Have Confidence In Nigeria, Oba Abolarin Urges School Children

The Oragun of Oke-Ila-Oragun, Oba Adedokun Abolarin,  on Wednesday, urged Nigerians and school children in particular to have confidence in the country and ensure full participation to achieve the desired growth and development.

Abolrarin made the appeal during his goodwill message at the IA Foundation Out- of- School Children Summit at the Marriott Hotel in Lagos.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that IA Foundation is a Non- Governmental Organisation and a registered educational charity set up to transform lives through education in Nigeria and Africa.

The foundation seeks to provide equal opportunity to all especially deprived children to benefit from the transforming power of education.

Abolarin said that everyone needed to actively participate in the future of Nigeria for the country to succeed.

“I keep telling people, I see nothing wrong with the 1999 Constitution. There are gaps and these are gaps that cannot be filled in a jiffy.

“These are gaps that can be filled in the next 100 years, but very many of us, we are in a hurry to see the greatness of Nigeria in our lifetime.

“Yes, we have the right to be, but for us to see the greatness of Nigeria, it’s important for all of us to actively participate in that future.

“This is  what the IA foundation is doing. Let’s use our resources for the common good of today and our future,” he said.

He pleaded with Nigerians to stop complaining stressing that all hands must be on deck to fix the country.

“Let us have faith and confidence in Nigeria. We have everything to put the country in the top position in the world,” he said.

He applauded the foundation for raising the bar by taking young children back to school, enjoining other Nigerians to embrace the kind gesture.

“I commend you for being a visionary.

“I commend you for tenaciously doing what very many of us ought to be doing as social entrepreneurs, as people who can pivot into the future using the past as a model.

Earlier, the founder of the foundation, Mrs Ibironke Adeagbo, during her welcome address, said the education crisis in Nigeria required urgent and collective action.

She said the foundation was committed to achieving the goal of the United Nation Sustainable Development Goal of ensuring that quality education became a reality for the million of children in Nigeria.

Adeagbo who said that the foundation’s app would be launched soon, pleaded with the government to invest more in education.

“The government needs to put their money where their mouth is and make sure they put money in education.

“The government needs to make sure these kids are learning and they are digitally serving.

“All over the world, you can see all the children are very digitally serving. A little child of three or four years will operate a computer.

“We want the same for the Nigerian children. So it’s about time we pump money into the sector and make sure we upscale our children,” she said.

While appreciating President Bola Tinubu’s administration, she said the present government were showing some political will.

“I can see some political will in this current government because they are saying the right thing.

“It’s now for them to put their money where their mouth is and for us to start seeing real action.

“My organisation will be monitoring them, will hold their feet to the fire to make sure they actually implement most of the recommendations that come out of this conference today.

“This is to make sure we can pick those children from the streets and put them in the classroom, otherwise we are sitting on a ticking time bomb and insecurity in Nigeria might actually escalate,” she said.

She added that for the country to avert insecurity, it needed to get those kids into the classrooms for them to learn and acquire  the relevant skills.

NAN reports that the summit with the theme: ‘Street To School: A Panacea To Menace’, was attended by Barrister Femi Falana alongside captains of industries. (NAN)

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