As part of activities to mark International Women’s Day, Nigerian-born UN Deputy Secretary General, Amina Mohammed, received a host of advocates for girl education, including three survivors of violence in northern Nigeria now schooling in the US.

As the college students sponsored by the Nigerian NGO, Education Must Continue, introduced themselves in the chamber of the UN in New York, a visibly excited Amina Mohammed chimed in, “We are all northern girls,” to the amusement of the select group of diplomats and activists from the ONE Campaign which organised the event.

Star student and escaped Chibok schoolgirl Sa’a opened the floor with remarks about how she has made visible progress in her life academically in the US, she remained concerned for her still missing classmates in Sambisa forest in Nigeria. She underscored the importance of girl education saying education is not the exclusive preserve of boys.

After the event, human rights lawyer and director of the humanitarian organisation, Education Must Continue, which sponsors the girls, congratulated the Deputy Secretary General on her appointment. He informed her that the last time Mrs. Mohammed met the Chibok girl, Sa’a two years ago, she was still in high school but that she is now in a University – the only Chibok girl to achieve this level in America. Incidentally Amina Mohammed was then herself Special Adviser to the UN Secretary General.

“This in my estimation is a sense of remarkable progress in both the lives of Amina Mohammed and Sa’a since they last saw in 2015,” said Emmanuel Ogebe, International Director, Education Must Continue Initiative, who issued a statement in New York.

“Incidentally, Mrs. Mohammed’s kindness facilitated Sa’a’s last visit to the UN during the general assembly in 2015. We are grateful for her consistency and care over the years. Her appointment is a blessing to humanity although a loss to Nigeria,” Ogebe said.

It will be recalled that Amina Mohammed had only last week been sent off by the Nigerian government where she had served as Minister of Environmental. The visit of the Nigerian girls is believed to be her first key public event since assuming the position at the UN.

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