The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Children

  • Fair targets children

    A group of firms specializing in products for children came together recently to give parents and school owners opportunity to meet educational and personal needs during a three-day exhibition held at the Lagos Preparatory School, Ikoyi.

    The exhibition tagged; Exclusively Children, also featured fun programmes and services for the children like storytelling with Ajapa and Grandma Wura, free pediatrics and dental checks, and they got to play with outdoor toys provided by Fun Factory.

    The programme was organised by 10 companies, namely: Lanternabooks, Schoolkits, MeadowHall Group, The Baby Lounge, Froggles, Oakwookd Travels and Tours Ltd, Fun Factory, Standard Mandate International, Storyteller, and Educational Consulting Associates.

    Convener of the exhibition, Mr Remi Morgan of Lanterna books, said the aim of the fair was to provide a platform for parents and school owners to access resources that can help improve learning outcomes in children.

    “The goal of the exhibition is to showcase a wide range of products and services available for children, including educational toys, learning resources, books, clothing, school uniforms, children’s furniture, schools and other products and services that are entirely focused on meeting the various needs of our children,” he said.

    Mrs Temilolu Adepetun, CEO of School Kits Ltd, also spoke of plans to provide a directory of children’s goods and services online.

    “We want to get reputable companies who produce children goods and services and we want to have a directory of them; we want to put that online. We have a lot; our vision is quite wide.  It is going to be unfolding as time goes on,” she said.

     

  • Child care champion decries insensitivity to children plight

    Child care champion decries insensitivity to children plight

    Most of the news these days do not border on children winning awards and doing their country and family proud, but are on children being battered, abandoned, raped and abused.

    These days, children are abused repeatedly by those suppose to protect them.

    Agencies, individuals and non-government organisations (NGO’s) have been taken up the challenge of fighting back those hurting children and trying to take away their childhood. One of such NGO’s is the Yellow JerryCan Save a Child-Lend a Hand Foundation, initiated by popular broadcaster with the Africa Independent Television Adaora Onyechere.

    The initiator, who accused institutions, of insensitivity to the plights of children, said the judiciary, which should protect the rights of the child, is busy fighting political wars of corruption and allowing children to suffer. Instead of resolving cares brought to them, she said the courts, most times, advise parties to go and resolve the issue with the abuser.

    Speaking during the Yellow JerryCan’s Children’s Day celebration in Abuja, she said the group is dedicated to reaching out to children and women in the society who do not have a voice and also fighting for the homeless, child abuse victims, domestic violence victims and people who lack of access to good education.

    Onyechere, in trying to find solutions to the plight of children in the country and their continuous state of abandonment and neglect said they are taking up an initiative where they advise politicians most especially those in Abuja like the senators who all reside in Abuja to at least adopt a Federal Capital Territory (FCT) school, which does not have toilets to help eradicate disease to children due to open defecation.

    Her words: “We are not only reaching out to the Federal Government but other NGO’s so that we can work together, we need to look inwards because the government cannot do it all on their own and look at how we can help humanity by making sure that people that are in the lowest cadar will be able to encounter some form of mediation from us.

    “By the end of 2015, we where handling 112 cases of abuses including people who are older now but did not get justice when they were abused at a young age, I dare say this that we have a judiciary that is not really child sensitive, in the sense that we are teaming up with a set of political cases and corruption allegations that we are forgetting the level of interaction that is supposed to be done via the judiciary, the police system. You find out that cases of rape and abduction are still lodged in police head offices without any bureaucracy with the courts. What we found during the times that we encountered some of these children is that a lot of times, we are asked to go and settle out of court, a lot of times we are given dates and when we go, we are told that the person in charge is not on seat or don’t have a gender or child unit.

    “There is a lack of sensitivity to children in our institutions and I think, beginning from the ministry of women affairs to other agencies, you find that the only people who have some level of understanding are agencies that are affiliated with the federal government who bring them to light but the FG cannot be everywhere at ones, it needs watch dogs and NGO’s that can mediate between the government and the children. For me, it is not enough to talk of children out of school and children abused by the government but I will ask, who are your support groups, who are the agencies and organisations willing to help, we are concerned about commitment, if it is not ones child today, who knows it could be tomorrow so we do not have to wait until it happens to us.

    “This is our fourth year of operation and the objective of our foundation is to be advocates and voices for the voiceless especially IDPs, women, girls and physically disabled. We have often wondered when you look at the statistics of the children out of school and you will find out there is a high level of poverty, women do not have jobs, so for us the most important things is to begin to look at the empowerment of the gender which are women, mother of the child and also help the child and also help the child have access to some benefits to schools and also the public who are able to help.

    “For us the significance of the celebration is the fact that we have a number of children in the IDP camps out of school and today is a day set aside to commiserate and help us remember that we have lost some children as a result of insurgency. So, the children at the camps are brought into fusion with children from public schools to be able to experience a day together and through this medium the teachers from this school will be able to go the camps and help teach the kids, we bring relief materials to them through the medium as well.

    “Now we know there is a need to be able to have a learning centre within the IDP camp before they are even reconsidered taken back to their communities, it is a very long term project for us because some of the projects we are embarking on is to save the reading culture, we are also doing something we call adopt a school, which means that across states, beginning with the FCT, the number of public schools without sewage systems toilets is appalling and so we are trying to make sure that we are reaching out to people like the ministries, parastatals and the National Assembly who reside within the FCT, since they all have houses in Abuja, so why not pick up a school and build a toilet you will see that there will be less diseases and infections, there will be less environmental pollution especially when children are allowed to defecate in bushes, it is something we think that we cannot do alone and are calling on spiritual individuals and stakeholders involved.”

  • What the Children are inheriting…

    What the Children are inheriting…

    Well, we have now reached the stage in Nigeria where we need to ask God to pray for the country that our children are inheriting

    Last week, this country marked the Children’s Day. I don’t know if the children did any jigs on that day in celebration but I know that adults gave speeches as usual and promised the children heaven and earth. Well, I’m not going to give a speech here, let alone promise heaven and earth and I’m not doing any jigs either. I’m simply going to mark the day for them in my own way: I’m going to show them their inheritance.

    When I was young, I always imagined that a rich relative would conk out, naturally of course, and leave behind a pot of money for us children to inherit and I always imagined what I would do with N1m of my own share. Well, my imagination was wild though my needs were few, being limited mostly to drinking more coke and eating as much suya as my stomach could take. I am now grown (I think), and have not inherited any money, mostly because the rich relatives refused to conk out or decided to take the richness stuff with them. So, I decided to go earn something, and even with what I earn now, I dare not buy one bottle of coke or eat suya. Doctor’s orders.

    There is one inheritance though that will come to all of us. We all must grow up and inherit our country or the world. No one told me this when I was young. Everyone just told me to hurry up and go to school or get a job or get children. No one ever said girl, you are going to be inheriting a heavy world weighed down by its own problems. I think if I had known that, I might have… oh, I don’t know, detoured to the nearest asylum, maybe. Instead, here I am, feeling like the world is placed squarely on my shoulders, and I cannot drink one coke to get a little bit of happiness for the task.

    However, the children are young (now, isn’t that such a lovely perambulation?) so it’s nice to tell them about the Nigeria they are inheriting. It would have been nice to tell them that they are inheriting a country of prosperity, flowing with milk and honey, but we can’t. True, some of them may indeed come into millions (stolen or earned) and some may have millions thrust on them by sheer hard work. But, if they are like me, they should still be suspicious ‘cause I’m telling you, nothing comes free in this world, not even problems. Take the little problem of love for instance.

    Whoever knew that falling in love could kill ya? Listen, I reported on this column last week that some young men are now so desperate for money that they have begun to do ritual killings for it. Well, a gory picture went round an internet site some two weeks ago showing the remains of a young lady who had been a girlfriend to a member of a group until she was killed and dismembered like a gutted and quartered chicken for money ritual. So, our children are inheriting a Nigeria where the citizens have been brainwashed into believing that only people who have lots of cash and to spare deserve to live. Now, the populace have been polarised into two: those who have come into money mostly by hook or crook; and those waiting to. The latter group is peopled more by those willing to do anything for money such as killing…

    Yes, our children are also inheriting a country filled with religious houses. You would think that these should do us a lot of good and rid us of murderous tendencies. Only two days ago, I walked down a street housing not less than fifty churches. There were also houses with private mosques on their lots. However, the country is so deeply polarised between these two religions that it cannot see its way clear. So, most of these churches and mosques spew out nothing but hate and filthiness of soul across the divide and even within each divide. It is clearly then too much to hope that our children will inherit a country of godly people that worship God, not themselves.

    Moreover, the country we are bequeathing to these young ‘uns has also not got its political system right. Indeed, the political system is not only flawed, it has become fraudulent mostly because it is now led and championed by fraudulent politicians. They are the ones who fill the front-line positions as councilmen, assemblymen, Reps, senators, governors, god-fathers, you just name it. They fill the country’s political turfs one and all with guns, thugs, hatred, intolerance, violence, ritualised human bodies, and everything else that can be imagined except good governance. They do not have any dreams of their own except to capture the country’s resources, neither do they help the country realise its dreams, visions and missions. That is why someone said that these politicians go into office poor but emerge from office richer than the state.

    Naturally, a fraudulent political system has birthed a fraudulent social system so the country we are bequeathing is grappling with corruption. Actually, if truth be told, what is going on in Nigeria gives corruption a bad name. Yet, the reason for this sad state is hard to tell exactly as scientists are not agreed on the diagnosis. And, when scientists are not agreed on something, you better begin to pray for it. Have you heard about the doctor who, after trying in vain to heal a patient, told the fellow to go home and pray? Well, we have now reached the stage in Nigeria where we need to ask God to pray for the country that our children are inheriting.

    However, two things give us hope in this country. If they pan out, they may yet change the equation for the country that the children are inheriting. Firstly, we are hoping that the country will somehow come around to begin to truly practice federalism. At the moment, it would seem that the country is going by the name of a federal republic but it is neither republic nor federalist. Even though Nigeria is a state, the sovereignty is not yet fully in the hands of the people, only those who can rig elections. Indeed, it is said that more than half of the ‘elected’ representatives were not at all elected. And it is certainly not federalist yet since the overly strong centre is the problem of the country right now. Come federalism, however, the country will devolve into more manageable chunks; for, let’s face it, this rather ungainly size of the country is not the huge asset many think it is. So yes, we hope.

    Our other hope, which is yet to materialise, is that the support and goodwill that the present president of the country, President Muhammadu Buhari (PMB), enjoys will not be exhausted by the litany of untoward things besetting the country: fallout of a corrupt past, falling oil prices, falling Naira, unpaid salaries, armed and unarmed insurgences, election violence, etc. At the moment, hunger has increased in the land, so has the level of frustration. Yet, many among us still believe that the problems of today are the fallout of yesterday’s licentious living. Because we did not resist that libertine era till we shed blood and we did not warn stridently enough about the consequences, we must all pay for the sins of our prodigal sons.

    So, we hope that soon, the cycle of degeneration will be complete and repaid and PMB can go about reconstructing the state. In the meantime, it is good that the children know what they are inheriting: a faulty system but hopefully, not for long.

     

     

  • Foundation celebrates destitute children

    Foundation celebrates destitute children

    It was fanfare for destitute children in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital May 27, when a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO), Nice-Esther For All Foundation (NEFAF), and its sister NGO Nice-Esther Alamieyesiegha Rescue Initiative(NEARI), held a great party to celebrate them on International Children’s Day Celebration.

    The event witnessed the assemblage of children from over seven destitute homes within and outside the city of Port Harcourt, especially children from Cheshire Motherless Babies Home and those from special school, comprising the deaf and dumb, the blind, autistic and Down Syndrome children.

    The kids, who were thrilled with bouncing castle and clowns, were also treated with various fun games, including dancing competition, egg race, among others.  Winners of each of the games received cash rewards for their host family for their bravery.

    Some of the adults in the party though not the focused, stole part of the fun as they feign  kids and staged a dance competition for which were equally rewarded. they also received cash awards.

    The Executive Director of the foundations,  Mrs. Nice Aleruchi Tomboulayefa Alamieyesiegha, a graduate of Computer Science, and her husband, Godknows Alamieyesiegha, said their passion for the less privileged was informed by their understanding of the place they (destitute) hold in the heart of God.

    They believe that children are gifts from God and that anybody who makes sincere contribution to their lives  will be rewarded accordingly.

    Mrs. Alamieyesiegha expressed optimism in the ability of the Nigerian child to become better leaders tomorrow. She urged the children to believe in themselves.

    She said: “We are celebrating our children, today’s child is tomorrow’s leader. Our children are gifts from God, we are remembering every child that lost their life in Agatu and Enugu herdsmen attacks as well as those who were orphaned or even died in all the Boko Haram attacks in the country, and pray the good Lord to grant them eternal rest, and help to the orphaned children all over the country and the world at large, in Jesus name. Amen.

    “Nice-Esther For All Foundation/Nice-Esther Alamieyesiegha Rescue Initiative (NEFAF/NEARI), are two different Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO), being run by us to carter for the down trodden, the less privileged ones of the society, the poorest of the poor, in fact the destitute.

    “In this particular program today, (May 27), because it is children’s’ Day celebration we decided to organise this event to give destitute children chance to have a feel of the day, share in the same joy and happiness the children of the rich and wealthy of the society enjoy in a day like this, and this suggests the kind of children invited to this celebration today.

    “No fewer than seven destitute homes and Foundations are in this event and some of which are, children from port Harcourt Cheshire Home, Our Lady Mother of Perpetual Help(motherless babies home), Global foundation,  Perpetual Succour for women and children, The Child’s Special school, David Bassey Ikpeme Foundation and homes and the physically challenged in the Non-Indigene state.

    “Our beneficiaries cut across all age groups as long as you are a destitute, including young girls (girl mothers) who found themselves in the challenge of teenage pregnancy, we encourage and assist them to have and keep their babies instead of engaging in abortion, and their after they can help them to move on with their lives, by helping them learn a trade or go back to school as they raise their babies.

    “These foundations have great passion for widows. We have a lot of them we carter for within and outside the Niger Delta Region. Recently the Foundations under their Free Housing scheme, in collaboration with the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), built houses with modern facilities and bore hole for two widows in Rivers and Abia state. The NGOs have a lot of things in the offering for the down trodden, but we need partners to achieve lots more. She noted.

    Also the husband believes that children being the hope for the future ought to be celebrated and taken care of to avoid bleak tomorrow.

    “Children are future leaders, if they are not taking good care of, then we are playing with our future.”

    He further explained the reason he has always supported the wife in doing expressing her love in doing charity and the family’s love in dinning and winning with the downtrodden instead of people in their class said, “I am from a humble family. My father was a palm wine tapper; my family had nothing to write home about when it comes to wealth, but God’s mercy picked us from the dust to where we are today.

    “Now looking at these children, they may have been written off by some persons but nobody knows what God has in stock for them. God can turn anybody’s life and condition around in split second; it does not matter where the person is today, his/her tomorrow is mysterious and it is only God that has the joker card. It is on the light of this that I support my wife in doing what she has passion doing.

    “Having this understanding that God alone makes and brings down; I price everybody, every child equally. Children from rich homes are not in any way better than these ones here today, it is only time that will tell.” He concluded.

    He pledged continued support for the wife in carrying out this task for God till they depart from earth, stressing that what she is doing is for the good of the society, and therefore should be encouraged.

    Extolling the good virtues of the Alamieyesieghas’ especially as regarding love for the poor, wife of a former council chairman, Dr. Oroma Nmerukini, herself also a lover of destitute said,  “My main reason for honouring the invitation to be at this event is because it has to do with what I am passionate about. And when I got here and saw the huge party this family has thrown for this kids and see the crowd of children in attendance, I was humbled and overwhelmed.

    “Since then, my heart has gone out for the husband and wife and I have been praying that the Almighty God that touched them to remember the forgotten of the society will bless them and enlarge them. This is because it takes the heart of true love to remember this class of persons, the orphans, very poor of the society and the homeless. They are also the kind of people I have passion for, therefore I am fulfilled coming to this party.” She said.

    The coordinator of the children from special school, Bernard Efofiom Edet, hailed the family.

    “Our big mummy has been organising this party for so many years now, to help the less privileged of the society to feel belonging in the society. I have observed that each time this children attend this party and mix up with other children, they are happy and feel belonged and a little more sensible.

    “The children we are handling have special deformity, they have mental disease that affects their sense of understanding and comprehension but when whenever they come to this party you see them behave like somehow normal children.”

  • 25 indigent children get free cataract surgery, others

    25 indigent children get free cataract surgery, others

    A charitable organisation, Yeloto African Children Foundation (YACF), has paid for the corrective surgery of 25 indigent patients under the age of 12 at the Lagos State Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) Ikeja.

    People, according to YACF founder, Dr Oluyemi Olawaye, should be their brother’s keeper.

    Olawaye, who spoke during activities to mark the Children’s Day in the hospital, said people do not have to be millionaires before lending a hand.

    He said: “Saving one’s life is a big deal and people need to cultivate the culture of helping others, particularly those who cannot repay them. All hands should be on deck to deliver children from various forms of underdevelopment. Providing more funds for the scheme would alleviate the sufferings of the children.”

    The foundation, according to him, has performed 25 surgeries, 20 of which are cataracts while the remaining five were other ailments.

    “In all, we have assisted 50 patients to have corrective surgeries free. Last year, we sponsored a surgery for a baby without anus. This gives us joy knowing that we have been able to put smiles on people’s faces. The joy that we know that we are touching the lives of people is of paramount interest to this group,”he said.

    Olawaye, a clinical pharmacist, said the main goal of the foundation was to build a world class children’s hospital in Lagos in partnership with the state government.

    “We want a world standard children hospital where children could get treatment without travelling abroad. We want a hospital where everybody can come at the minimum expenses, even where Siamese twins can be operated without sending them abroad. We have provided for 25 cataract surgeries and five other surgeries this year. Also, we presented some cheques to the needy,” he said.

    A partner of the organisation, African Young Entrepreneur (AYE), said it was supporting the foundation financially.

    Its president, Mr Sunmisola Francis, said: “Basically to give the necessary support, we are the largest group of young entrepreneurs in Africa with the widest reach. We are going to be expanding it and it will not be a Nigerian platform anymore. We will push it to other African countries like Johannesburg in South Africa and Accra, Ghana.

    “We will also try and bring in other investors to the programme to expand it and provide more financial backups. It’s a huge load taking such responsibilities. We are putting up a platform for this NGO where people can donate easily to the needy via the internet,” he said

    He continued: “We don’t need the billionaires to do this charity. We only need some successful young entrepreneurs, who can support our cause. I think a lot of young people will like to give back. We do this independently it has not been easy soliciting for funding. We will push this cause with more vigour to get the required sponsors.”

    The group, as part of the children’s day anniversary, also donated cheques worth more than N500, 000 to the less-privileged at LASUTH, Ikeja.

    Parent of one of the beneficiaries, Mrs Idowu Oyebola, said the assistance was timely as she could not raise the fund for her daughter’s cataract surgery.

    “My daughter was born with the problem and I was referred to LASUTH for medical treatment. It was here that I was told that my child would need a surgery. But I was surprised when these young people came to my aid. They did not even ask for any money from me,” she said.

    Another beneficiary’s mum, Mrs Sarah Matthew, a widow, said she could not raise the needed money to correct her daughter’s partial loss of sight.

    The reason, she said, was because her husband died when her daughter was three years old.

    “As my daughter was growing up we discovered that she has developed cataract and that we would need about N60, 000 for the surgery. But I have no idea of where I would get the money from. I am very grateful to this group that came to my rescue,” she said.

  • Towards ending violence against children in Cross River

    Seeking for means to end violence perpetuated against children has been on the agenda of the Cross River State government. This desire, which has also been driven by the support of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), has continued to gather momentum to check the rising spate of the menace.
    Over the past few months, they have worked with various stakeholders as faith-based organizations, security agencies, civil society organizations, and the media among others in the state to ensure awareness is created about the issue so it can be addressed. They rue that the issue if violence against children is endemic, yet people are not talking about it.
    To this end, among several workshops and other activities organized by the government and UNICEF, is a launch of the campaign on Violence Against Children (VAC) slated for June 16, 2016 and a technical working group (TWG) inaugurated drive the cause. The launch would make Cross River, the second state to do so after Lagos State. It had also been launched by the President Muhammadu Buhari led Federal Government in September 2015.
    Some statistic provided by Child Protection Specialist UNICEF Nigeria, Enugu Field Office Mrs Nkiru Maduechesi, who in the past months, has been working with the state government through the Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development, indicated that 24.8 per cent of girls are sexually abused while 10.8 per cent of boys are abused sexually.
    According to her, among victims of sexual abuse prior to 18 years of age, 70.5 % females and 69.2% males reported multiple incidents.
    She also pointed out that 49.7 per cent of girls are physically abused, while 52.3 per cent of boys suffer same. She noted that such abuses occur in the home of the perpetrator or victim and also in school. The perpetrators, she said mostly include neighbours, relatives and teachers.
    Maduechesi said, “Of those children who experience of sexual abuse in the last 12 months, only 15.6% of girls and 26.1% of boys knew where to seek help, but only 5.2% girls/3.4% boys sought help, and only 4.2% girls, 3.4% of boys received help. Less than half tell anyone at all.”
    She stressed the need for all stakeholders to work together to end the scourge of violence against children in the society.
    At the various workshops held with various stakeholders in the state, she said were aimed at sharing lessons learnt from the Federal and Lagos State launch of End Violence Against Children Campaign; share key National VAC survey findings and consider their implication for programming in Cross River; review the developed multi-sectorial response for preventing and responding to VAC and adapt it to the Cross River context; as well as plan for the Cross River launch including identifying and inaugurating members of the planning committee for the launch of the state response plan.
    Another Child Protection Specialist with UNICEF, Mr Tatenda Makoni, who decried the spate of violence against children in the country, classified them into physical, sexual and emotional violence.
    These he said have far reaching consequences on the children and the society at large.
    Speaking at press briefing to launch the campaign to end VAC organized by the UNICEF with the state government, Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development, Mrs Stella Odey, said they were leaving no stone unturned in making sure the malaise is wiped from the state.
    The Commissioner said the state, which already has a Child Rights Act in place, has zero tolerance to any kind of abuse against children.
    Odey said the launch by the President, which contributes to the attainment of the goals of the National Priority Agenda for Vulnerable Children in Nigeria (2013-2020), is a clear indication that the commitment to end violence against children reaches the highest political level.
    “We are proud to respond to the call of the President for every State in Nigeria to launch its own campaign and priority actions, during the Year of Action, to more effectively prevent and respond to all forms of violence against children,” she said.
    Odey said the State Priority Actions set out the short-term and long-term strategies for the state to more effectively prevent and respond to violence against children.
    She said the Priority Actions not only define the role of each stakeholder in ending violence against children, but also acknowledge that no one entity can end VAC alone.
    “I take this opportunity to call upon State and Local Government level actors, civil society, religious and traditional leaders, faith based organizations, community based organizations, the private sector, the media, families and local communities to join the Cross River State ‘End Violence Against Children Campaign’ to ensure all of our children are able to grow up free from violence. I am filled with hope that together we can eradicate violence against our children in Cross River State,” the Commissioner appealed.

  • Council gives children notebooks

    Surulere Local Government on Friday marked Children’s Day for the 42 schools located in the council.

    The pupils danced and paid attention to speeches made. A hundred thousand pieces of notebooks were also distributed to 10,000 pupils who got eight notebooks each.

    The occasion organised by the council’s executive secretary, Mrs Bamidele Hussain, also had in attendance the Majority Leader of the Federal House of Representatives Mr Femi Gbajabiamila, who was the guest of honour.

    One of the highlights of the party was the dance contest where participants competed for the prize. However, Wesley Special School emerged top, beating other schools in attendance.

    Mr Gbajabiamila urged the pupils  to concentrate on their studies.

    The lawmaker identified academics and good behaviours as virtues needed to be great leaders.

    “If your peers study for two hours, I would advise that you step up your game and study for four hours in order to surpass them. Do not let me lie to you, truth is: what is in your head determines your tomorrow”.

    Mrs Hussain said the donation of notebooks for primary, junior and senior pupils of the schools in the council was to complement donations of free textbooks to pupils by the Lagos State Governor Mr Akinwunmi Ambode.

    She said: “Today we are distributing 100, 000 notebooks for pupils of our schools. We are complementing the government’s efforts on education to ensure that these pupils are well groomed and equipped in their academics so as to eliminate every form of distress that might pertain to learning materials in the schools.”

    A female pupil of Obele-odan Primary School, Victoria Amadi said: “I really enjoyed this year’s Children Party; I would love to partake in next year’s as well.”

    Also at the event, the council also empowered 11 adults in different vocations with N10,000 cash and work tools.

  • Minister woos children on clean environment campaign

    Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Mallam Muhammed Bello has urged children in the FCT to encourage their parents to maintain a clean environment.

    Bello who spoke with the Students Parliament in the FCT, urged them to enact laws to encourage children to ensure that their parents clean their environments.

    The minister made the plea in Abuja when he met with the 7th Assembly of the FCT Students Parliament led by its Speaker, Master Oral Nwaka.

    Deputy Director / Chief Press Secretary to the Minister, Muhammed Sule stated this in a press statement.

    He said, “FCT Minister, Malam Muhammad Musa Bello has urged the Students’ Parliament in the Federal Capital Territory to enact laws to encourage all the children in the Territory to ensure that their parents keep the environment clean.

    “The Minister said that the law to be enacted should ensure that every morning, everybody cleans his house and to also ensure that all the refuse is dumped in designated areas or dustbins.

    “We need laws from your parliament that will encourage all the children in the FCT to ensure that their parents keep the surroundings clean; to ensure that every morning, everybody cleans his house; to ensure that all the refuse is dumped in designated areas and also to encourage everybody to use dustbins.”

    According to him, “Since I came in as the Minister, one of my greatest challenges is how dirty the environment is, especially in the Area Councils. If you are able to do that during your tenure in office, you would have done a great service to us”.

    “Malam Bello promised to provide the Students’ Parliament with a bus and driver to be conveying the Parliamentarians to all official functions.

    “In addition to that, the Permanent Secretary told me that by the grace of God, he will buy you one bus and I’m sure the Social Development Secretariat will make sure that it employs a very good driver who will take care of that bus for you and also make sure that the bus is fueled at any time, so that you don’t have to ask for any bus anywhere again” he stressed.

    “Speaking earlier, the Speaker of 7th FCT Student’s Parliament, Master Oral Nwaka said the they are representatives of millions of children in FCT and promised to represent their interests very well to ensure that the children live to be good leaders of tomorrow.

    According to him, “we had our sitting this morning on the theme of this year’s Children’s Day, which is “Protecting the Rights of the Child and Child Marriage.”

    Master Nwaka added, “We want to make a passionate plea to the Hon. Minister, our dear Daddy to support the parliament as we aim at being a role model to other such parliaments across the country. We start by requesting a bus that can be conveying us to places we carry out our advocacies.”

     

  • A lift for displaced children

    A lift for displaced children

    A charity effort by some United Kingdom university students thrills children displaced by Boko Haram, reports OLUGBENGA ADANIKI

    When the children saw the bags of maize, rice, sorghum, beans and other items, they smiled. Then they started praying for the donors.

    Life in a displaced persons camp in the nation’s capital has been tough. Some of them are orphans, their parents killed by the terrorist group Boko Haram. It was by sheer providence that they survived and were taken to Abuja. But at the Durumi Camp, food is in short supply, as is everything else they need.

    A donor built a makeshift school there where the children receive some education. One of the pupils, six-year-old Peter Ishaku dreams of becoming president, though he probably imagines that his chances are pretty slim.

    Peter, an indigene of Gwoza Local Government, Borno State, like his schoolmates, needs all that charity offers. He is one of the 13,481 IDPs living in unpleasant conditions in the camp. There are about 157 pupils, out of whom 137 are spread through Primary 1 to 3 while 20 are in the secondary school.

    The International Displacement Monitoring Centre (IMDC), in its preliminary study estimated that about 2,152,000 persons as of December 31, 2015 were displaced as a result of the Boko Haram crisis.

    Statistics released by the Director of IMDC, Alfredo Zamudio said about 3.3 million persons have been displaced in the Northeast. Nigeria is ranked behind Syria with 6.5 million IDPs and Colombia having 5.7 million IDPs. This positioned Nigeria as the nation with the highest number of displaced persons in Africa. The Federal Government has made consistent efforts to ensure the survived victims are relocated to their natural abode.

    To ease their pain, a group of Nigerian students from the Nottingham University, United Kingdom (UK) donated educational and food materials worth over 1000 Pounds to the Durumi IDPs. The project was also supported by The Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Nasrul-Lahi-iL-Fatih Society of Nigeria (NAFSAT) and Harvest Chapel International, all in Nottingham. Even if the sum seems little, it was a product of deliberate efforts, sacrifices and service to humanity. Some of the students donated two pounds, some 10 pounds, some 50 pounds.

    A representative of the students, under the platform of University of Nottingham Nigerian Society, Mrs. Amina Ahmed could not conceal her excitement when the pupils expressed their joy at the donations.

    One of the guardians, Hajia Binta said, “I’m a widow but I pray for you; may God also put smiles on your faces.”

    She asked if the President, University of Nottingham Nigerian Society, Victor Udeozor, understood that God answers prayer of the widows faster than anyone else’s.

    At the camp, some of the food items donated include bags of maize, rice, sorghum, 100kg of beans, groundnut oil and noodles among other staple foods. Educational materials includes story books, crayons, pencils, biros, over 1, 000 exercise books, school wears including shoes, chalks, drawing books among other materials needed for a mini-school to function properly.

    Mrs. Ahmed, the Welfare Secretary of the society said, “It was a collective effort from all the Nigerian students and executive committee in the University of Nottingham Nigerian Society. We came together to have a programme for our charity giving event and we concluded that since Nigeria, as one of the largest population of internally displaced persons in the world, certainly the largest in Africa, we thought we could contribute our widows-might towards alleviating the sufferings of people displaced by various crises, including natural disaster all around Nigeria.”

    According to her all the students made contributions of, “5 pounds and above and after several weeks of intense campaigns, including uploading several videos on our facebook page.”

    “We were able to raise over a thousand pounds. That is what we made to make the several purchases for the IDPs,” she noted. As youths, the student group felt it was imperative to provide books and educational materials including items that would essentially make life easier for

    the less privilege children.

    “I heard a lot of heartbreaking stories when I came,” she said.

    So out of their magnanimity, the youth volunteers were nice enough to extend their warm gestures to the adults by providing anti-malaria mosquito nets. The insecticide-treated nets are expected to protect both parents and their wards from mosquito bites as malaria remained

    one of the deadly infections that cause infant and maternal mortality in the country.

    “Our focus is not on food per se but things that are sustainable and support that will last three years from now. The society of students also wanted to complement the fantastic efforts the federal government is doing to relieve the IDPs in Nigeria.

    “The kind of hope they have is the reason why you know things will be right eventually,” she said.

    Aside from donations, there is high tendency that students who exhibit exceptional academic quality among the disadvantaged pupils would have better chance of getting scholarships. Already the youth organisation has commenced plans to facilitate such outstanding gesture.

    “I will discuss with their teacher now about the kid that shows the greatest promise and where he thinks they could use specific, tailored support, academically or in terms of psychological assistance.”

    “Obviously, we are students ourselves and we have a lot of needs but when you weigh the needs, they need more than we do but we will pick up the little we can and see what we can do to better the lives. We will see what we can do to sponsor some of the students but it depends on what the society back in UK concludes.” The representative however urged the federal government not to relent in its effort to reintegrate the IDPs back to their community.

    The Secretary, Durumi IDPs Camp, Bala Yusuf lauded the kind gesture of the student group. As for him, the Nigerian students in the UK have been helpful to supporting the IDPs. Yusuf was more particular about the Nigerian Society in Nottingham University, stressing that it was the second time representative of the society would be visiting the Durumi IDPs camp.

    “You can see the challenges we have been facing. This sister on behalf of the Nigerians in Nottingham University has been thinking about us and our welfare.”

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Make the children’s room scintillating

    Make the children’s room scintillating

    When it comes to children’s bedroom décor, little or no attention is often not given to it. It could be as designing a child’s bedroom can be very challenging considering the fast pace in which they are growing up these days.

    No worries, one thing you consider when decorating your little ones bedroom is a display space,children spend a lot of time in their bedroom, especially when it is very comfortable for them. It’s a must to make the space in their bedroom unrestricted. In fact, finding meaningful, beautiful pieces gives children’s rooms personality. Though it is hard keeping up with endless influx of technological gadgets before finding the next best things for your child’s room.

    Colour is essential when decorating the children’s room. Encourage your children to assist when choosing the colour scheme for their room, if they buy into the idea of the room from the start and have a hand in how it is planned and arranged, then they are more likely to take pride in keeping it organised and tidy. Room to play in a free and unstructured way allows children to be more imaginative in their learning.

    Pink, blue and white are the most commonly used colours. Pink has been associated with girls, it gives the room a girlish look for all age group. You can combine it with different shades of pinks and a touch of white to complement the overall look. A good desk is a must, this will be the centre point of a girl’s teen life. From homework and study to using as a dressing table, find a desk with drawer storage for books and her precious items such as her hair care, a mirror and beauty essentials. Choosing a white desk option will suit any bedroom scheme, is low cost and easy to maintain. Personal space is so important to a teen, so add her own style in accessorising a funky chair design and bright pattern bedspread.

    Blue is associated with boys and it gives the masculine look. However, choose a theme of colour that won’t over-power the room.  Go for a red and navy theme with white twist, you can be sure that your child’s room will look stylish, no matter how messy it is. Next to his bed is a laundry bag which encourages tidiness. To the right of his bed is a large shelf of favourite books, to the left of his bed is an empty area for running around with friends. Cupboards with doors and drawers are all good options for boys’ room.

    Monochrome is the trend of the moment; it can be surprisingly tricky to get it right. The key is to find a balance and you can do this by adding in more soft tones and textures such as wooden accents, a fun wallpaper or contrasting prints. Not only does it make the room more interesting, but it doesn’t restrict it to one overly coordinated look, whilst the unexpectedly small and contrasting orange touch adds punch to this calm monochrome scheme.

    You can also be neutral when decorating your child’s room, this way no one can be able to tell whether it belongs to a girl or a boy. It’s so bright and natural with bits of contemporary and simple design. Little elements like the blackboard, laundry bags and be sure to include multiple kinds of lighting is a necessity, but so is a reading light. Lights are used to give the neutral room a warm feeling even though the design is really simple.

    But having non-themed rooms for your child is another choice to consider in the ever-changing needs of family life.  Brown furniture is still well-priced.

    Wall art has also become a convenient way to dress up a child’s room, delivering simplicity with a punch of character in its application. Try removable wallpaper, which are becoming increasingly affordable and the range of patterns and styles grows every day. Call them temporary wall tattoos. Keep things simple, children change their mind and get bored of a lot of things very quickly.

    Add some matching curtains to the room, there are up a whole new world of exciting design possibilities, whether it’s a girl’s room, a boy’s room or nursery. It takes time to decorate a child’s, but you will not regret giving it a try.