Children’s Day: We Won’t Rest Until Future Of Every Nigerian Child Is Guaranteed – Osinbajo
Published by Borderless Media
VP headlines presentation of Situation Analysis of Children in Nigeria, discusses how to end child poverty
While the President Muhammadu Buhari administration has made significant strides in improving child welfare across the country, more can still be done to safeguard the future of every Nigerian child, with the convergence of political, religious and cultural resources.
This was stated by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, today while speaking at the presentation of the Situation Analysis of Children in Nigeria (SITAn) Document at Transcorp Hotel, Abuja.
“I believe that we can in this decade permanently end child poverty in Nigeria. The key task is to converge the political, religious and cultural wills to the resolution of this existential challenge. We must not rest until the future of every child in Nigeria is guaranteed,” he said.
The event was jointly organized by the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning, UNICEF, other collaborating Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and development partners.
As the event holds on National Children’s Day (May 27), Prof. Osinbajo led the applause and wished every Nigerian child a happy celebration.
Proffering further measures to improve child welfare nationwide, the Vice President emphasized access to education, especially for the girl child, quality healthcare, and improving nutrition, among others.
Highlighting the significant steps taken by the administration in this regard, Prof. Osinbajo noted that “every child that fails to live up to their potential because they did not have access to basic education and the tools needed to rise to the stature of their dreams, indicts every one of us and takes away from the sum of who we are as a people.
“And this is what has driven our commitment to lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty within the decade and to safeguard the future of every Nigerian child,” he stated.
The Vice President added, “sustainable solutions to these challenges require an interplay between poverty reduction, the digital economy, health and employment, and a multi-stakeholder approach to tackling them.”
Highlighting the Federal Government’s efforts in this regard towards improving child welfare across the country, Prof. Osinbajo however noted that “there is a dire need to increase children-focused interventions, especially where challenges of insecurity persist, and we need every hand on deck.”
Some of the FG’s intervention programmes include the National Poverty Reduction with Growth Strategy aimed at creating decent livelihoods for millions; the At-Risk Children’s Program, ARC-P, which combines formal education.
