The girl who said 'no' to marriage

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Balkissa Chaibou dreamed of becoming a doctor, but when she was 12 she was shocked to learn she had been promised as a bride to her cousin. She decided to fight for her rights - even if that meant taking her own family to court.

"I came from school at around 18:00, and Mum called me," Balkissa Chaibou recalls.

"She pointed to a group of visitors and said of one of them, 'He is the one who will marry you.'

Editor's Comment
A promising step for public schools, but...

For too long, the state of many public schools has been a source of shame. We have all seen the pictures and heard the stories of broken windows, unreliable water and electricity, topped by classrooms that are not fit for proper learning. The establishment of the Education Infrastructure and Management Company Ltd (EIMC) signals that authorities are finally ready to take this problem seriously. We must commend the government for this initiative....

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