Patience Bulus and Mercy Ali Paul, two of the hostages rescued from the 2014 Boko Haram massacre in Chibok, Borno State, have graduated from colleges in the United States of America.
Miss Paul earned an associate degree in social science from Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA), while Miss Bulus earned a degree in gender studies from Dickinson College.
In a joint statement, the Murtala Muhammed Foundation (MMF) and the Victims Support Fund (VSF) acknowledged that the rescued Chibok girls were able to pursue higher education in the United States thanks to a partnership that allowed them to receive full scholarships and personal growth opportunities.
Miss Bulus was also inducted as an Honourable Member of the National Society of Leadership and Success at Dickinson College in 2021.
At Miss Bulus’s graduation ceremony in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, the foundation’s founder and chief executive officer, Mrs Aisha Muhammed-Oyebode, made the statement that additional girls in Chibok and other areas affected by conflict should have the chance to go to school.
To help victims get an education and help communities rebuild after a conflict, she called for swift action on a global and national scale.
“The abduction of 276 schoolgirls 10 years ago from their boarding school signalled the urgency of action to secure education for girls in Nigeria.”
“As an organisation with a vision to advance positive education and social outcomes for women, we celebrate Patience and Mercy’s achievements today as a powerful example of resilience and we celebrate their determination not to be defined by the past but focused on the future,” she said.
The graduates spoke out for girls’ rights and education around the world and encouraged other girls to keep going.
The mission of the non-profit MMF is to promote economic empowerment, good governance, ethics, equity, and self-sufficiency through lobbying and policy work.
As a non-military reaction to the terror activities, the Presidential Committee on Victims Support Fund (PCVSF) was established in July 2014 during the height of the Boko Haram insurgency.
