The Chibok Girls, Structural Violence, Gender & Education in Nigeria's N...
The Chibok Girls: Structural Violence, Gender, and Education in Nigeria’s Northeast. Chapter by Mojúbàolú Olufúnké Okome in The Stolen Daughters of Chibok, edited by Dr. Aisha Muhammed Oyebode. Photographs by Akintunde Akinleye. Published by Powerhouse Books in 2023. Excerpt from the INTRODUCTION to the longer piece: In this chapter, I argue that the best explanation for the plight of the poor in Nigeria is the pervasiveness and depth of structural violence, which denies them of human security (Galtung, 1969). Although structural violence is pervasive in Nigeria, there are gendered, religious, class and regional variations that cause more or less marginalization. Girls born into poor families are affected to a greater degree because they are already marginalized by the combined consequences of the prevalence of extreme poverty and the gender-based discrimination that causes bias against girls’ education and toward more responsibility for housework and caregiving, as well as early marri