Education, good nutrition key to future of African child, says Kwara Gov
Kehinde Akinpelu
Kwara State Governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, has said his administration would boost school enrolment and support good nutrition for the children.
“We maintain that access to quality education and good nutrition are key to the future of our children,” Rafiu Ajakaye, chief press secretary to Governor AbdulRazaq said in a statement commemorating the Day of the African Child.
“It is for this reason that our administration is seriously considering joining the National School Feeding programme to boost good nutrition and school enrolment for our children.
“Also, Kwara will henceforth pay better attention to the quality of education our children get.”
In a veiled reaction to concerns about the rising number of school-age children roaming the street, the Governor urged parents to avoid anything that could jeopardise the future of their children and the state.
“The Child Rights Act is domesticated in Kwara and thus applies to every child. What this means, in part, is that it is unlawful for any parent to not enroll their children in school. On our part, we’ll do our utmost to boost economic activities to create wealth,” the statement added.
Declared in 1991 by the Organisation of African Unity (now AU) in honour of hundreds of school children killed in Soweto, South Africa, for demanding better education, the Day of the African Child has been celebrated on June 16 every year since 1991 to demand improved welfare for children.
The event, now known as the Soweto Uprising, occurred on June 16, 1976, drawing international outrage against the then apartheid government of South Africa.
