The Gombe State Government has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Office of the Special Adviser to the President on Social Investments on the At-Risk Children Project, (ARC-P) aimed at complementing the efforts of state governments in tackling the menace of out-of-school children.
The Gombe State Governor, Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya and Special Adviser to the President on Social Investment, Hajiya Maryam Uwais in Gombe signed the MOU in Gombe.
Governor Yahaya said the project would help Nigeria win the war against societal ills, caused by out-of-school children, through assigning roles and responsibilities of both the Federal and State Governments.
These roles he said covered the appointment of a Project lead, the provision of an equipped office at the State level, the deployment of state civil servants with the requisite skills and provide a work plan for implementation of the programme in Gombe State.
Governor Yahaya said the impact of adopting the social interventions, vocational training and financial literacy programmes was to address poverty had continued to facilitate economic growth in Africa.
“Gombe State Government will not be quick to throw stones at the programme, because we believe it’s a good bargain for our deprived and less-privileged children and youth- and it goes with my vision for bettering their lives and livelihoods,” Governor Yahaya said.
He gave the assurances of his administration’s full support and looked forward to a successful kickoff of the project in the state, while pledging to fulfil all obligations expected of the state, such as the provision of infrastructure, manpower and logistics support.
For the Special Adviser to the President on Social Investment, Hajiya Maryam Uwais, her team was in Gombe to leverage on the existing initiatives to improve on the lot of children and youths, who were at risk, through family healthcare, primary education, empowerment, agriculture and other fields that needed to be improved upon within the purview of Gombe State.
“What we aim to do is to see how we can improve and ensure that the children and youth of Gombe State, who are citizens as you and I are, those of them that have been marginalised are given the rights, the freedom and the protection that they desire and what they actually need, what they need,” said Hajiya Maryam.
She said the programme intended to engage children in literacy and numeracy and in places where they were already provided, the programme would introduce relevant vocations with off-takers in Gombe, who would patronise the work being created from their expertise.
“We want to engage, bring what is available at the federal level or with the development partners to the children in Gombe State, channelling the efforts in a concerted manner, so that the impact is evident. So, we want to bring in agriculture and we are working with NIRSAL, the Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System For Agricultural Lending, to ensure that there is commercial land, which the state makes it available so that they are formed in cooperatives and off-takers are found for their produce. With its crops, what Gombe State has as comparative advantage, is what we will work with,” said Hajiya Maryam.
She promised to ensure that the beneficiaries work together in clusters for them to befit from the programme, earn a decent income, through the provision of digital tools, introduce sporting activities through some modules developed by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, UNODC, imparting certain values to them.
Hajiya Maryam said these measures intended to prevent substance abuse, extremism, violence, while those already addicted, would help in collaboration with the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, to win the addicts over and make them more productive in the society among others.
She said the tasks would be accomplished by social and extension workers, by people who had empathy and those who would care for the children and give them a sense of belonging as Nigerians.
In the meantime, the Wife of the Gombe State Governor, Hajiya Asma’u Inuwa Yahaya, said the signing of the MOU would not have taken place without the efforts of the Special Adviser on Social Investment, towards eradicating poverty, removing children from the streets and proffering strategic economic development plans in the rural communities.
Hajia Asma’u advocated for women and children’s right, saying that as a mother and the First Lady of Gombe State, she would, under the umbrella of her foundation, the Jewel Care Foundation, provide services through education, empowerment and creativity.
She prayed that the Memorandum of Understanding would help strengthen the At-Risk Children’s Right and also ensure the provision of quality services for orphans and vulnerable children.
PIAK
