A Love Letter to Every Little Girl in the World: For the International Day of the Girl Child

 By Nightengale Ben-Onyeukwu

By Nightengale Ben-Onyeukwu

My dear little girls, my pink princesses wherever you are in the world, I want to start with something simple. I love you. I love you so much that if I had a magic wand, I would bring every little girl together under one big tree on a beautiful moonlit night. We would catch fireflies, share sweet stories, give warm hugs and laugh until we were too tired to talk. Since I do not have a magic wand, I am sending this letter to you instead.

My name is Nightengale Ben-Onyeukwu and I was once a little girl too. I know what it feels like to have a head full of small dreams and to find joy in the smallest things. When I was little I loved long flowing gowns and funny enough I still love them today. I think some things we love as children never really leave us and that is beautiful.

I know the joy a mother feels when she dresses her little girl, styles her hair and calls her princess while watching her smile. Every little girl is precious and every child deserves to feel loved. Whether your mother is beside you or someone else is caring for you, I hope you know that you deserve love, tenderness and attention.

I love watching little girls play because you can make a toy from almost anything. You wrap old clothes into a little baby, carry her everywhere, pretend to feed her, rock her to sleep and cry when someone takes her away. Sometimes all you want is to laugh with your friends. One small joke can keep you whispering, covering your mouths and laughing again even when the adults around you do not understand why. I hope you have many happy moments like this to remember when you grow older.

Some of you dream of being a princess with pretty dresses, a pink room and colourful beads in your braids. Some prefer other colours and some have completely different dreams. Whatever makes you happy, I hope you have the freedom to enjoy it. Please enjoy these small things for as long as you can and do not hurry into adulthood. There is time for you to grow and I hope you enjoy being a child without pressure to become grown too soon.

I wish I could be there when you return from school with so many stories to tell about your friends, your lessons and the funny things that happened. I would listen even if you repeated a story you told before. And if you came home with tears in your eyes, I would want you to feel free to talk without being laughed at or told your worries are too small to matter. Sometimes what a little girl needs most is not an expensive gift but someone who has time, a kind word, a listening ear or a comforting hug.

Sadly life is not easy for every child. Some little girls have to take responsibilities before they are ready, some cry when nobody is looking and some are denied school or play simply because they are girls. When I think about them I wish I could gather them close and remind them that they deserve kindness, protection and opportunity to grow. My dear girls, never think you are less important because you do not have what another girl has. You do not need the finest dress or the biggest doll to be special and you do not have to look like your friends or be best in class. Each of you is growing in your own way and that is all right.

Please go to school and learn all you can. Ask questions when you do not understand, read books, discover new things and keep your dreams alive. Whether you want to become doctors, teachers, writers or something else entirely, do not be afraid to dream about it. You may change your mind as you grow and that is all right too. What matters is that you have chance to learn, explore your interests and work toward a future you can be proud of. And when something worries you or someone makes you feel unsafe, please tell a trusted adult who can help you. You should never have to keep quiet about being hurt and asking for help is nothing to be ashamed of.

One day you will grow up. Your little dolls may be packed away, your colourful hairpins replaced by other things and the games you enjoy today may become memories. You will have new dreams and new things to learn but I hope you will always remember the little girls you once were, the ones who could laugh over smallest things and turn old clothes into beloved babies. And when you become women, I hope you will be kind to little girls you meet. Listen to them, encourage them and help them believe in themselves. If you have chance to help a girl stay in school, feel safe or pursue her dreams, I hope you will take it.

My dear girls, today is International Day of the Girl Child, a day to celebrate you and girls everywhere. This letter is for every girl who loves pink and every girl who prefers other colours, for girl who plays mother, girl who dreams of princess, girl who giggles with friends and girl who is still finding her way. It is also for girls who are struggling and waiting for someone to show them kindness. Every girl deserves love, safety, education and chance to dream about her future.

If I had that magic wand I would gather you all under that tree tonight, hold you close and tell you how much I wish for your happiness. I would remind you that you deserve childhood filled with love, people who protect you and freedom to dream without fear. Since I cannot do that, I hope these words reach you wherever you are and bring little warmth to your heart. As I end this letter I have just one wish for all little girls in the world. May the world become kinder place for you to grow, learn, laugh and dream. Wherever you are always remember you are loved. May you always have time to play, courage to speak when something is wrong and chance to grow up to become whatever you dream of being.

 With all my love,

Nightengale Ben-Onyeukwu

 

#InternationalDayOfTheGirlChild #DayOfTheGirl #IDG2026 #GirlChild #GirlsCan #EveryGirlMatters #LetGirlsLearn #ProtectTheGirlChild #NightengaleAwards

 

 

The Things We Leave Behind

 

By Nightengale Ben-Onyeukwu

How time flies. As a child, I would use a whole week to pray for Sunday rice and chicken, because that was all I knew how to pray for. I cannot even remember anything I saw as more serious than that. Once I had a big bowl of rice with my chicken, not minding the body part, I would be happy for the whole day.

But now I am old enough. I no longer pray for that. Most Sundays, I do not even care what I ate, as long as the food is tasty. Of course, just do not add boiled potatoes and beans to the menu. Those potatoes have refused to let me be. They come with plenty of tiny strings attached, like they want to tie me down. Since childhood, me and those strings have not agreed. I have forgiven many people in this life, but I am still negotiating peace with Irish potato.

What I pray for now has changed. Now I pray about how to find stories in everything. How to make my novels on Amazon become bestsellers. How to end each story in a captivating way, with suspense and all. How to be original and not copy another person's work, because it makes me truly happy when I am praised for my work's originality. And beyond writing, I pray for how to start my own foundation to help children, how to support orphanage homes, how to build a conglomerate, a company that will have many businesses under it, that will create opportunities for others. These are the things that occupy my heart now.

Childhood was very sweet, but I had to leave many things behind as I grew older. And from time to time, when I remember how sweet it was, I realise those sweet things are exactly what we leave behind.

There are some things we leave behind as we grow older without even realising how much they meant to us. Childhood is one of them. We grow older, take on more responsibilities and slowly move into another stage of life, but some childhood memories remain with us. Sometimes, the sound of rain, the sight of a tree, or a familiar smell can take us back to those days.

When I think about my own childhood, I remember how easy it was to be happy. We did not need much. Rain could turn an ordinary day into an adventure, a tree could become a playground, and a small amount of water could become a swimming pool.

I remember playing in the rain as a child, sometimes without clothes, laughing and running around without feeling any shame. We did not care who was watching. We were simply children enjoying ourselves. There was also a guava tree I remember very well. Whenever it rained heavily, water would gather around it and form what looked like a small river. We would go there and do our own little swimming while the rain was falling. Once the rain stopped, the water would dry up almost immediately, but while it lasted, it was our swimming pool.

I also remember rubbing charcoal all over my body without feeling ashamed. Sometimes, I would wear the back of my clothes in front because I thought it would stop the front from getting dirty. I thought I was being clever. Looking back now, I laugh at myself because I was only a child.

Even taking my bath at night could feel like going to war. I hated it when I was younger, especially when the water was cold. I would rather find an excuse than enter the bathroom. Yet today, I cannot imagine going to bed without bathing, even when the weather is very cold. It is funny how some things change as we grow older.

Another thing I remember clearly is how many of us lived together. We were staying at Ngor Okpala, close to the Imo Airport, where my parents had a very big school called Crown Scientific Seminary of Nigeria. The school still exists, although it is no longer at Ngor Okpala. My cousins were living with us, so there were many children in the house. There was always someone to play with, laugh with or disturb. The house was rarely quiet.

With so many of us together, we had our own funny ways of doing things. Whenever my mother shared soup, my cousin and I sometimes preferred to chew the garri or fufu first and lick the soup afterwards. Funny, right? At the time, we enjoyed it and saw nothing strange about it.

After school for the day, my cousin and I would sometimes gather the younger children and others living with us. We would teach them something and ask each of them to pay us ten naira. We needed money to buy sweets and chewing gum, so we found our own little way of making it. We even had receipts. They were old receipts my parents no longer used, but we used them to make our little business look serious. We would collect the ten naira and give the children receipts as if we were running a real school. Looking back now, it makes me laugh.

Life was really sweet then. We ate ripe fruits almost like squirrels. Sometimes, we ate unripe mangoes as if they were proper food, enjoying the sour taste. What makes me laugh now is that I cannot even taste sour unripe mangoes anymore. I enjoyed them so much as a child, yet today I can hardly tolerate the taste.

We played hide and seek, ran around barefooted and sometimes played without clothes. We did not care about how we smelled after playing outside, how dirty our clothes were or who was looking at us. Sometimes, we slept together, farted, laughed and teased one another without feeling embarrassed. Everything was simple. We were not trying to look perfect. We were just children enjoying the little world around us.

When I look back now, I realise that those ordinary days have become some of the memories I treasure most. A rainy afternoon was just a rainy afternoon. The guava tree was just a tree. Ten naira was enough for sweets and chewing gum. An old receipt could make our little business look official. Sour mangoes were a treat. We found happiness in ordinary things without thinking about it.

We continued going to school, growing a little older with each passing year, while still finding time to play and enjoy ourselves. We were children, but we were slowly becoming older children and beginning to understand more about the world around us. We did not know that one day those days would become memories.

Sometimes, I wonder what that guava tree looks like now. Does water still gather around it when it rains? Are there still children who run there and make their own little swimming pool? Perhaps another group of children has discovered the same place and is enjoying it without knowing that we once did the same thing.

As we grew older, things slowly changed. We became more conscious of ourselves and the world around us. We started caring more about how we looked, how we behaved and what people thought. We also became more responsible. The freedom we had as little children slowly became different as we moved into another stage of life.

But I still carry those memories with me. I remember the rain, the guava tree, the charcoal, the funny way I wore my clothes, the struggle over taking my bath at night, the crowded house at Ngor Okpala, my cousins, the soup and garri, the ten naira lessons, the old receipts, the sweets, the chewing gum, the ripe fruits, the sour mangoes, the hide and seek and the laughter.

I had to leave those days behind because I grew older. None of us can remain children forever. But sometimes, when I remember those moments, I feel close to that child again, the child who only needed a bowl of Sunday rice and chicken to be happy. I remember how free we were, how easily we laughed and how little we needed to be happy.

Those days were not perfect, but they were sweet. We did not need perfection. We only needed one another, a little food, somewhere to play and enough time to enjoy being children.

Those are the things we leave behind as we grow older. We leave the games, the muddy feet, the rainy afternoons, the sour mangoes, the crowded house and the simple freedom of childhood. But the memories remain.

 

OUR FLAG: GREEN-WHITE-GREEN

 By Nightengale Ben-Onyeukwu

On October 1st, 1960, Nigeria became independent. That is 66 years ago today. Before that day we were under the British, and on that day we were told that from now on we will rule ourselves. To mark that new life we needed a new flag, and the government then called for people to design it.

A 23 year old student named Michael Taiwo Akinkunmi was in London at that time studying Electrical Engineering at Norwood Technical College. He saw the advert in the library, he went to buy paper and crayons, and he drew something simple. He drew three vertical lines, Green White Green, and inside the white he put a red sun with rays. He sent it to Lagos from London and out of over two thousand entries, his own was chosen as the winner. The judges removed the red sun and left it as just Green White Green, and that is the flag we have been using since 1960.

When they asked him what it meant, he said Green means our forests, our agriculture, our natural wealth, the land that feeds us, and White means peace and unity. That was his explanation in 1959 when he was just 23 years old.

Now it is 2026, 66 years later, and when we look at that same Green White Green today, what do we really see?

We see Green, because the land is still there and it still grows food. Nigeria is still one of the most fertile places in Africa, we still have good rain and good sun and rivers, but the truth is that many farmers cannot go to farm freely today because there are killings and insecurity on the farmland. Many have lost their lives on the farm. Because of that, many young people have left the village for the city because farming is now hard and risky and expensive. Many of those who still farm are complaining about fertilizer and transport cost, so we have green land all around us but the food from that green land is still very expensive in the market.

We also see White, and White was supposed to be peace and unity. In 1960 the dream was that all tribes would live together as one Nigeria, and yes we are still one country after 66 years, we have not broken, but the truth is that many people are not feeling that peace and unity in their daily life. Many people are not sleeping with peace because money is not enough and many people travel with fear and many are just worried about what tomorrow will bring. We have seen too much blood in different parts of the country and families are still crying. Unity too is not easy now, there is too much suspicion and too much anger, many feel they are not carried along and many feel they are shouting but nobody is hearing them.

Then we see the second Green again, and that Green was supposed to mean hope and future, that Nigeria will grow and become better. Many people are still hoping, that is why shops are still opening every morning and that is why parents are still sending children to school and that is why people still wake up by 4am to go and hustle. But many people are also tired of hoping, they have been hoping since they were small children and now they are grown adults and they are still hoping for the same basic things like light and good road and good work.

So why do we still celebrate October 1st? This day is not about government. Government will come and go. This day is about the promise that was made to us in 1960. That we can rule ourselves and build our land with our own hands. We have not kept that promise well, that is the truth, but the promise itself has not expired.

Green White Green is still our flag. Since 1960 till now, it has never changed. It is still there, waving.

So I will leave you with this: when you look at it today, what do you really see? Do you still see wealth in the green? Do you still see peace in the white? And that last green that was meant to be our future, do you still see hope inside it?

Happy Independence Day.

 

Mazi Gburugburu Says Listening to the People Should Come Before Decisions

 

By Nightengale Ben-Onyeukwu

Dr Chima Matthew Amadi, popularly known as Mazi Gburugburu, has said listening to the people should remain an important part of decisions concerning the development of Imo State.

The Action Peoples Party (APP) senatorial candidate for Owerri Zone made the point while speaking about his interactions with women from different communities during the August meeting season.

Amadi said the conversations gave him the chance to hear directly from women and understand some of the issues that matter to them.

‘Throughout the month, I consulted with and engaged women across different communities, listening to their concerns, sharing in their experiences, and learning from their perspectives,’ he said.

He said the experience also showed him the strength and wisdom of the women he met and their concern for the progress of their communities.

‘Their warmth, resilience, wisdom, and commitment to the progress of our communities continue to inspire me,’ he said.

For Amadi, the importance of such engagements is not only in the meetings themselves but also in what can be learnt from the people who take part in them.

He said the conversations had strengthened his belief that the people should have a voice in matters that affect their lives and communities.

‘These consultations have strengthened my conviction that the voices of our people must remain at the heart of everything we do as we work together to build a better Imo State,’ he said.

Amadi also thanked the women who took part in the meetings, saying their support, wisdom and encouragement meant a great deal to him.

‘I am grateful to all the Imo women who made our August engagements meaningful and memorable, and sincerely thank them. Their support, wisdom, and encouragement mean a great deal to me,’ he said.

His comments put the focus on the role of public consultations and the need to hear from people at the community level when discussing issues that affect them.