Since the beginning of time, the girl child was less favored than the boy child. The boy was seen to be more intelligent and useful than the girl. In fact, a person who only had girls was not considered to have any children at all. Such a person would marry even the tenth wife in a bid to get even a single son. The wife who did not sire sons was disgraced and sometimes even chased away with her daughters. From the time the girl child entered the world, she was shown that she was less of a blessing than her brothers. As she grew older, she was like a servant to her brothers. She would cook and clean up after them.
Most of the household chores were left for her to complete. The father paid less attention to her and never spent any quality time with her. She never knew anything like fatherly love. As she grew older, every decision concerning her life was made by her father. This included who she was to marry and when. Greedy fathers took advantage of their daughters by marrying them off to rich old men who already had several wives up their sleeves. This enriched them as the dowry paid was handsome. Even if her father was a rich man, when he died, she never inherited even a penny whether she was married or not.
All the wealth went to her brothers. When the formal education system was introduced, the society never saw the need to educate the girl child. She was left at home as her brothers went to school. The community never saw the need to educate her as her place in the family was in the kitchen. She did not need to go to school to learn how to bring up a happy family. She would learn this from her older aunts. Since she had no voice of her own, she would take whatever was thrown at her. Times are now changing and more emphasis is being given to her than ever before by African governments.