Girl-child’s education doesn’t end in the kitchen — Obasanjo

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has condemned those against girl-child education in the country, saying it doesn’t end in kitchen.

Obasanjo said this at the 2022 World Diabetics Day, organised by the Olusegun Obasanjo Foundation (OOF) and held at the Main Auditorium of Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital.

According to a statement issued on Tuesday by his Special Assistant on Media, Kehinde Akinyemi the former President stressed on the need for contentment in every human endeavour, saying it could also reduce the chances of getting Diabetic.

Obasanjo, who is the chief visioner of the Foundation, said among other reasons, his personal experience on a girl-child education made him to include girl-child education as among areas of concentration for the Foundation.

He said: “When I started school in the village, I had a junior sister, after two years of starting school my sister started school. I was first in my two years and as I went along, my sister was also first in the school she started and suddenly, our father decided that – because a girl-child education ends in the kitchen, pulled her out of school – I remained in school.

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“And that singular action made the difference between her development into adulthood and my development into adulthood. And, I thought that when I come back from UK I will send her to school. And by the time I came back from UK, my wife had given my sister to marriage and that ended my sister’s education.

“Then, I vowed that whatever I can do for girl-child education, I will always do. And this unfortunate idea of girl-child education ending in the kitchen is unimportant. The culture of giving preference to a male child over female child is an idea and culture that must be killed. Woe betide anyone who attempt to relegate my eldest child, Iyabo. Iyabo will crush such person, be he or she.”

Obasanjo, while responding to newsmen question on his including letter ‘C’ to his DREMS (DREMS+C) acronym for conquering Diabetes and other NCDs, said the letter stands for Contentment, stressing that contentment should be key in staying alive and healthy, “and this only comes from the Almighty God”.

On his part, a Professor of Medicine, Olufemi Fasumale, urged the people to always maintain a healthy lifestyle, learn to eat healthy diet, and avoid taken tobacco.

He stated that Nigeria has limited access to an expert, saying the nation has 150 practising diabetologist, which he described as one of the major challenges facing the health sector.

The 2022 world Diabetes Day with the theme, ‘Access to Diabetes care’, focused on the need for better access to quality education for health care professionals

About 537 million adults worldwide has been diagnosed to be living with diabetes in the year 2021 and the number is expected to rise to about 643 million by 2030.

Meanwhile, almost one in two adults (44%) with diabetes remain undiagnosed, with more than 3 in 4 people with the ailment live in developing countries.

The Star