, we stand with girls because when girls lead, the world moves forward.

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“When we invest in girls, we invest in stronger communities and brighter economies,” he said.

In her paper presentation entitled: ‘Breaking Barriers in Education: Why every Girl belongs in education”, Prof. Doris Boryo, advocated for the girl child education in the country.

Boryo, who is the Dean, Post Graduate Studies, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (ATBU) Bauchi, said when a girl was educated, it increases her involvement in political processes.

According to her, educated women were more likely to participate in political discussions, meetings and decision making.

These, she said, promote a more representative and effective government, safe sex education and infant mortality.

“If women all over the world had a secondary education, child deaths would be cut in half, saving millions of lives and it will decrease the level of child marriage.

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“It also strengthens economies and advances the fight to end poverty.

“When women of a country are learned and educated, the whole economy develops and flourishes,” she said.

The Commissioner of Police in Bauchi state, Sani Omolori-Aliyu said the safety, dignity and rights of a girl child were protected by international convention on the rights of the girl child.

Represented by ASP Ladi Hycynth, the commissioner said that the convention also granted the girls right to survival, development, education, freedom from harm and exploitation.

The Department of State Security (DSS) and the Nigerian Police in Gombe state have joined forces with the National Centre for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons (NCCSALW), Northeast Zonal Centre, under the Office of the National Security Adviser to President Bola Tinubu to mop up illegal arms and light weapons.

It could be recalled that the centre embarked on advocacy and collaborative visits to security stakeholders in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states last week to strengthen relationships in the fight against the proliferation of illicit small arms and light weapons in the country.

Speaking over the weekend when the Northeast Zonal Director of NCCSALW, Maj:-Gen. Abubakar Adamu (Rtd) paid him an advocacy and sensitization visit, the Director, State Security Service (DSS), Gombe state Command, Haruna Nuhu Koko, promised to support the centre effectively in intelligence sharing as well as advocacy and sensitisation.

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Also speaking, the Commissioner of Police in the state, CP Bello Yahaya, appreciated the Federal Government for establishing the centre and expressed the Police commitment in submitting all the small arms and light weapons in their custody to the centre

Earlier, the Northeast Zonal Director of NCCSALWA, charged both of them to be enlightening prosecutors that when judges make a judgement, such a judgement should come with the handing over of arms and ammunition to the centre for safe keeping or onward destruction.

“When the police or any other security agencies arrest and recover small arms and weapons, they should submit them to the centre and an agency with the constitutional right to keep and destroy them as and when due.

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“Collaboration with all the stakeholders will go a long way in curtailing the menace of the proliferation of Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW) in the country, thereby reducing the level of terrorism and banditry.

“The Centre has been mandated by the federal government to prosecute any individual involved in the proliferation of illicit weapons in the country and we are therefore seeking for more support and collaboration from all stakeholders in the Northeast.

The visits mark significant steps in strengthening the relationships between the NCCSALW and all arm bearing units as well as other stakeholders to put an end to terrorism, banditry and other security related issues in the country.

A Nigerian student, Isaac Jesutofunmi Oniti, has reportedly set a record at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST).

He is said to be the youngest overall graduating student, aged 19, since the founding of the institution in 1952.

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The former student of Seven Great Princes Academy bagged the enviable title of Valedictorian after earning a record Cumulative Weighted Average (CWA) of 87.23.