The story of Gidan Kude in Nigeria shows how a small investment can transform a whole community.

Free education is a right for all children in Nigeria, but when ActionAid staff visited Gidan Kude they found the primary school in a state of disrepair and only three girls among its 80 pupils.

Lobbying the government

ActionAid staff worked alongside the people of Gidan Kude and local partners to lobby the government for a new block of classrooms.

The lobbying was successful and a new block was built, but the changes didn’t end there.

Empowering a community

Lobbying for the new classroom block empowered the community to understand that education is their right and that they must fight to get it.

A committee was established to oversee schooling and is now asking government for more teachers to be sent to the area.

Ongoing work is being done to teach people about the need for education through drama groups, a girls' club and adult learning.

Getting girls into school

When the campaign started, many of Gidan Kude's children, especially the girls, were not in school. Now the number of children eager to enroll has dramatically increased and almost half of the 200 pupils in school are girls.