Against All Odds: An Adolescent Girl's Fight for a Brighter Future in North-west Nigeria
A role model inspired her to enrol in school and motivated her to aspire to become a doctor, but poverty now threatens the teenager's dream to become a doctor.
RIMI, Katsina State, Northwest Nigeria, 10 October 2024 – 16-year-old Alawiya Nura was old enough to be in school, but she was not enrolled. Rather, every day, she beat the sand-strewn streets of Rimi town in Northwest Nigeria, hawking condiments for her mother.
There was nothing exciting about Alawiya’s routine until the day she met a medical doctor.
Compared to my family, she had everything. When I learned she was a medical doctor, I instantly wanted to be one and told her so, shared Alawiya. She said it was a good dream, but to realize it, I needed to be in school, not hawking, added Alawiya.
Only a year later, Alawiya enrolled in school, showcasing her unwavering determination to achieve her dream and support her family.
At school, UNICEF's Reaching and Empowering Girls (REACH) program, which targets adolescent girls, introduced Alawiya to the Girls for Girls (G4G), a peer group. She continued to participate in G4G activities, where she got more inspiration from the role models who visited the school and spoke to female students.
However, it appears that Alawiya's educational journey has encountered an obstacle. With just two years left to complete her secondary school education, Alawiya's mother's persistent pressure to get married threatens to extinguish her aspirations; her future hangs in the balance, despite her excellent academic performance.
I’d like to complete my secondary school education and proceed to the university. I want to become a doctor, but my mother says I'm old enough to marry, Alawiya shares, her voice laced with desperation.
I acquired some skills, which enable me to earn a small income and contribute some of it to support my mother's meagre income. However, this fund is insufficient for a single mother who struggles to provide for me and my five siblings.
I feel like my dreams are slipping away. My mother wants me to get married so she will have one mouth less to feed, narrated Alawiya
Alawiya's predicament is a harsh reality for many girls, especially in Katsina State, where child marriage, driven by poverty and gender inequality, among other factors, remains prevalent.
Through the REACH programme, UNICEF is supporting the Katsina state government in addressing these issues, promoting girls' education and empowerment. And the result is evident: At least 4,000 girls have been enrolled in school, where they have also acquired empowerment and income-generating skills.
With increased funding, more girls will benefit from the REACH programme, says Rahama R.M. Farah, Chief of UNICEF Field Office in Kano.
