Nation

Don Urges FG To Review Safe School Initiative Policy

Published

2 years ago

July 9, 2021

A Security Scholar at the University of Ibadan, Prof Oyesoji Aremu, has advised the Federal Government to review the 2014 Safe School Initiative Policy to include security education.
Aremu stated this in an interview with The Tide source in Ibadan yesterday while speaking on how to curb insecurity challenges in Nigerian schools.
According to him, it was worrisome and very disturbing that as of the second week in July, not less than 348 students, some running to months, according to UNESCO are still in the dens of bandits.
He said that It would take a very serious commitment and efficacy for such distraught students and their parents to think of returning to schools.
“Abductions of school children and personnel should therefore, attract more concerted efforts and zests that will gear toward restoring the school system back to normalcy.
“That itself can be guaranteed if the entire country is safe of banditry and insurgency.
“Above all, it is instructive for the Federal Government of Nigeria to review the 2014 policy on Safe School Initiative with a view to incorporating security education,” Aremu said.
The don said the Nigerian School System especially the Primary and Secondary sub-sectors have never had it so bad as it was presently going by the ceaseless war against it.
“Call it, ‘banditcracy’ if you like. Our school system in the North is under a siege through which, teaching and learning are no longer guaranteed and cannot also be provided.
“Between December, 2020 and the first week of July, not less than 1000 school children have been kidnapped and millions of naira paid as ransoms.
“The latest being the abduction of 140 students of Bethel Baptist High School, Kajuma in Kaduna State,” he said.
Aremu, who is also the Chairman, Educational Management Board of the Baptist Mission schools of the Nigerian Baptist Convention said never in our history have we lost students to kidnapping as we witnessed in the last eight months.
Speaking on its implications for the education sector, he said “the development has not only portend a bleak future for the entire country.
“I fear that the effects of school insecurity will sooner than later, reverberate to the entire country in terms of a resurgence of crimes in various shades and dimensions.
“This is not to say about the collapse that will greet whatever remains of Western education in many parts of the North,” he said.
“Statistics have it that Nigeria has the highest record of out-of-school children globally of more than 10 million students.
“Unfortunately, school insecurity accounts for the larger chunk of the reasons, followed by COVID-19 which ravaged the globe in 2020,” he said.
Aremu, however, noted that while COVID-19 had been curtailed to a great extent, violence against the school system was alarmingly on the increase.
He noted that “the entire North accounts for more than 70 per cent of out-of-school children in Nigeria. Unfortunately, school insecurity is more pronounced in the region especially in the North East and West.”
According to him, this in essence means that Nigeria may witness more out-of-school children in some years to come in that part of the country.
“As the country continues to witness school insecurity resulting in abductions, many schools as being reported will be closed down; and thousands of children will, out of morbid fear and anxiety, drop out.
“Similarly, many youngsters will develop poor school esteem and lack of interest as a result of post-traumatic abduction-ladden stories of many of their peers who either, their parents paid ransoms or were lucky to have escaped from the captivity of bandits.
“All these could culminate into extinction of schools especially in the North if the ugly situation is not halted.
“Unfortunately, if the inperson school system becomes extinct in the North, our educational system is not mature and does not have the technological infrastructure to run a home school system,” Aremu said.

Nation

NSCDC Commissions New Commands In Kebbi, Sokoto

Published

2 days ago

May 31, 2023

The Tide

Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) has set up new command posts in Kebbi and Sokoto States to boost staff performance, security and better protect critical national infrastructure in the states.
Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, who commissioned the two commands, said Federal Government would not relent in ensuring the protection of citizens at all times by providing the necessary supports, and logistics needed to maintain the current tempo of development to ensure effective discharge of the Corps core mandates
Represented by the Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Dr Shuaib Belgore, Aregbesola stated that the Federal Government was dedicated to continuously support the Corps to enhance performance and boost national security.
According to a statement signed by the agency’s Public Relations Officer (PRO), Olusola Odumosu, the minister also tasked personnel in the two states to live up to the mandate of the agency and exhibit the highest level of discipline in their conduct.
He further charged the personnel to “abstain from rancor and unnecessary rivalry and ensure effective synergy with military and all other law enforcement agencies”.
Aregbesola commended the leadership of the Corps for the tremendous transformation witnessed within the last two years as he further attributed it to the doggedness, determination, pragmatic approach and readiness of personnel to impact positively on the nation’s security.
Present at the event were governors of the two states; Atiku Bagudu of and Aminu Tambuwal who were both represented.

Nation

NAWOJ Partners FH1360 To Boost Maternal, Infant Nutrition

Published

2 days ago

May 31, 2023

The Tide

The Nigerian Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ), Lagos State Chapter, in collaboration with FH1360/Alive and Thrive Project hosted an interactive media round table aimed at promoting maternal, infant and young child nutrition, with an intervention of reducing the total number of anemia and all deficiencies related to mother and child.
Chairperson, NAWOJ, Lagos State, Adeola Ekine, said the initiative was focused on improved reporting of maternal nutrition coverage in journalism.
She added that the annual event provides insight on illnesses affecting children and mothers and their possible solutions
The Lagos State team Lead, Alive and Thrive, Olawunmi Ajayi, who spoke extensively on Maternal, Infant and young child nutrition (MIYCN), noted that Nigeria loses about 2313 children daily translating to 844,321, children death annually, half of which are due to malnutrition.
“You don’t have to spend a lot on trying to impress people about your feeding habit you just have to make sure you are providing and feeding a well-balanced diet.

Nation

Association Seeks Humanitarian Affairs Minister Portfolio

Published

2 days ago

May 31, 2023

The Tide

The Nigeria Association of Social Workers (NASoW) has advised President Bola Tinubu to appoint a qualified social worker as Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development.
This is contained in a congratulatory message signed by its Publicity Secretary, Musliudeen Adebayo, and made available to newsmen in Ibadan yesterday.
The Tide source reports that NASoW, the umbrella body of social workers in the country was founded in 1975.
The President of NASow, Alhaji Mashood Mustapha, congratulated Tinubu on his swearing-in ceremony as the 16th President of Nigeria.
Mustapha said that the appointment of a social worker who had the requisite knowledge and skills to paddle the affairs of the ministry would promote the humanitarian agenda.
He said that appointing a NASoW member as Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development was in the interest of the nation.
Mustapha said that the ministry had core mandate to promote social work and quality social services delivery in the country.
He said that the association was ready and fully prepared to work with the new administration to achieve its aim in all areas of human development.
He said that the call for the appointment was as a result of the ministry’s strategic importance to the welfare of citizens, which is the main goal of this administration.
The NASoW president said that one of the association’s achievements during the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari was the signing of the Nigerian Council for Social Work (NCSW) Establishment Act 2022.
Mustapha encouraged Tinubu to set another record by appointing a qualified social worker as minister for humanitarian affairs, disaster management and social development.
He said that the association was anxiously waiting for the time when NCSW would be constituted.
“We are using this medium to congratulate our new President Bola Tinubu on his emergence as the President of Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“We appeal to him to appoint a social worker as the minster for humanitarian affairs, disaster management and social development. This is our ministry; it is the main ministry for social workers
“We advise the president to put a round peg in a round hole for the betterment of the country,” he said.
Mustapha enjoined the president to appoint a minister, who had the required knowledge of social work as they expected the minister to constitute the NCWS board as soon as possible.
“The Nigerian Council for Social Work (Establishment) Act 2022 has been gazetted. Our law has become an Act of Parliament.
“This implies that a lot of good things are coming for the good people of Nigeria. The council is yet to be constituted.
“When this is done, it will help to give more recognition to social work practice in Nigeria,” he said.
He said that the establishment of NCSW would create job opportunities and enabling environment for social workers to provide the much desired quality social services to the people.
Mustapha said that it would also reduce migration of social workers to other countries in quest for prosperity.