by Benson Agoha
It is said that
big and great things often start small.
This rather fitting
saying blends well with Friday’s decision by the Norwegian Nobel Committee, to
award the 2014 Nobel Peace Price to Malala Yousafzay, the teenage girl from
Pakistan, whose campaign for girl education irked some evil minds.
Malala’s survival
from the injuries when bullets fired by hired assassin lodged into her head,
was the beginning of many wins into popularity.
She shared the
price with Indian Kailash Satyarthi, whose efforts for children was equally
recognized by the committee.
Announcing the Breaking
News on Friday, The Nobel Prize shook Twitter’s peace (if ever there was one)
when they tweeted “The #nobelprize2014 in Peace is
awarded to Indian Kailash Satyarthi and Pakistani Malala Yousafzay.”
The Nobel
Committee said Malala and Kailash won “for their struggle against the
suppression of children and young people and for the right of all children to
education.”
Malala’s appearance
on the world scene fills a different kind of void in a world where most youth
are lured more by decadence rather than decorum.
 |
| * Malala Yousafzay fights for the girl-child education. |
Since the teenager
recovered from her injuries, having been flown to the UK, she has appeared in
public places, including the United Nations, to give speeches that make leaders
cringe.
She has also been
a guest in many youth programs organised by schools here in UK, where she now
lives, and other parts of the world.
Malala has also
spoken out against the evil and ignorance of groups like Boko Haram, which
abducted hundreds of school girls from the hostel and since refused to release
them. She has even travelled to Nigeria to meet the parents of the affected
girls.
For a 17 year-old,
these are no mean feat by any standard. And with the addition of a new feather to
her plume in Friday’s Nobel Price win, Malala became the youngest person to so
win the eminent price.
