ABUJA, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA)-The Vice President, Kashim Shettima, has said that the graduation of 12 Chibok schoolgirls abducted on April 14, 2014, has renewed hope for women’s education in Nigeria and beyond.
Speaking at the 17th graduation ceremony (commencement) of the American University of Nigeria on Saturday, the Vice President, who was represented by the Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission, Prof. Abdullahi Ribadu, commended the institution for providing an enabling environment for the 12 Chibok schoolgirls to complete their university education.
He said the graduation stands as a symbol of hope and reinforces the importance of women’s education to national development.
The commencement speaker, Stephanie Busari, highlighted the Federal Government’s role in sponsoring the Chibok schoolgirls to study at AUN, describing the effort as commendable and a strong symbol of hope for girls’ education.
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“Now, there are twelve women in this room I want to speak to directly. They are among the hundreds of Chibok schoolgirls who were abducted from their dormitories in 2014, and they are graduating today.”
“In May 2017, I stood in a room at the Presidency in Aso Rock and hugged some of them. I had spent years covering their story as a journalist.”
Busari revealed that a proof-of-life video she obtained earlier played a crucial role in confirming the girls were alive at a time when global attention was waning.
“A year before, I had obtained a vital proof-of-life video that showed these young women were still alive at a time when the world had started to forget about them.”
She said the video helped revive negotiation efforts that eventually contributed to their release.
“At the time, we did not know if the work would make any difference. We did it because the alternative was silence, and silence felt like complicity.”
She also recounted the emotional moment she met the freed girls.
“When I walked into that room in Aso Rock, they were thin, painfully so. But they were wearing bright and bold ankara outfits that had been quickly and lovingly sewn for them.
“The kind of clothes you give someone when you want them to feel seen again, when you want them to know they matter. And they were smiling, not politely, not for the cameras, but genuinely, with their whole faces, in a way I was not prepared for and have never forgotten.”
“I am a woman of faith, and there is a verse from the Book of Psalms that I believe is fitting to this moment today.
“When the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion, we were like them that dream.”
The President of AUN, Dewayne Frazier, said the graduation affirms the university’s mission as a development-focused institution and shows that trauma can be transformed into academic achievement.
He added: “These graduates now stand as beacons of light for the Northeast and the world. Their success sends a powerful message, education is the most proven tool for healing and transformation, capable of reclaiming lives and building a brighter, more secure future for Nigeria.”
Frazier also commended the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs for sponsoring the girls’ education at AUN.
A total of 276 girls were abducted by Boko Haram militants from the Government Girls Secondary School in Chibok on April 14, 2014.
Over 180 have since been released or escaped, while several others remain missing or in captivity.