Excitement as Kogi Gov’s wife leads campaign to rid children off streets

The wife of the Governor of Kogi State, Mrs. Rashida Bello, on Monday, caused a stir when she led a team of government officials including the Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development, Mrs. Bolanle Amupitan, to the ever busy Lokoja-Jamata Bridge along Abuja road to take the children off the street as part of her commitment to the welfare of Kogi people and a demonstration of her passion for the children.

Mrs. Bello, who expressed dismay at the way the children’s lives were being endangered by their hawking on the highway, and the fact that this makes them susceptible to child abuse, said the state will soon witness a facelift in the provision of social amenities and the empowerment of the masses to ensure they are self-reliance.

She further assured the children that the state government will take them off the streets and either move them back to school or make them acquire skills to ensure they have a brighter future.

She announced that arrangements are being made to immediately take about 20 children back to school while others are to undergo skills acquisition training.

Recall that the issue of increased number of out- of- school children who throng the urban centers, traffic hold ups and other public places, to engage in begging for arms and hawking has become a cause for concern to government, because of the attendant social consequences and dangers to life and property.

Statistics made available by the United Nation’s Children Emergency Fund (UNICEF) indicates that Nigeria has the highest number of school drop outs which is said to be in the region of 10.6 million.