ABUJA, Nigeria – Nigerian media personality Abisola  Aiyeola, better known as Bisola will be attending this years UN General Assembly as a ONE Ambassador. Bisola won ONE’s Back to School presentation task during this season reality-show Big Brother Naija. ONE’s #GirlsCount campaign focuses on the importance of girls’ education. The #GirlsCount campaign recognises that globally, 130 million girls are out of school with 51 million of them in Africa. 

Bisola’s winning presentation called on Nigerian policymakers to prioritise girls’ education. As part of the collaboration between Big Brother Naija and ONE, housemates were asked to put together a presentation based on information and statistics about girls’ education in Nigeria from ONE’s Poverty is Sexist policy report. The aim of the task was to call on the Nigerian Federal and State government to prioritise girls’ education. As part of the task, housemates highlighted the barriers to girls’ education in Nigeria and presented possible solutions to ensuring every girl in Nigeria completes primary and secondary school.

In Nigeria, the #GirlsCount Campaign is focused on increasing access and quality education for girls in Nigeria, with an emphasis on girls in Northern Nigeria. Because poverty is sexist, it disproportionately affects women and girls. While globally, there are 130 million girls out of school, in Nigeria over 10.5 million children out of school. In addition, Nigerian girls’ participation rate in education remains lower than boys’ across all levels of education, particularly at senior secondary level. In primary school, 31% of Nigerian girls are out of school compared to 27% of boys.

Commenting on the winning presentation, ONE’s Nigeria Director Serah Makka-Ugbabe said:

We are proud to have Bisola join us at the United Nations General Assembly meetings! She has a personal story about her desire for education and how finances prevented her from completing her studies. Her presentation in the Big Brother House was moving as she highlighted the status of girls education. ONE looks forward to working with her as we take our Campaign to the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York this week. During the UNGA we will ask Nigerian and other African leaders to make education work for every girl by 2030, in line with Sustainable Development Goal 4.”

All Nigerians and followers of BBNaija across the continent are encouraged to join the campaigns by adding their voice to ONE’s prominent Ambassador Omotola, Bonang, Waje, and others by making their voices heard in support educating the girl child. Join the #GirlsCount campaign by posting a #GirlsCount a video or picture online with a message to Nigerian and world leaders on girls education. Get creative!

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About ONE

ABOUT ONE: ONE is a campaigning and advocacy organisation of more than 8 million people taking action to end extreme poverty and preventable disease, particularly in Africa. Not politically partisan, we raise public awareness and press political leaders to combat AIDS and preventable diseases, increase investments in agriculture and nutrition, and demand greater transparency in poverty-fighting programmes. Read more at www.one.org.