A Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and human rights activist, Mr. Femi Falana has described as worrisome the number of out-of-school children in Nigeria to the tune of 20.2 million, reports ITREALMS.
"The task before us is to intensify efforts to remove those children from the streets and enroll them in school because every state in Nigeria has enacted the Child Right Law and FCT also has Child Right Act enacted by the National Assembly, the law stipulates that every child in Nigeria should be given a free and compulsory education from primary to Junior Secondary," he said.
Falana urged all stakeholders to support the foundation’s initiatives in taking the children out of the streets.
"AI Foundation is challenging all of us to take the education of the children very serious particularly the rich and the elites; if we fail, the children of the poor are going to harass us, which is already happening. We talk of area boys, terrorists and other criminals they recruit, recruitment is done because these children have no future, that is why it is a challenge to us," he said.
Chairman/CEO Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, appreciated the founder’s tenacity in bridging the gap and addressing the phenomenon of out-of-school children by bringing them back to classrooms for qualitative education.
Hon. Abike equally enjoined other Nigerians in diaspora to contribute and replicate
same gestures in the country in order to allow the nation felt their impacts as well.
In her opening remarks, founder/CEO IA-Foundation, Mrs Ibironke Adeagbo called for collaboration from all and sundry to donate generously towards bringing the children on the streets hawking and roaming the streets during school hours to classrooms so as to reduce crime rates, kidnappings and high level of insecurity which are all menace to the society.
"The only way we can reduce the insecurity, kidnappings, bandits is to make sure the future of Nigeria, which are these children are pick up from the streets and enroll in a classroom, because that is where they belong, for now,” she declared.
Pointing out that "People keep wondering why we have a lot of out-of-school children; the reason is not far-fetched because many years ago, some children were on the streets while nobody paid attention to them. So, these children have grown up with no education, no skills and the end result is crime, that's why we have a high level of insecurity," she said.
The IA Foundation CEO reiterates her Foundation's target of picking a thousand children out of the street each year to reduce insecurity, alleviate poverty and boosts the economy in the future.
She enjoins stakeholders to support the foundation in taking children out of streets and bring them back to school.
Lagos State House of Assembly, member, representing Amuwo-Odofin1, Hon. Stella Foluke Osafile said, there is a law in Lagos State that no child must be left behind roaming the streets.
"You will find out that less than 75 per cent of public schools are occupied migrants are majority of those whose wards are out-of-school, it goes down to parenting, as some do not see the need or value of education," Osafile said.
Hon. Osafile stressed that keeping the children out of the street is a collective responsibility, and urged Lagosians to report any child roaming the streets during school hours in their neighbourhoods to the different agencies in Alausa saddled with such responsibility.
ITREALMS gathered that the IA foundation’s charity ball flagship in Nigeria makes it the fifth edition, with many dignitaries in attendance, recalling that IA Foundation achievements for the past five years included helping over 100 children off the street into the classroom across nine states in Nigeria, over 350 girls empowered, donated borehole in Makoko community servicing over 7,000 students in cluster schools, provided over 3,000 learning materials, e-learning devices/school supplies distributed and more.
Other side attractions at the event were raffle draws, documentary video to support the late chairman of the foundation, Pastor Babajide Olaseinde Olagundoye, who passed away on February 15, 2024, as well as launch of IA -App, dinner, awards and recognition.
Gbemi Omotoso/Editor
No comments:
Post a Comment