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Paper short abstract

Education for girls in Nigeria is severely disrupted by Boko Haram, including the 2014 Chibok abduction. This paper examines how conflict, poverty, and gender norms limit schooling and highlights interventions like BBOG, advocating for gender transformative and conflict resilient education policies.

Paper long abstract

Education is a vital pathway for achieving gender equality and sustainable development. In conflict affected contexts, however, access to education, particularly for girls is severely compromised. In Nigeria, the Boko Haram insurgency has generated prolonged insecurity, displacement, and social disruption, disproportionately affecting girls’ access to schooling in the northern regions. A defining example of this crisis was the 2014 abduction of 276 schoolgirls from the Government Girls Secondary School in Chibok, an event that drew global attention to the insurgency’s devastating impact on education. This paper examines how Boko Haram activities undermine girls’ educational opportunities by intersecting with pre-existing gender norms, poverty, and weak institutional capacity. Attacks on schools, fear of abduction, forced displacement, economic hardship, and increased domestic responsibilities contribute to declining enrolment, retention, and completion rates. Furthermore, insecurity reinforces conservative social practices, early marriage, and son preference, further marginalizing girls’ education. The study also highlights interventions aimed at restoring educational access, including the advocacy, reintegration, and support of abducted girls from Chibok, illustrating the critical role of community, civil society, policy engagement, and feminist activism like Bring Back Our Girls (BBOG): a women-led social movement in Nigeria. Drawing on qualitative and secondary data from conflict affected communities, the paper argues for conflict resilient, gender transformative education policies that prioritize safety, social protection, and long-term investment in girls’ education. In doing so, it contributes to broader debates on gender justice, education, and development in contexts of global uncertainty.