Education has always been a pillar of the Ben Otubo International Foundation (BOIF). My father over there – the founder and visionary of BOIF – has seen to that, knowing first-hand how integral education is to self-representation and quality of life, especially in impoverished rural communities. My dad – Ben – made it out of youth to who he is today with only a shirt on his back and a mother who loved him with everything.

He is a microcosm for how difficult it is, without the resources, to obtain good schooling in a setting where feeding your family is the biggest concern. He is also a testimony to the value of widening access – he’s turned his success story into not only an anecdote that has taught my sisters and I the significance of the life we enjoy, but a means to lend a hand to people that are in the position he once was or worse off.

So, this is the backbone of BOIF and what we stand for – doing more on others, no matter how big or little the cost. I have watched at his side as BOIF has done more on local communities, from my hometown to other regions.

We offered over 3 million naira in grants for university tuition in one event, improved access to clean water by constructing seven boreholes in my village alone, integrated electricity supply, and more. It’s a drop in the ocean of our vision to leave our homeland a better place than we found it, but an oasis to those whom we’ve managed to help.

Currently, Nigeria has the highest number of out-of-school children in the world – a disheartening 20 million children and youth are excluded from education. This is due to a multitude of factors, including extreme poverty, widespread insecurity, and systemic issues like the privatisation of quality education.

For girls and young women, restricted education is an urgent predicament, with over 50% not attaining the basic education level. In many families financially burdened, including some I came across personally, the priority is the education of their male children. This means that not only do these young women get deprived of a clear understanding of the world around them, but they are caged within the socioeconomic barriers they were born into. For some, the economic disparity is the least of their worries – they must come to terms with the fate of child marriages, forced labour, and limited access to healthcare.

These young women aren’t any different from me – from the young women I’m proud to call my housemates – or from any of the hundreds of girls who have passed through Stanley. They just happened to be born into a man’s world without a silver spoon in their mouths.

This evening, as you watch your beautiful and talented daughters deliver a night of joy and laughter to you, I – on the behalf of daughters who need a way out – am calling you to support BOIF and GWF by scanning the QR codes on the programmes and the posters in the table stand. All the proceeds are going towards supporting girls’ education.

Thank you for your contributions to making a better future for girls everywhere, have a fun evening and enjoy the complementary sweet bags curated by the Stanley house charity team!