Valentina Tereshkova shows us where we need to be when it comes to gender equality

By Ayo Akinfe

[1] Today is June 19. On this day in 1963, Soviet astronaut Valentina Tereshkova returned from space. She became the first woman ever to do so. She had been been selected from more than 400 applicants and five finalists to pilot Vostok 6 on June 16

[2] This pioneer lady is currently 82 and is a credit to Russian women with her dynamism, courage and bravery. Russia is a country that has traditionally always had women in positions of authority since the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution. Even if you look at pictures of the Red Army seizing the Bundestag at the end of Wold War Two, there were women in the battalions 

[3] Now, according to Unesco, Russia has an adult literacy rate of 99.68%. While the male literacy rate is 99.73%, that for females is 99.65%. It is almost identical, showing that as a society, the Russians have given a big red card to misogyny 

[4] This did not happen by accident. In the 1920s and 1930s, the Bolsheviks introduced a policy called Likbez, which was a a campaign aimed at eradicating illiteracy. In 1917, only 12.5% of the female population was literate. Their education policy was based on Lenin's belief: "Without literacy, there can be no politics. There can only be rumors, gossip and prejudice."

[5] Under the programme, from the peasantry to trade unions, specific literacy percentage quotas were made for different sectors of Soviet society. For example, the trade union campaign aimed for 100% literacy for its workers by 1923

[6] In Nigeria we are making progress because as of at 2015, adult female illiteracy levels stood at 61.4%. I would like to see a breakdown of these figures state by state, however because sometimes, using blanket figures can be misleading. In Yobe State for instance, the literacy rate stands at a disgraceful 7.23%. I dread to think of what the female figure is. With child marriages so rampant, female literacy levels may be less than 5%

[7] Senator Shehu Sani has called out northern leaders, saying there is a relative lack of interest in education in the north compared with the south. No governors is paying attention to schooling, education budgets are abysmal and child marriages are acceptable. To make matters worse, the recent insecurity has led to many parents withdrawing their children from school. Things may get worse over the coming years 

[8] For any society, female education is key, as an educated woman by and large lifts everyone around her. An educated woman will never allow her children to be illiterate, so Nigeria has to target women, especially in northern Nigeria. Our Northern Nigerian Governors Forum and the Arewa Consultative Forum have to do something about this

[9] How do we lift literacy levels across northern Nigeria to 90% over the next 20 years? It is not an option now but a must. We do it or we perish! If we do not combat illiteracy, Boko Haram, armed banditry, kidnapping, Fulani herdsmen attacks, etc will be on the rise. What shocks me is that women's organisations are not leading the campaign

[10] Do we have a unique issue with women's groups in Nigeria? Does this percolate through to our women? Is it the reason why Nigerian women are seen to be too materialistic and more interested in handbags, shoes, expensive holidays, etc than in female literacy, domestic violence, child marriages, etc. How do we change this mentality as unless if we do, we are in trouble!