International Day of the Girl Child: What NACTAL Wants Abiodun’s Government to Address

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The Network Against Child Trafficking, Abuse and Labour (NACTAL) in Ogun State has praised the state government for its efforts to improve the welfare and development of the girl child.

However, the organisation has expressed concern over the increasing number of girls who are out of school and living on the streets, warning that they face a heightened risk of trafficking and abuse.

The state coordinator, Comrade Olufemi Olusola, made this known in a statement released on Sunday to commemorate the 2026 International Day of the Girl Child.

Olusola acknowledged the government’s efforts in education and child protection but noted that girls continued to engage in street hawking during school hours in areas stretching from Kuto to Sango-Ota and from Ijebu-Ode to Sagamu.

He explained that this year’s theme, “The girl I am, the change I lead: Girls on the frontline of crisis,” emphasised the importance of recognising girls as future leaders rather than treating them merely as victims.

The NACTAL coordinator commended Governor Dapo Abiodun’s administration for its continued investment in quality education, efforts to strengthen the Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development, the domestication of the Child Rights and VAPP Laws, and various health and empowerment programmes for women and girls across the state’s three senatorial districts.

Despite these achievements, Olusola urged the government to strengthen its existing measures by introducing more targeted programmes to return girls who have dropped out of school to the classroom.

He also called for the provision of shelters and psychosocial assistance for vulnerable families, alongside stronger collaboration with traditional institutions and civil society organisations to rescue and rehabilitate girls living on the streets.

The organisation further urged parents to desist from sending their daughters out to hawk on the streets or forcing them into early marriages.

In its appeal to parents, particularly mothers, NACTAL stressed the importance of protecting girls and ensuring they have access to education and opportunities for a better future.

“To our dear parents, especially our mothers; the first protectors of the girl child.

“A girl child is not a burden, not a hawking machine, not a bride to be sold off. She is a future leader.

“We plead with you: Do not send her to hawk during school hours. Do not marry her off early. Do not keep her at home while her brothers go to school. Invest in her education, listen to her, protect her from abuse, and report any case of trafficking or exploitation around you.

“When you educate and protect a girl, you secure the future of a whole family and Ogun State at large,” the statement added.

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