The Vice President, Kashim Shettima, has said that the graduation of 12 Chibok schoolgirls abducted on April 14, 2014, has raised hope for women’s education in Nigeria and beyond.
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Speaking at the 17th graduation ceremony (commencement) of the American University of Nigeria on Saturday, the Vice President, who was represented by the Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission, Prof. Abdullahi Ribadu, commended the university for providing a conducive environment for the 12 Chibok schoolgirls to earn university degrees.
He said the graduation represents hope that women’s education is vital for national development.
The commencement speaker, Stephanie Busari, highlighted the role of the Federal Government in sponsoring the Chibok schoolgirls to obtain degrees at AUN, describing it as both commendable and a symbol of hope for girls’ education.
“Now, there are twelve women in this room I want to speak to directly. They are among the hundreds of Chibok schoolgirls who were abducted from their dormitories in 2014, and they are graduating today.”
“In May 2017, I stood in a room at the Presidency in Aso Rock and hugged some of them. I had spent years covering their story as a journalist.”
Busari disclosed that a proof-of-life video she obtained earlier helped confirm the girls were alive at a time when public attention to their case was fading.
“A year before, I had obtained a vital proof-of-life video that showed these young women were still alive at a time when the world had started to forget about them.”
She said the video helped restart negotiation efforts that eventually led to their release.
“At the time, we did not know if the work would make any difference. We did it because the alternative was silence, and silence felt like complicity.”
She also recalled the emotional moment she met the freed girls.
“When I walked into that room in Aso Rock, they were thin, painfully so. But they were wearing bright and bold ankara outfits that had been quickly and lovingly sewn for them.
“The kind of clothes you give someone when you want them to feel seen again, when you want them to know they matter. And they were smiling, not politely, not for the cameras, but genuinely, with their whole faces, in a way I was not prepared for and have never forgotten.”
“I am a woman of faith, and there is a verse from the Book of Psalms that I believe is fitting to this moment today.
“When the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion, we were like them that dream.”
The President of AUN, Dewayne Frazier, said the graduation validates the university’s mission as a development-focused institution and demonstrates that it is possible to bridge trauma and academic success.
He added: “These graduates now stand as beacons of light for the Northeast and the world. Their success sends a powerful message, education is the most proven tool for healing and transformation, capable of reclaiming lives and building a brighter, more secure future for Nigeria.”
Frazier commended the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs for sponsoring the girls’ education at AUN.
A total of 276 girls were abducted by Boko Haram militants from the Government Girls Secondary School in Chibok, Chibok, on the night of April 14, 2014. Over the years, more than 180 have been released or escaped, while dozens remain missing or in captivity.
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