An evening with Malala

When I was informed that I had been scheduled to meet with Malala Yousafzai, Nobel laureate and girl-child education advocate, on July 17, I was excited. But my excitement soared into curiosity, and later segued into uneasiness.

Malala came into my own reckoning on October 10, 2012 when news of a deadly Taliban attack on her rippled across the world. At the time, she was only 15 years old. I remember then, I cogitated, in miasmic confusion, on the depraved reason for the attack; she only defied the diabolic and patriarchal discharge of the Taliban against girl-child education. And she was bold and dauntless even in the face of a live threat.

I was curious about the meeting because it would be my first with this towering figure of global repute. And I was uneasy because I thought I might be disappointed after the encounter. Why? Some critics have said she is a sculpturing of the West and that she is “over-hyped”. But I was not disappointed. Our meeting, despite the brevity of it, was worth it. She answered all the questions I threw at her intelligently and eloquently. I must say, she has a deft grasp of the issue of girl-child education. Need I say she has poise, mental balance and indomitable confidence? I had thought that her handlers would prop her through the interview, but no, Malala held her own.

Our meeting was scheduled for 5:45pm, but unfortunately, the time was moved up. She was meeting with Acting President Yemi Osinbajo at the time, I was told; hence a change of the schedule. After a little delay, she sauntered into Zuma restaurant at the Hilton, where I sat chipping away at time on my mobile phone. The young woman was in the company of Taylor Royle, communication director of the Malala Fund, and the man whose expansiveness, courage and resilience forged her into the super weapon of advocacy she is – Ziauddin Yousafzai, her father. Ziauddin would later share with me the fount of his daughter’s defiance to prejudice.

Malala told me she chose Nigeria as a priority country for her “girl-child education” advocacy because of the country’s huge population of out of school children. About 12 million Nigerian children – most especially in the north – a currently out of school. She said beyond advocacy her foundation would be supporting local non-governmental organisations wired to getting children to school. To me, this was not a blank statement because there was a passion and a charge to it. I have been around long enough to know when a famous person is firing blanks.

She spoke about the Chibok girls whose release she has campaigned for since 2014 and about her meeting with the acting president. But I must say, the time allotted to me was not enough to “grill” her. I asked her a final question, and that was if she would go into politics in the future. She replied: “If I go into politics I might be focused on Pakistan, but I have no plan yet. My plan is just to be focused on education to make sure that all children across the world including Nigeria get education”. I would like to add that one of Malala’s role models Benazir Bhutto, former prime minister of Pakistan, who was murdered by Islamic extremists in 2007.

Now, hear why this activist is the way she is. Ziauddin revealed it in a scrutable statement. He told me he never “clipped” his daughter’s wing, and that is why she exudes boldness, and poised.

“As Malala’s father, I must say to parents, fathers, brothers and teachers that they should focus on girls’ education. People ask me what I did for my daughter to make her so bold, poised and a billion girl. And I tell them I did not do anything extra. Don’t ask me what I did, rather ask me what I did not do. I did not clip her wings. My message to Nigerians parents, especially to the north and patriarchal parents is that they should not clip the wings of their daughters. They should let them be themselves, and send them to school,” he said.

This is a definitive summation of this article, but I must add; children – both boy and girl – must be allowed to exhale and live untamed.

MEANWHILE…

Sheriff’s sudden anti-corruption hunt

Ali Modu Sheriff, sacked national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), is now on a hunt for corrupt members of his party. Interesting! According to a statement issued by Bernard Mikko, his media aide, on Monday, the politician says, “we will collaborate with global anti-corruption networks to bring all corrupt politicians in Nigeria to book, including PDP members having criminal cases bothering on dishonesty and malfeasance”. And I hear he was not invited to the PDP caucus meeting. Interesting!

Nigeria in acting mode?

About eight agencies of government are currently headed by appointees in acting drive. Two ministers designate – Stephen Ocheni and Suleiman Hassan – have not been sworn in. Even Yemi Osinbajo has been acting president for 75 days – the longest time in the political history of Nigeria. I don’t understand this. Is this the new normal?