Activist Malala Meets Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan

Pakistani activist Malala Yousafzai, met with Nigerian President, Goodluck Jonathan, earlier today at the Presidential villa, in Abuja, Nigeria.

During their meeting she was able to win a promise from the President that he would meet with the parents of some of the 219 schoolgirls held by Islamic extremists for three months.


Malala is celebrating her 17th birthday in Nigeria in an effort to work for the release of the girls from Boko Haram.

"My birthday wish this year is 'Bring Back Our Girls' now and alive," she said, using the social media slogan that has been picked up around the world to demand freedom for the girls kidnapped from a school in the remote northeast Nigerian town of Chibok before dawn on April 15.

Malala, who escaped a Taliban assassination attempt in 2012, was told by Goodluck Jonathan that criticism that his government is not doing enough "is very wrong and misplaced, The great challenge in rescuing the Chibok girls is the need to ensure that they are rescued alive," he said, insisting his government is "very actively pursuing all feasible options" to achieve their safe return.