The Foundation has taken its outreach to end out-of-school crisis in Nigeria to Ajegunle, one of the most populated communities in Lagos.
The campaign is the latest initiative of the Foundation to play a key role in tackling the out-of-school crisis in Africa’s most populous nation, where 10.5 million children are currently out of school.The CEO/Founder of IA-Foundation, Mrs Ibironke Adeagbo, said that the team had embarked on street-to-street outreach in Ajegunle to sensitize parents on the dangers of child labour.
She re-stated that Nigerian children should not be allowed to be on the streets trading during school hours, instead of being in classrooms.
We decided to take our campaign to the grassroots, starting from Ajegunle in the Ifelodun Local Government Area of Lagos State. Nigeria must end child labour to move forward and our position is that the high rate of out-of-school children must be brought to the barest minimum.’’
The Federal Government must demonstrate the political will to give quality education to every Nigerian kid, rather than allowing them to roam the streets to find their daily bread.
“Education is fully the responsibility of government, although we as corporate citizens must be part of the solution to bring positive change,’’ Adeagbo said.
She recalled that the Foundation had carried out a similar outreach at Oshodi Market in Lagos, saying that the foundation was determined to carry out its campaign to other cities nationwide.
The team first paid a courtesy visit to the chairman of Ifelodun LCDA , Honourable Olorunfemi Okeowo. Adeagbo said that Foundation had been providing books, uniforms and paying tuition for some of the children who were previously out of school.
Last year, UNICEF announced that 10.5 million children in Nigeria currently were out of school, down from the previous 18.5 million figure recorded in 2001.
Nigeria is Africa’s top petroleum exporter but weak policies and poor governance have thrown its education sector in crisis, forcing many kids and adults out of school.