• Seeks Buhari’s support
By ZIKA BOBBY
Writer and Girl rights activist, Kate Ekanem who represented Nigeria at the Girl20 submit at the United Nations in Turkey last year has said that plans are on to present the submit’s mandate to President Muhammadu Buhari.
Speaking at a press briefing, Ekanem said all delegates at the submit returned to their various countries, with a mandate to submit the communiqué officially to their presidents and to execute the mandatory project with full support from their governments. “Unfortunately, I am the only delegate who has been unable to reach out to her president or receive any support towards my mandate. I am hoping to reach out to President Buhari and some corporate organizations for support towards fulfilling my mandate. I was in Turkey to represent this country for the first time and it breaks my heart that I am yet to make a headway,” she said.
She said the Girl20 is under the umbrella of the G20 summit, a global summit that selected 27-girl leaders between the age of 18-23 from different countries around the world to represent their country or continent with the aim of assisting the G20 leaders with a communiqué that would help them achieve their goals of creating 100 million jobs for women by 2020.
“I was chosen out of 3000 girls across Africa. No Nigerian has ever been chosen since its inception in 2009. As a representative of Africa, I am expected to execute a project that would economically engage at least 200 girls and women across Africa. My project is titled: ‘African Women Empowerment’ and my mandate covers Nigeria, Namibia, Morocco and Ethiopia. I am to train young girls in ICT, photography and bead-making. It’s a form of connecting Africans. I have eight month to complete this project and time is running out. This is the more reason why I have to meet with Mr President,” she said.