The Nation Newspaper

Tag: vulnerable children

  • Access Bank raises N800m to support vulnerable children

    Access Bank Plc has raised $2.2 million (N800 million) to support vulnerable children during the finale of the annual Access Bank’s UNICEF Charity Shield Polo tournament. The tournament was in partnership with Fifth Chukker and it was held at Guards Polo Club, Windsor, United Kingdom.

    The lender said the game of polo is an avenue to deepen its commitment towards impacting the environment and positively affecting the lives of its teeming customers.

    The event further demonstrated the bank’s commitment to making a difference. The event saw hundreds of game lovers throng the pitch to watch the Nigerian duo, Adamu Atta and Babangida Usman play alongside the number one Polo player in the World, Argentine, Adolfo Cambiasso.

    The Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi; businesswoman and philanthropist, Bola Shagaya; CEO of Oando Plc., Wale Tinubu; and entrepreneurs, Kola and Tunde Karim were some of the distinguished guests present to support Access Bank’s cause by purchasing artworks worth $30,000 (N11 million) from notable masters of the arts; Ben Enwonwu, Muraina Oyelami, Ablade Glover and Bruce Onabrokpeya.

    Another $2.2million (N800 million) was raised in pledges to renovate dilapidated classrooms and provide a better learning environment for underprivileged and displaced children in Kaduna over the next five years.

    The first edition  saw Access Bank raising funds to support services for 240 orphans and at-risk children in six local government areas in Kaduna, with a specific focus on 12 communities. With the event growing in influence and popularity, it has established itself as a destination for some of the best polo players in the world, fans of the game, and leading philanthropists.

    The tournament continues to expand for impact with the 2017 edition successfully raising funds to support full and partial scholarships for 12,500 children. It also allows for the provision of community-based projects like boreholes, sanitary toilet facilities and improved classrooms for institutions in the government-run school network – all important indices of the drive to improve rates of enrolment in schools for at-risk children.

    Speaking on the success of the tournament, Access Bank UK MD/CEO, Jamie Simmonds, said: “The way we balance our economic, environmental and social impact while continuing to grow our business and enhance our reputation is an area of key importance to us.”

    “This year we have grown our balance sheet by 26 percent and increased year on year profits by 76 per cent. Our achievements owe much to the strong partnership we have with our parent Bank. Our joint support of this new decade of the Access Bank Group/UNICEF Charity Shield with Fifth Chukker is an evidence of the social and economic value of that partnership,” he said.

    Group Managing Director of Access Bank Plc, Herbert Wigwe. in his remark confirmed that the bank’s continued support for the Fifth Chukker UNICEF initiative is predicated on its role as a change agent in Nigeria and Africa, which can help institute socio-economic development through responsible business practice, social initiatives, and environmental consideration.

  • Ambode solicits support for vulnerable children

    Ambode solicits support for vulnerable children

    Lagos State Governor Akinwunmi Ambode has called on the stakeholders and private sector to partner with the government to harness potential embedded in vulnerable children.

    Their God given talents, he said will contribute immensely to state and national development.

    Ambode was represented by the Commissioner for Youth and Social Development Mrs Uzamat Akinbile-Yussuf at the year Christmas Carol/Concert in Alausa. He said supporting vulnerable children will help them attain their dreams and goals in life.

    Society, he said, owes the children right of moulding them into independent and responsible adults through provision of basic needs, building God-trust, and encouraging them irrespective of their status.

    “Let’s all encourage these children and give them assurance that they can think creatively and critically. Through these they will become problem solver which will translate into development of our nation,” he said.

    “We are committed to improving lives of citizenry. We will continue ensuring Lagos is an accessible society for all, where children are independent,” he added.

    Ambode stated his administration will continue working towards zero tolerance for insecurity of the residents especially children, who are the future of the nation.

    The ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Hakeem Muri-Okunola said the event was to help the children showcasing their talents.

    He said vulnerable children’s welfare which includes education, shelter and other basic needs catered by the government are to ensure children grow in a beautiful environment.

  • Foundation trains vulnerable children

    House of Rammah Foundation, a non-government organisation in Ikotun Lagos, has expressed its commitment to education and vocation training of the less privileged in the area.

    Adisa Risikat Adeola, its founder, spoke during the graduation of eight females that took up various vocations under the foundation. Their vocations cut across sewing, fashion design, bead making tie and dye, among others

    The graduands were presented with working tools of their trade during the event held at Ororo Event Centre, Ikotun, Lagos.

    Adeola said the girls were picked up from the streets and trained.  She added that the foundation currently has 24 vulnerable children it is caring for.

    She said the foundation partners with some schools that offer scholarship to indigent pupils.

    “What we do is to identify children from poor homes in the neighbourhood and look for schools around that will adopt them and cater for their tuition and other cost,” she said.

    Miss Ebenezer Aina, 22, and Miss Zainab Adegoke, who graduated in hair dressing and tailoring had the foundation to thank for giving them a life.

    “I had just finished primary school when they picked me up from the street,” recalled Ebenezer.

    Adegoke said she met the founder while she was a wanderer in the neighbourhood.

    “She lives in our area and saw us always wandering. She asked me if I was interested in taking up a vocation rather than wandering and I quickly obliged. That was how I started tailoring and today I am graduating,” she said triumphantly.

    Olaitan Sunday, Proprietor of one of the partnering schools, Lasute Unique Kids School, Ikotun, said the school’s vision tallies with the foundation’s.

    “Our philosophy also hinges on helping the less privileged in the society. This is why we have adopted two children from the foundation – one in Basic 1 and the other in Basic III.

    “We just have to develop the spirit to give back because it is a lifetime thing. When these children grow up and become better citizens, they remember the school that once moulded them,” Olaitan said.

    Adeola said she started the Foundation to give less privileged children the opportunities she did not have.

    “When I was young, I was denied the opportunity of acquiring education, owing to financial constraint. It meant little to me then, until when I grew up to realise that if I had acquired education at the right time, I would have been better off than who I am today.”

    As the foundation prepares for her third anniversary, Adeola said its next move is to open access for more victims in the neighbourhood. However, she said finance is a constraint.

  • Ebonyi lifts 120 orphans, vulnerable children

    AS part of effort to achieve the goal 5 of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which is ensuring education for every child, wife of Ebonyi State Governor, Chief Mrs. Josephine Elechi, yesterday gave out educational kits to 120 orphans and vulnerable children across the state.

    The distribution of the materials was done in partnership with Rent Meester Foundation, Netherlands in Abakaliki, the state capital. Seventy two of the children are primary school pupils while 48 are in secondary school.

    The governor’s wife, while handing over the educational materials, urged caregivers of the orphans and vulnerable children to ensure the proper upbringing of the children.

    She also warned the caregivers against exploiting the children for economic gains, adding that the state government has outlawed child labour and hawking.

    “Any parent or guardian who is caught sending their children to hawk win instend stead of school will be prosecuted”, she said.