Foundation seeks collaborative effort to tackle out-of-school children

By Mariam Akande

An NGO, Prince Children Foundation, has called for collaborative efforts of individuals, governments and parents to reduce the number of out-of-school children and ensure access to quality education.

Founder of the NGO, Mr Adegoke Fadayiro, made the call at an event in commemoration of the 2023 Children’s Day celebration in Lagos.

The event was organised by the foundation in collaboration with Alice Goodwill Foundation, Philadelphia, with the theme: “Say No to Drug and Child Abuse, Say Yes to Education.”

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that no fewer than 50 children in the Ojodu area of Lagos State were at the event.

Fadayiro said the call for collaboration became pertinent following a 2022 UNESCO report which stated that about 20 million children were out of school in Nigeria.

He said that the foundation was primarily focused on the happiness, educational, environmental, and general well-being of children in Ojodu community.

“The Foundation caters educationally for the children, mostly street children who are out of school. It is the life of a child that matters.

“There is no way they can go to school today, so we put these children together for an educational tutorial about what is important to their life.

“We just want to change the life of a child, It’s not about what the government can do anymore, it’s about what you and I can do.

“We have a lot of programmes, awareness, sensitisation and we get people to adopt children, at least one child and send him or her back to school,” he said.

He urged everyone to play their part in ensuring that children are taken off the streets and into the classrooms.

Mrs Adenike Toyin Akintayo, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Ogun State Area Command, sensitised the children to the dangers of drug abuse.

She described drug abuse as: “when the drug is taken without the direction of the Doctors, in excess, including prohibited drugs.”

Also, Mrs Patience Obaulo, Head of Programme, West Africa Network for Peace-building, WANEP Nigeria, stressed the need for children to learn ways to resolve disputes and embrace the culture of peace.

“We have an ongoing programme in which we educate young persons on how they can live peacefully and imbibe a culture of peace.

“It is key that we train young persons on how they can embrace the culture of peace, how they can mediate particularly in terms of dispute in and out of school.

“The parents should try and bring up their children in a peaceful home so that the children will be able to relate peaceful with other children,” she said.

Children’s Day is celebrated in Nigeria on May 27 annually. It is a day dedicated to celebrating children and for adults to remember their childhood experiences.

(NAN)