By Adesina Wahab

In communities where silence often surrounds injustice and tradition can outweigh opportunity, Favour Abatang is charting a different course, one defined by purpose, clarity, and measurable impact for girls whose futures are too often cut short.

A girls’ education and girls’ rights advocate, Favour Abatang has steadily emerged as one of Nigeria’s most compelling voices addressing the realities of teenage pregnancy, child marriage, and harmful cultural practices. Through her nonprofit organisation, Her Voice Foundation (HVF), she is not only raising awareness but building systems that provide teenage mothers and at risk girls with access to education, dignity, and long term opportunity.

Favour was born and raised in New Karu, Nasarawa State, but originally hails from Obanliku, Cross River State, Nigeria, Her journey is rooted in personal experience. She attended Babcecil Nursery and Primary School, where her early relationship with education was not particularly enthusiastic. At the time, school felt more like a rule than a gift. However, everything changed when she lost her mother at the age of ten.

In the midst of that loss, education became something else entirely, a refuge. It became a space where her grief could breathe, where she could begin to heal, and where the idea of a future remained possible. That experience would later shape a defining realisation, the very system that helped her survive is out of reach for millions of girls.

Today, with over 122 million girls out of school globally, that realisation continues to drive her work.

Currently a Mastercard Foundation Scholar at the University of Edinburgh, Favour studies Africa and International Development, equipping herself with the tools to address complex social and economic challenges. Her expertise spans gender and development, harmful cultural practices, and the structural barriers affecting girls and Africa’s teenage mothers. She also brings a strong background in media and communications, alongside knowledge of business, international development systems, and global value chains.

Her defining moment came in 2020 when she encountered a 12 year old pregnant girl. What struck her was not just the situation, but the pattern it represented, girls pushed out of school, childhoods interrupted, and harmful practices sustained by silence. For Favour, it was a line she could not ignore. She refused to accept a reality where a girl’s future could end at twelve.

That conviction led to the founding of Her Voice Foundation, initially launched as Campus Babe Initiative. The organisation was created as a direct response to the realities facing teenage mothers and vulnerable girls across underserved communities.

From the outset, the mission was clear, to ensure that girls are given second chances, not stigma; education, not exclusion; and access to real opportunities that allow them to rebuild their lives.

What began as a small initiative has since evolved into a structured and impact driven organisation. Her Voice Foundation supports girls through education, helping them stay in or return to school, while also providing access to healthcare, protection, psychosocial support, and economic empowerment. At the same time, the organisation actively engages in advocacy, working to shift policies, challenge harmful norms, and dismantle the systems that push girls out of education.

Favour’s leadership reflects both vision and execution. As a nonprofit executive, she brings hands on experience in programme design, fundraising, and organisational strategy, ensuring that the foundation’s work is not only impactful but sustainable.

By 2023, Her Voice Foundation had begun to record significant milestones. Through targeted advocacy and community engagement efforts, the organisation contributed to conversations around ending harmful practices such as child marriage and money marriage, while also expanding direct support systems for girls across multiple communities.

Her growing influence has also been recognised on the global stage. In 2023, she received the Diana Award, established in memory of Diana, Princess of Wales, honouring young people making exceptional contributions to humanitarian causes.

By 2025, her impact had expanded even further. She was named among the 100 Reputable Women of African Descent by the African Women Network, a recognition that highlights influential women shaping development, leadership, and advocacy across Africa and the diaspora.

Beyond awards, her voice continues to resonate across international platforms. From policy conversations to speaking engagements, including her TEDx talk “The Power of a Second Chance,” Favour consistently reinforces a central idea, when a girl is given the opportunity to learn, heal, and lead, she transforms not just her own life, but her entire community.

What distinguishes Her Voice Foundation is its holistic approach. Its work integrates second chance education, economic empowerment through vocational training, advocacy against harmful cultural practices, and psychosocial support that helps girls rebuild confidence and identity. The organisation also prioritises sustainability by equipping beneficiaries to become leaders within their communities, ensuring that impact continues beyond direct intervention.

Behind the numbers are real stories, girls who have returned to school, rebuilt their lives, and created new paths for themselves and their families. These stories reflect what Favour often describes as a ripple effect, where empowering one girl creates lasting change across generations.

Moving forward, her vision is both ambitious and deliberate. She envisions expanding Her Voice Foundation into a global institution, with skill acquisition hubs, innovation centres, and scalable models that can be replicated across Africa. Her long term goal remains clear, to eliminate barriers that keep girls out of school and ensure that every girl, regardless of her background, has access to opportunity.

Despite the challenges, cultural resistance, funding limitations, and systemic barriers, Favour remains grounded in her purpose.

Her approach is simple, focus on impact, build sustainable systems, and let the work speak.

Favour Abatang is not just responding to teenage pregnancy or inequality. She is addressing the structures that enable them. Through education, advocacy, and community driven solutions, she is redefining what is possible for thousands of girls across Nigeria and beyond.

And in doing so, she continues to prove a powerful truth, sometimes, a second chance is all it takes to change everything.