Sky Girls empowerment initiative lands in Lagos

Launched in Botswana in 2013, Sky Girls, a girl-centric empowerment movement targeted at teenage girls, during a press briefing, announced its readiness to launch fully in Lagos. Speaking at the launch event held on October 15 at the Ndubisi Kanu Park, Adenike Odutola, General Manager, 7even Interactive for Sky Girls, explained that the initiative is peculiarly targeted to teens between the ages of 12 and 19, with a charge to curtailing tobacco uptake among the age group as well as providing them with financial education.

She added that the movement seeks to create a community that encourages good living and expanded that the movement, which is in existence in five other countries, identified Lagos as an influential state.

“In Nigeria, we identified Lagos and Kaduna as prominent states to bank with. For Lagos, we realise that it is a model state and whatever happens in Lagos is usually replicated in other states. Also, we’ve identified key catchment areas in Lagos which are Surulere, Yaba and Ikeja. That is not to say the rest of the other areas are not admissible. But we only want to work first with these catchment areas, gain experience then expand to other areas. We would be having a magazine production coming up; girls would be the writers, contributors, editors, and all.”

“Tobacco consumption is something that we identified as very critical. Teenagers are usually easily influenced. This is the age where they get their firsts; their first girlfriend, parties, trials and a whole lot more. So, it’s better to have them and guide them towards making positive decisions at a young age. This is not really about saying this is right or wrong. We do not want to come up as preachy. We would also be having a movie coming up soon; the girls are going to be the actresses, and writers, and they are going to be very involved with the production process. We also have a TV show coming up and our girls would be taking the front wheel. We have a lot of initiatives coming up for them just so that we occupy them during this very crucial time of theirs”.

Collaboratively, Honourable Folashade Adefisayo, the commissioner for education, Lagos State, commended the Sky Girls Lead for bringing the initiative to Lagos, stressing that the idea is one long overdue in Lagos.

“I’m excited especially because this initiative is a safe space for all girls. It makes girls freer and more comfortable. Sometimes, home may not be safe, and school may not be safe, but being around an environment that is all girls is so beautiful. This is a powerful idea. It’s an idea whose time has come. Having our girls do the cool stuff is worth emulating. There is a lot of peer pressure among our girls. They want to be like somebody somewhere. They want to be like some social media influencer. Unfortunately, most of the time, these people don’t do cool things. But having a community gives them the strength to do what they want to do. To see through their inner will, their focus and vision for themselves, and a sound understanding of their reason for being in this world. As a ministry, we just couldn’t let such a vision pass us by. So, I’m greatly impressed with this initiative”.

Speaking on the reason for financial inclusion in the scheme of things for the empowerment initiative, Alice Railton, Market Lead, Ghana and Nigeria, Sky Girls, pointed out that Nigeria is the first country among other participant countries to have the financial inclusion feature. Alice explained further that the Organization is working closely with the first bank.

“We are very crucial in training girls on how important it is to have an appropriate financial education. We’ve discovered that girls and women are usually not included in financial discussions as much as guys. The project is not just segregated to girls in school. We have identified communities in Yaba, Surulere and some other communities. We are not leaving anyone behind”.

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