‘Must They Go to School?’ Northern Nigeria and the Challenges of Girl Child Education, 1999-2015

Abstract. In 1999, the Nigerian government launched its Universal Basic Education (UBE) program to provide free and compulsory education for every Nigerian child. Despite this effort, girls’ enrollment and school retention are still at their lowest ebb. This problem is even more apparent in Northern Nigeria where economic, religious and cultural factors often deny most girls access to education, especially in the NorthWest. Using a qualitative research methodology, this paper assesses the factors debilitating against girl child education in Northern Nigeria between 1999 and 2015 and their implications. This study finds out that factors such as early marriage, gender discrimination, low government support and the condemnation of co-education were responsible for the low enrollment of girls in schools across the Northern region. The paper concludes that to achieve the United Nation’s Millennium Development Goals2 (MDG2) and Sustainable Development Goals-4 (SDG 4), the government, international community, NGOs and parents must put their hands on deck to break the social, economic, religious and cultural barriers denying girls full and equitable access to education in Northern Nigeria. Keywords: Girl child education, Social Inclusion, MDG2, SDG4, Northern Nigeria, Challenges