Funke TreasureOften in Nigeria, children are not included in recognitions outside children’s day and independence anniversary. At the Sanitary Pad Media Campaign (SPMC), we are working with teenagers in a holistic manner, we are not only giving out monthly supplies of sanitary items to school-aged girls, we are also encouraging them to speak out, speak up and become voices for their generations.
In line with our policy of active inclusion, we recognized four exceptional girls at the flag-off of the sanitary pad scholarship scheme. It was one of the high points of our commemoration of the International Day of the Girl 2021.
The recognition of these exceptional girls was in conjunction with Omolayo Art Gallery which runs the ‘Young At Art Creative Workshop’ designed to discover, develop and boost the creative potential of children and young adults between the ages of 4-19.
Two teenage girls and a six-year-old were selected from the visual art platform, one of the three which the gallery exposes the children to, the others being performing art and literary art.
Meet the girls we celebrated with gifts and a crown for their individual skills:
“Everyone needs to take care of the girls and look at them as good and intelligent people, not that they would have early marriage and belong in the kitchen alone, no they have to put their best in everything they do, also known as putting your right foot forward when you put your right foot forward, you are putting your best in it”
Princess Daniella Onuoha was the surprise of the day, the six-year-old is in Basic 2, articulate and has the gift of the garb. She is a painter who sold out her paintings at her first exhibition. And she did the advertisement and promo by herself. Fascinating.
“God has given me a voice in Nigeria, Africa and the world for a purpose. I have a voice to be heard loud and clear all over the world. I am going to use my God-given voice to speak for myself, other girls and humanity generally so that in future we can all work together to promote the wellbeing of women and girls. . .”
Iteoluwakiishi Omolayo is in Julliard School, Magodo G.R.A. Lagos. She loves reading, drawing and singing. She is a visual artist who runs her own exhibition at her father’s gallery. At such an age, we felt that was quite a feat.
Sunmisola Ajayi is a mentee at the Gallery, and one of the finest artists groomed there.
The founder and promoter of Omolayo Art Gallery, Mr. Biodun Omolayo stated, “I am excited to be here, even though I am not a girl but I love girls. If all my children were girls, I would be happier… at the Young at Art creative workshop, I have a special program for ladies which is called ‘Sweet Art’ because I believe when you train a girl child, you train a whole nation”.
Anino-Oritse Esezobor is a speller, a rising star, intelligent and already representing Nigeria at International Spelling Competitions. She was 1st runner up in Teammasters Spelling National Final, School winner of the Peat Phillips Spelling Competition. Best Performer in ICSB vocabulary Test – Round One and International Qualifier of the Intercontinental Spelling Bee, Dubai.
Executive Director, Peat Phillips Foundation, Mr. Akinleye Olu-Phillips, who had provided platforms for the showcasing of her skills, described her award as deserving. According to him, “when a girl child is focused and goal-driven, the sky is the limit, for every girl child out there, this is an encouragement not to be distracted because the power of being calm and goal-driven can take you to heights never imagined”
In her speech at the occasion, the Convener, Ms. Anike-ade Funke Treasure stated that Malala Yousafzai was the world’s favourite teen because of her fight for education in Pakistan, her country. She reiterated Malala’s quote that “if one girl can change the world, what can 130 million girls do? She challenged the girls to become active voices in their communities and schools for the betterment of society.
This month we launch the SPMC Be the Voice Challenge inspired by our exceptional girls, all you have to do is send a 2- minute video speaking up about any issue, or a two-paragraph article about an issue with your photo attached.
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