Sumaila girls demand schools, toilets from LGA chair

Members of the Girls’ Platform in Sumaila local government area of Kano state have among others, demanded that their LGA chairman provides more girls secondary schools and female public toilets in their communities.

The girls made the demands in Sumaila town Wednesday during a program organized by the DFID-funded Mobilising for Development (M4D) programme to celebrate this year’s international day of the girl-child.

“We have demanded for the provision of girls’ secondary schools in some of our communities, the lack of which is denying many girls in our communities the opportunity to further their education beyond primary school level,” said Aisha Mu’awiya, a monitor in the girls’ platform at Rimi ward of Sumaila LGA.

“We have also demanded for the provision of toilets in public places like markets for women and girls because it is not appropriate for them to be using the same toilets as men as well as more midwives to attend to pregnant women in our communities,” she said

Ummi Abdullahi, another member of the Girls’ Platform from Gala ward of Sumaila LGA said the provision of girls secondary schools in their communities will afford more girls in Sumaila the opportunity to further their education, as many girls in the LGA don’t go beyond primary school since their parents cannot afford to sponsor them to attend boarding secondary schools outside of their communities.

Responding to the girls’ demands, Abdulhamid Idris Rimi, chair of Sumaila LGA lauded the efforts of the Girls’ Platform in providing entrepreneurial skills to girls as well as resolving marital disputes in their communities and promised to ensure their demands were met.

“I am really impressed by the fact that the girls can organize themselves and come here to present their demands. We are going to provide toilets for women in market places and ensure they are safe and will also seek the support of the Kano state government in providing more girls secondary schools in our communities,” said Rimi