Children to Leaders… Fulfill Your Promises

Posted by admin Headlines Sunday, May 27th, 2012

• Osu Makes Case For Free Education

WITH this year’s celebration of the Children’s Day come heart-felt calls from the chief celebrants on political leaders, especially the president and the governors, to focus on providing basic amenities in fulfillment of their campaign promises to the people.

Similarly, the Social Communications of the Catholic Archdiocese of Lagos, the Very Rev. Monsignor Gabriel Osu, has advised the Federal Government to invest more on the welfare of Nigerian youths by providing them with a favourable atmosphere for self-actualisation.

The children, drawn from various secondary schools, and who fielded questions from The Guardian, listed the areas demanding urgent attention to include improvement in education, security, power, health and care for the Almajiris, among others.

Urging President Jonathan to fulfill his campaign promises, young Titilayo Ogunfuyi said the president has not done much.

“Before he came into office, he promised to transform Nigeria by saying ‘I had no shoes.’ But today, we are seeing another thing entirely.

“Our roads are bad; no electricity and there is insecurity in the land. The president should try to fulfill all the promises he made during his campaign,” she said.

For Utomi Anita, governments, at all levels, need to build more facilities for Secondary Schools and work to resolve the security scare in the country.

“People are dying as a result of insecurity in the country; no electricity and there is a high rate of unemployment in the country,” she surmised.

Ajibola Kafayat, who wants the president to specifically address insecurity in the land, however, noted that Jonathan had “performed well in his own little way.”

“But he has not performed up to my expectation. He has not improved on the economy and there is insecurity in the land. A country where there is no guaranteed security will not develop,” she said.

According to Mba Ituma Chioma, government should build more schools in the rural areas.

“If you look at the Nigerian education sector, he (Jonathan) has not done anything really because many children are hawking on the street, as their parents don’t have money to send them to school,” she said.

“I want government to build more schools both in the rural and urban centres. Jonathan should also provide more houses for people to live because many people are living under bridges.”

Opara Chris Augonus said more health facilities should be built for proper medical care of children.

“I don’t think the president is performing well because our educational system is lagging behind.

“There is no good heath care system for the people and poor power supply in the country, which has made many industries to close down,” he said.

Miracle Uma wants the president to be more sincere in his effort to provide for the Almajiris.

“Since President Goodluck Jonathan was elected on May 29, 2011, he has been doing well but there are some areas in which I am not really impressed.

“From what I have seen in some places, I don’t think he is making any effort even in the way he is behaving towards the Almajiris in the North.”

According to Osu, Jonathan must show commitment to the welfare of the Nigerian child by ensuring free and compulsory education for all children up to secondary education and by putting in place enabling policies to safe-guard them from all forms of abuse and exploitation .

He said: “Our children deserve more than they are currently getting from us. They are the future of our nation and they deserve to be adequately catered for. They deserve quality education, as this is the best policy we can give to them.

“That is why I am calling on the government to make it a policy for all children, irrespective of their states of origin, to have access to free qualitative education at the primary and secondary level.”

However, Osu said that he was happy that some states were already doing this, stressing that it should be made “a policy for every state to abide with.”