Children’s Day: Lagos Pledges to Empower Youths

Funmi Ogundare

Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has pledged his administration’s readiness to continue empowering children and youths with the requisite skills for a self-reliant future by providing a suitable path based on their skills and competence.

He stated that the administration would continue collaborating with the private sector through meaningful partnerships and interventions from all stakeholders to provide them with the wings to fly.

Sanwo-Olu stated this at the Children’s Day annual celebration, featuring a match past and rally at the Police College parade Ground, Ikeja.

The governor, represented by Deputy Governor Kadri Obafemi Hamzat, stated that it would also give the youths the environment to develop and the skills to prepare for a greater tomorrow while ensuring no child is left behind.

Since 2019, the governor noted that it delivered a series of initiatives and intervention programmes to benefit the children, show its commitment to child rights protection and welfare, and create awareness on issues important to making children happy.

“We recognise the role that early childhood education plays in ensuring a better future for our children,” he stated.

In his remarks, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Education, Mr. Abolaji Abayomi, described this year’s programme as special, having been included in the inauguration ceremony of Sanwo-Olu’s second term in office.

He stated that this year’s theme shows that more attention is required at the foundational level for the children to be properly taken care of and positioned on the path of greatness from their formative years.

Abayomi noted that Lagos had recorded enviable results in the performance of pupils and students from its public primary and secondary schools in the last four years due to enhanced funding for the education sector by the Sanwo-Olu-led administration.

“By implication, we have witnessed noticeable improvements in the state’s education sector in the form of infrastructure, conducive atmosphere, qualitative teaching and learning and wholesome reward system in Lagos state,” the permanent secretary said.