Olabukunola "Buky" Williams, Education Champion

Conducting community campaigns to pressure state leaders to implement policies that would allow every girl to access free, quality basic education

The Issue

The issue

In 2018, the governor of Kaduna state passed the Child Rights Act, which guarantees children the right to free, quality basic education and prevents marriage under the age of 18. However, hidden fees make it difficult for girls from low-income communities to attend school.

Olabukunola "Buky"’s approach

Girl Activist Training

After attending university abroad, Buky moved back to Nigeria to help create community-driven solutions to the country’s social and development issues. Soon after her return, the nation began debating the Gender and Equal Opportunities Bill, which aimed to end gender discrimination in politics, education and employment. The Nigerian Senate’s opposition to this law solidified Buky’s commitment to addressing gender norms that hold back girls and women in Nigeria. She has spent the last 13 years working in advocacy and programme management and now is the executive director at Education as a Vaccine (EVA). EVA works with young people to tell their stories, advocates for their rights and holds governments accountable to their commitments to Nigerian youth.

Using her Malala Fund grant, Buky will mobilise girls and community leaders to conduct a state-wide campaign to encourage leaders in Kaduna to implement the Child Rights Act and ensure girls’ education is truly free for the estimated 691,000 school-aged girls in the state. EVA will also train girls to use social media and the radio to share their stories about the barriers they face.