The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Children

  • Bank chief, govt seek solutions to violence against women, children

    How can violence against women and children be addressed?

    It is through public participation and sustainable approaches, says Access Bank Plc Managing Director  Herbert Wigwe.

    Wigwe spoke on the sideline of a public programme held by the Financial Control and Strategy Group of Access Bank in partnership with the Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Response Team (DSVRT).

    The event tagged “it’s on you and I’’ to end violence against women and children, was attended by many dignitaries.

    Wigwe said curbing domestic violence was long overdue, adding that there was need for public participation to end it.

    He said: “In the country, there should be need to mobilise the public in providing viable solutions to addressing and ultimately resolving the wicked act.

    “We are happy to partner with DSVRT; together, we are ready to make this a common problem to ourselves. There is never ever a good reason for violence against women and children.

    “All women have fundamental rights to live and we must ensure that this right is established.

    “Most of these victims do not come forward, thinking their lives are in danger and in the case of sexual abuse, it is a stigma.

    “A woman is a mother, a daughter, a sister and a wife. She is active, emotional and devoted. She will nurture, fight for and she deserves nothing less from each and every one of us.

    “As we keep saying, it is on you and I to end and stop violence against women and children.”

    Wife of Lagos State Governor Mrs Bolanle Ambode, said it was the responsibility of everyone to end the act “as it remains a horrible and devastating issue in the society’’.

    “It is our responsibility to ensure we sustain public discourse on this issue of gender-based violence.

    “I, therefore, join all stakeholders and relevant agencies to ensure public awareness and sensitisation on this.

    “The law enforcement agencies must hold any offender accountable and protect victims so as to encourage others to speak out and break the conspiracy of silence,’’ Mrs Ambode said.

    The DSVRT Coordinator, Mrs Titilola Vivour-Adeniyi, urged more stakeholders to join in the fight against the act to protect girls and women from sexual and domestic violence.

  • Protecting Obasanjo from his troubled PDP children

    Like many concerned Nigerians who are apprehensive about the adoption of military social engineering method as one-time antidote to social dislocations created by our military institution, I have railed and thrown tantrums at the military and Obasanjo, unarguably one of the most talented of his peers for close to 30 years starting with a piece titled ‘Generals and the ordinary man’ in The Guardian issue of December 12, 1987.

    However in view of the present stand-off between him and his troubled PDP children – the military ‘New breed politicians’ that breed nothing but corruption who today populate National Assembly – I have chosen to stand by Obasanjo, a veteran of many wars, starting with the battle over the still-born Biafra where he chased boastful Ojukwu of ‘no power in Africa can defeat us’ from Ihiala to Ivory Coast. He survived the drunken Dimka who assassinated Murtala Mohammed, his boss. He survived Abacha. He outwitted Atiku who in desperation to become president mobilized some governors described as ‘thieves in government houses’ by a British judge. He survived his carbon-copy daughter and her satanic verses in support of drowning ex-President Jonathan, who, lionized by Edwin Clark, the fair-weather self- proclaiming ‘president father’, stepped on the tail of a vindictive cobra of a god-father. I believe Obasanjo, whimsically dismissed as the ‘grandfather of corruption in Nigeria’ by a bunch of self-serving uncultured children whose National Assembly, in the words of their injured grandfather, ‘is a den of corruption by a gang of unarmed robbers’.

    But first, let us critically examine the issues. In his January 13 letter to Senate President Bukola Saraki and House of Representatives Speaker Yakubu Dogara, Obasanjo had accused the lawmakers of reckless spending and abuse of office, daring the lawmakers to open their financial records for external audit as the first step to returning to the path of honour. He advised against their proposed plan to purchase vehicles for oversight functions especially after obtaining car loans. One of the grandchildren he first appointed an adviser on youths, Dino Melaye, now chairman of the Senate Committee on Federal Capital Territory (FCT), spoke on behalf of his colleagues. It was the view of Saraki’s Senate that ‘it was Obasanjo who introduced corruption into the legislature’ while Dino, tongue-in-cheek asked: “I hope this is not an attempt to cover up and distract attention from the Halliburton and Siemens corruption allegations”.

    Last Friday, about 11 months after Obasanjo’s first warning, he once again told the lawmakers the truth they were not ready to hear. The National Assembly, according to him ‘stinks and stinks to high heavens. It needs to be purged. With appropriate measures, the budget of the National Assembly can be brought down to less than 50% of what it is today”. And finally, he reminded his PDP grandchildren that ‘The National Assembly cabal of today is worse than any cabal that anybody may find anywhere in our national governance system at any time. The National Assembly is a den of corruption by a gang of unarmed robbers.”

    Responding on behalf of his colleagues this time around, the chairman, House Committee on Media & Publicity Abdulrazak Namdas said “the list of his (Obasanjo) corrupt acts while in office is endless; unquestionably, he is the greatest corrupt person ever to hold office in Nigeria. He remains the grandfather of corruption in Nigeria”.

    Here, dear compatriots, is the verdict of Obasanjo’s PDP grandchildren on whose behalf he staked everything, his credibility, goodwill of Nigerians and those of respected personalities in the international community.  They have now been told that Obasanjo        ‘lacks the moral authority to discuss corruption or indeed abuse of office in Nigeria as he remains the most corrupt Nigeria on record.’

    I think, in our culture, it is only uncultured children that disrobe their fathers in the public even when they are wrong and the children are right.   Unfortunately for the lawmakers, they are wrong in this case. As proof of their grandfather’s corruption, they alleged he bribed lawmakers from day one as President in 1999; that he offered N50m to each lawmaker   in pursuant of his failed third-term agenda and that the floor of the National Assembly was littered with ‘Ghana must go bags’ filled with money. While Nigerians must be wondering what manners of children feel comfortable admitting receiving bribes from their fathers, it is on record that none of those who alleged they were offered N50m or a former Senate President who admitted between N10-N14b was raised for the failed third term agenda, told Nigerians the source of the funds since only appropriated funds was available for spending by the executive.

    They might have been right to stick to their argument that the National Assembly budget is high because the presidential system is expensive to run. But even then, they are the only people empowered by the constitution to change the system if, in their view, it has become a threat to our survival as a nation. They however betrayed their real intention through the Freudian slip of “The Budget of many agencies in the Executive Branch such as CBN, NNPC, NCC and allowances of junior staff in such organisations are higher than that of legislators”.

    And here also, they are at liberty to appropriate the CBN and NNPC budget and their salary structures. After all they have demonstrated they have regard for neither public opinion nor that of their grandfather who had advised against huge expenditures on expensive cars at a period when about 26 states of the federation owed salaries arrears of between six and eight months.

    Compared with his warring grandchildren, I think Obasanjo is a man of honour.  He has never denied being the father of PDP and by extension father of corruption. He took responsibility for their excesses. Adopting the strategies he finds convenient – intrigues and coups, he has tried to rein in some of his wayward children. He made Fayose but was the first to call attention to his alleged fraudulent poultry project. With the help of his friends in the international community, Alamieyeseigha, the late ‘Governor General’ of the Ijaw was hunted from France to Britain and finally Nigeria where he was indicted for corruption. He masterminded the impeachment of some of his thieving PDP governors in spite of impediments put on his way by of human right advocates.

    I think Obasanjo, a military genius imbued with a great deal of native intelligence, deserves our support in the battle against his misguided grandchildren who think the essence of politics is ‘who gets what, when and how’, and are ready to bite the fingers that fed them. Besides, Obasanjo has carried on his burden with philosophical equanimity (apology to Ray Ekpu). He has never for once denied he sired or spared thieving PDP children and grandchildren who believe stealing government money is not corruption. His method might have been unorthodox, but under Obasanajo, neither the National Assembly nor state houses provided refuge for criminals. Today we remember Obasanjo with nostalgia as those responsible for death of millions of Nigerians or condemn millions to refugee camps in their own country enjoy human right privileges not extended to such criminally-minded individuals in the advanced democracies we try to copy.

    And finally, in the face of unwarranted assault by his troubled children, I think Obasanjo needs protection from his PDP children and grandchildren responsible for the squandering of tremendous goodwill he took to government, who undermined his war on corruption by running Nuhu Ribadu out of town and derailed his power sector reform that was projected to give us 40,000MW in 2016 as against the current less than 5000MW.

  • 200 writers unite for children’s rights

    Two hundred writers united for children’s rights as the world marked United Nations Universal Children’s Day yesterday.

    According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), writers; including novelists, playwrights and poets, joined the global literary campaign last week, penning ‘Tiny Stories’ of around seven lines each to highlight the Children’s Day.

    The short story series launched last Monday, which kicked off UNICEF’s commemoration of its 70th year, underscored the injustice being faced by many of the world’s poorest and most disadvantaged children.

    Some of the world’s most celebrated writers, including Chimamanda Adichie, Paulo Coelho, Christina Lamb and Nuruddin Farah, shared short stories with their social media audiences.

    “It is shocking to see that the lives of many children are still so heavily impacted by the horror of conflict, inequality, poverty and discrimination. I hope these ‘Tiny Stories’ can remind the world that we must sustain our commitment to all of these children, whose lives and future are at stake,” UNICEF Spokesperson Paloma Escudero said.

  • Gun men held me hostage with my three children , shot my husband outside and came in to tell us they had killed him’

    The rate at which assassinations are being carried out in Plateau State in recent times has become a source of concern to residents as well as security agencies. The most recent one that took place in Jos, the state capital, where a mobile policeman was murdered at his residence in Kwanga near Rayfield, has added to the long list of unresolved cases of assassination in the state.

    Among the most recent cases of assassination in the state was the killing of a traditional ruler, Da Lazarus Agai, the Saf Ron Kulere and paramount ruler of Bokkos Local Government Area of the state. Since the assassination of the traditional ruler in July, his killers are yet to be found by the police or any security agency.

    There is a similarity between the manner the traditional was killed and how the mobile policeman aforementioned was killed. Both of them were murdered in the presence of their family members. While the traditional ruler was ambushed on his way from his village with some members of his family, including his two grandchildren and their mother, his two bodyguards and police orderly as well as his driver. But the traditional ruler was the target. He was singled out and killed in a cruel and gruesome manner while his family members watched in broad daylight. The family members watched the 70-year-old man dying until he breathed his last.

    Similarly, the mobile policeman, Sgt. Cletus SuweGompil, was callously killed while his wife and children watched the horror scene right at their own residence. The scene left the wife and children with the feeling of how painful death can be and how cruel a human being could be to a fellow human.

    Gompil’s widow, Martina, recalled her husband’s last moments, saying: “The last word I heard from my husband while he was being killed by gunmen was ‘Jesus’! I heard a gunshot and I heard my husband shout ‘Jesus’! That was the first gunshot at him. Then I heard a second shot and my husband remained silent. In that moment, I knew he had been killed. My children and I were held down in our sitting room by four strong men at gunpoint. We could not cry or shout while they were carrying out the killing.”

    From all the narration by neighbours and family members, it was a well-planned assassination by the gunmen. Some neighbours, including the policeman himself, had seen some people earlier who came to survey the house to confirm the availability of their target. The victim even exchanged pleasantries with them while they were perfecting the plot to terminate his life. It never occurred to the policeman that the same group of people he was greeting would return in a short while to take his life.

    Recalling how the policeman was killed, Martina said: “There was no indication whatsoever that something dangerous was going to befall us. On that very day, my husband returned from work around 5 pm. I welcomed him, served hi lunch.

    “Later at about 7 pm, we had dinner together with our children. Immediately after the dinner, he asked the children to bring out their books to do their homework. He was guiding them to do their homework in the sitting room when all of a sudden our dogs started barking as gunmen came towards our house. We were wondering what the dogs were barking at.

    “The children wanted to rush to open the door as they normally do, but I warned them not to go near the door. I had an unusual feeling with the vigorous way the dogs were barking and also told my husband not to open the door, because our dogs would not bark so vigorously at a normal visitor that way. I sensed that this must be a visitor with sinister motive.

    “My husband reasoned with me initially. But when the dogs were becoming more violent to the visitors, my husband felt the dogs might attack an innocent neighbour coming on a visit and felt he should intervene and rescue the visitor. He felt that after all, the time was just 8 pm and it was too early for anyone with criminal intentions to come.

    “Instead of going out through the front door, my husband went through the back door. Unknown to him, the gunmen came in their numbers and had positioned themselves at both the front and the back doors.

    “As soon as my husband opened the door, he saw some strange people. He asked them who they were, they told him they were his neighbours and needed to speak with him outside. He felt free and stepped out; then they surrounded him, held him and dragged him to a corner. They were heavily armed and they warned him to cooperate in his own interest.

    “Four of the gunmen came to meet me and my children in the room. They rounded us up and asked me to show them where my husband kept his rifle. I told them I didn’t know. They asked my children and they said the same thing. Before they came to us, they had asked my husband to tell them where he kept his gun, but my husband told them he did not often come home with his rifle. He told them he kept it at the station. But they never believed him, so they came to the room to search for the rifle.

    “They threatened to kill me and my children if we refused to show them my husband’s rifle, but we maintained that we didn’t know where he kept it. So they searched for some time and found the rifle under my husband’s bed. Then one of them informed their leader that they had found my husband’s rifle.

    “While they were searching, I was praying silently to God for help, but no help came. As soon as they said they had found my husband’s gun, I thought that would be all, but the gun was not their only target. They held my husband outside the house and held us inside while they were conducting the search.

    “All of a sudden, I heard a gunshot and my husband’s voice shouting ‘Jesus!’ He shouted in an agonising manner; so I knew it was him they shot. My husband did not die from the first shot. But when they shot him the second time and he was silent, I knew that they had killed him.My husband’s killers waited and watched him until he breathed his last. Then they came into the room where they had held me and my children hostage to inform us that they had killed him. One of them came to me and said, ‘Madam, we have killed your husband,’ and I said ‘thank you’.

    As they were leaving, one of them told me, if you try to come out as we are going, you will be killed, because we are very many outside. So if you love yourself and your children, don’t come out or shout as we are going,” I also responded, “Thank you”. So they went outside and shot sporadically to scare anyone as they made their way out of the place.

    “After their departure, I was still hoping that my husband would run inside to tell me that he was not dead, but there was nothing like that. It was neighbours who had noticed that we were under attack that came out to take his body to the hospital. I still expected the hospital to revive my husband, but they only confirmed to us that he was dead.”

    The Kwanga village is a new settlement, an extension of Rayfield, and could be said to be on the outskirts of Jos city. The family house of Sgt. Gompil where the attack was carried out was isolated. Neighbours live apart in a disperse settlement to reflect the new nature of the village. The distance between the house and their closest neighbour is about 200 metres.

    The gunmen obviously took advantage of this obvious security lapse to carry out their act in a comfortable manner. The gunmen came to the house on foot and also left on foot after hitting their target. They experienced no opposition from anyone while perpetrating the act. It was like a done deal.

    The late Gompil got married to Martina about 16 years ago, after which the young Gompil was helped by an uncle to join the police during a recruitment exercise in Maiduguri. The couple were happy that the man had got a Federal Government job and hoped to build a blissful home. Little did they know that they would only live together for 16 years. The gunmen came and in the twinkle of an eye, put asunder what God had joined together 16 years ago. Although the couple knew that death would do them part one day, but they never expected that such a day would come so soon. The husband struggled to erect his own personal apartment and they moved into their own house barely a year before the incident.

    Due to his frequent postings as a security agent, Sgt. Gompil made his wife to settle in Jos while he followed the dictates of official postings from one comer of the country to another. He had served in Maiduguri where he was recruited, then Bauchi, Nasarawa, Plateau, Yobe and Rivers, among other states. Gompil was returned to MOPOL 8 Jos in the month of August 2016 and was expected to rest for just three months before the next posting. SgtGompil already knew from the schedule in his office that he would be returning to Yobe at the end of this month.

    According to his widow, the late SgtGompil was someone who loved his job as a policeman the same way he loved his family.She said: “My husband was very caring. In spite of his continued absence from home, I never for one day regretted marrying him. He loved me and his children as much as he loved his job. I know I will never find a replacement. My life can never remain the same.”

    The police said they were already investigating his death, while family members are praying that his case would not go unresolved like several others before him.

  • Buhari’s wife flags off medical programme, targets 3,000 beneficiaries

    Buhari’s wife flags off medical programme, targets 3,000 beneficiaries

    The wife of the President, Mrs. A’isha Buhari, on Monday flagged off a special medical outreach programme in Sokoto, with a promise to reach “at least 3,000 women and children.”

    Mrs. Buhari, represented by the wife of the Speaker, House of Representatives, Mrs. Gimbiya Dogara.

    NAN also reports that the outreach programme was organized under her pet project – Future-Assured Programme, in partnership with the pet programme of the Wife of Gov. Aminu Tambuwal, the Maryam Tambuwal Legacy Initiative.

    Speaking at the ceremony, Mrs. Buhari said that the gesture was part of activities to mark the tenth anniversary of the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III, on the throne.

    She said that the gesture was also part of her unwavering commitment to the health of Nigerian women, children and other vulnerable groups.

    “The children are the future of Nigeria and we have to secure this future by taking good care of them.

    “If we do no provide them with efficient healthcare services and other needs now, the future of Nigeria will be in great jeopardy,” she said.

    Mrs. Buhari urged wives of State Governors to initiate steps toward caring for women, children and other vulnerable groups to give them a sense of belonging.

    In her speech, Mrs. Tambuwal described the wife of the President as a “dexterous mother of the nation,” and commended her sustained support to
    Nigerian women and children.

    The Sokoto State Health Commissioner, Dr. Balarabe Kakale, in her remarks, said that the outreach had a lot of medical packages that included de-worming of pupils, provision of vitamin A supplements and anti-malarial drugs.

    Other benefits included free medical tests, consultations and drugs, among others.

    The Chairman of Kware Local Government, Alhaji Abubakar Zamau, in a brief speech, commended Mrs. Buhari for the gesture which he said would complement efforts of the state government and the 23 Local Governments toward quality healthcare delivery.

  • Group urges children on hand washing

    Group urges children on hand washing

    A Non-Government Organisation (NGO), Save the Children (SC), has advised  children to imbibe the habit of wasing their hands to reduce the transmission of infection and diseases.

    The organisation gave the charge at a one-day event to mark this year’s global hand-washing day at the CMS Primary School, Bariga, Lagos.

    Hand washing is part of the Stop Diarrhoea Initiative (SDI) of the NGO, through which it reaches out to about one million school children yearly in Nigeria.

    With the theme: Making hand washing a habit, about 600 children who participated were taught how to wash their hands and its importance.

    The Behaviour Change Communication Adviser, Nwamaka Efionu, said: “Washing hands with soap can help prevent a lot of communicable diseases.

    “We don’t need to wash our hands only when there is a fear of an illness, hand washing should be a habit which everyone must imbibe. Children are agents of change, once they learn like this through peer awareness programmes like this, they go out and teach their peers and that is how the habit is spread. We have about 20 schools, from Shomolu and Bariga who came to participate in the hand washing event.”

    Marketing Manager, West Africa Reckitt Benckiser Group PLC (RB), Bamigbaiye- Elatuyi Omotola, said: “RB is glad to partner with Save the Children on ‘Stop Diarrhoea initaiative’. We have been in the forefront of health and hygiene and are partnering with organisations to increase health hygiene habits, Diarrhoea is a killer of children under five and the habit of hand washing should be practised while they are young. Today’s event is an opportunity to bring to the public and school children the essence of developing the habit of hand washing. RB goes to schools every year and teaches one million school children between the ages of three and nine about hand washing. This is because diarrhoea is a killer of children under five and the habit of hand washing should be practised while they are young to forestall transmission to themselves orally or to others.”

    On the impact of hand washing on children, she said hand washing has reduced diarrhoea cases by one third.

    Omotola said: “We reach to 16 geo-political zones in Nigeria and reach out to every school in each zone. That way we are able to reach far and wide, on the average, we reach out to about 500 schools on the average both public and private.  We teach them hand washing, we give them soaps, health book and parents are involved; we give them leaflets to take home, this way the parent, child and school are already into the habit of hand washing.”

  • NGO lauds stores’ donation to vulnerable women, children

    Save Our Needy (SON), a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) that caters for the needs of vulnerable women and children, has lauded PEP Stores for donating items worth over N1 million to the less privileged.

    The items including clothing, toys and baby nappies, were presented to  SON’s Chief Executive Officer Ms Marvella Odili and the Programmes Manager, Mr. Jerry Odili as part of the firm’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).

    Ms Odili said the items would be distributed to widows, single mothers and internally displaced persons (IDPs).

    She said that since 2011, the NGO has been in the business of “ending extreme poverty through the promotion of education for vulnerable children as well as youth and women empowerment.”

    Ms Odili urged widows, single mothers and unemployed young women interested in any of the items to send on-line requests to saveourneedy@gmail.com. She urged them  to explain how the donated items would assist them in starting up small businesses and how they would manage them.

  • Akin-Olugbade, Fatayi-Williams families set for children’s wedding

    Akin-Olugbade, Fatayi-Williams families set for children’s wedding

    It looks like the season of weddings for children of the elite. The circle of high society is replete with tales of approaching weddings set for the last two months of the year. The latest to be unveiled is the wedding of the second son of Prince Bolu Akin-Olugbade, the Aare Ona Kakanfo of Owu Kingdom.

    Prince Dademu Adegboyega Akin-Olugbade will be tying the nuptial knot with his heartthrob on November 19, 2016. The handsome prince will finally walk his sweetheart of several years, Lauretta Fatayi-Williams, to the altar for vows of a lasting union. Neither will the traditional wedding lack the attendance of the cremé de la cremé of the South West nobility. While the groom descended from a famed lineage, the bride herself is not bereft of a noble lustre.

    Lauretta is the granddaughter of Justice Fatayi-Williams, a former Chief Justice of Nigeria. Her father is Dr Allan Fatayi-Williams, while her mother is Mrs. Marie Fatayi-Williams. She has followed in the footsteps of her grandfather into the legal profession.

    With the coming together of two famous lineages, there is no doubt that the event billed for Landmark Centre at Oniru, Victoria Island, Lagos, will witness massive attendance by eminent persons.

  • 140,000 children malnourished in Southsouth, says UNICEF

    The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said yesterday 140,000 children living in Southsouth states were malnourished.

    It added that the cost of scaling up nutrition was about 46.7 million.

    UNICEF said 11,000 children living in Rivers State were malnourished.

    The organisation made the declaration at the end of the Southsouth summit on nutrition.

    The programme was organised by the Rivers State Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning in collaboration with UNICEF in Port Harcourt.

    Participants were drawn from the ministries of Health, Budgeting, nutritionists, civil society organisations and community leaders.

    Each state was given the opportunity to appraise its efforts, challenges and what was left to do to scale up nutrition.

    Reading a communiqué at the end of the summit, UNICEF’s Chief Communication Officer, Enugu branch, Mrs. Ijeoma Onuoha, noted that the country loses 2,300 under five-year-old and 145 women of child-bearing age daily.

    Onuoha said the percentage rate of stunting, wasting and underweight in the Southsouth were 20.0, 5.3 and 12.3, adding that it was above the World Health Organisation’s (WHO’s) recommended threshold.

    She said: “Participants observed that 11,000 children in Rivers State are severely malnourished. The percentage of malnourished children in the Southsouth is 140,000. The percentage rate of stunting, wasting and underweight in River States are 22.3, 2.7 and 8.8.

    “The cost of scaling up nutrition in the zone is about 46.7million. Participants at this summit observed that political will is imperative in solving policy and financial challenges related to malnutrition.”

    Commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning Isaac Kamalu said multi-sectorial collaboration was necessary to improve nutritional status in the zone.

    He said it was important for the government to take the lead role by creating a policy framework, bringing together stakeholders, such as UNICEF, civil society organisations, the private sector and community leaders.

    Kamalu said: “The meeting was aimed at creating awareness on nutrition in the Southsouth, prioritising nutrition in the government development agenda, and identifying issues and recommendations that will support the upstream work in nutrition.

    “It was intended to help the government in the four field office states of UNICEF to identify nutrition champions and ambassadors, and identify commitments and action points to accelerate implementation of mapped strategies for advocacy.”

    Other participants said the government should use leadership in strengthening and developing high quality nutrition plan across the sectors and mobilise domestic resource for them.

    Mrs. Roseline Gabriel of the Federal Ministry of Health said governments would provide an enabling policy and proper nutrition legislation to address nutrition challenges.

    She advised the Ministry of Budget, Planning and Economic Development to take the lead in the coordination and leveraging of resources for the funding of nutrition activities.

    Gabriel said: “There should be increased production of nutritious food with regard to food groups, in which the region has comparative advantage. Schools’ curricula at all levels should be expanded to include nutrition specific strategies to solve malnutrition.

    “States’ committees on food and nutrition should be strengthened with adequate budgetary allocation to enable them coordinate and carry out oversight functions in all nutrition programmes and activities.”

  • Why we founded first ‘Special Children’s school in Lagos

    Executive Director MD Nursery and Primary School, Ikeja Lagos, Omolara Adedugbe, has said the school has been able to achieve its vision over the last 30 years of its existence.

    According to her, the school which caters for students with special needs, was founded to challenge doubting thomases that children with disabilities could also live normal lives.

    Adedugbe, who founded the school with her late husband Dr. Anthony Bamidele Adedugbe 30 years ago, said the school could sing a song of victory, despite many challenges.

    Adedugbe, spoke at a briefing to celebrate three decades’ anniversary and thanksgiving of the school at its Agidingbi, Ikeja, Lagos State complex,

    Going down memory lane, she recalled how her husband, a specialist doctor in dealing with children with disabilities, conceived the idea to convince parents that they do not have to keep their special needs children away said some of the special needs children have grown to become prominent members of the society, with one teaching in the school, having obtained a National Certificate of Education.

    “The whole idea was to erase the stigma associated with being a special child,: Adedugbe said.

    “We were the first in Lagos, but after the success we recorded, many others have also followed suit.

    “We initially had challenges with parents who had regular children allowing them to mix with the special children.

    “I must say the journey in 30 years has been challenging, but with lots of successes. One special child is now a teacher in the school here; many are professionals in different fields.”

    Adedugbe advised parents with special children not to keep them at home; rather, they should give them the opportunity to develop their God-given talents.

    “If they mix with regular kids, they will overcome their challenges,” she added.

    She continued: “We are happy that a lot of parents are now coming out with their special children; and those with regular children have seen that being a special child does not come with anything contagious.”

    She said for the school to be thriving after the death of her husband shows that structures have been put in place to sustain the initiative.

    “With or without me, the school can go on,” she added.

    “The vision is now being run by others; I started the school with my husband who had the vision. He died 10 years ago and 20 years after, we are still standing.”