The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has commended the Nigerian Government following the rescue of 39 abducted pupils and five teachers in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State.
The UNICEF delegation, led by Catherine Russell, the Executive Director Mission to Nigeria, gave this commendation during a visit to the First Lady of Nigeria, Senator Oluremi Tinubu on Thursday at the State House, Abuja.
Catherine Russell further appreciated the First Lady for putting women and children on the front burner of her various interventions particularly through the Renewed Hope Initiative, RHI.
She said; “I think investing in women and children is an investment into the future of the nation. UNICEF is glad to stay part of the time, helping as much as possible, we thank the leadership for rescuing children in conflict.
”What I see in my travels around the world is that conflict is one of the most difficult situations for children, whether it is displacement, conflict, violence, abductions, whatever it is, children need to be protected in these situations.”
The UNICEF Executive Director also commended the First Lady for championing the birth registration drive, which resulted in an upsurge to 14 million children across the country within two years.
”I think as Nigeria continues to advance, this will be an important moment to invest in children and I like to commend the leadership and RHI for birth registration.
”Birth registration is one of the most important because children are part of our priority to guarantee a great future,” she said.
The Executive Director Mission to Nigeria also acknowledged the First Lady for playing a pivotal role in the campaigns against Female Genital Mutilation among others.
Responding, the First Lady expressed her gladness for the return of the abducted children and for UNICEF to identify with the government at during the dark periods.
Mrs Tinubu said; ”We are used to UNICEF coming to partner with our office in the way of advocacy because we know we have ministries and the work of the First Lady is for complementary and support. I agree with you that children are very important in any country for the development of that country.
”When you have children and they are not well invested in, no matter how wealthy that country is, they will not be able to make substantial growth. That is why, for me, with education background in teaching, I have known that we have to invest in our children.”
”Like you mentioned, the children in conflict areas, you also understand that Nigeria is a developing economy and the population size is quite daunting,” she said.
The First Lady mentioned other areas of concern including the increasing number of out of school children mostly the Almajiris.
Mrs Tinubu said the government is also looking into ensuring that they are well placed and gain formal education in special schools in addition to skills acquisition.
Other members of the delegation included UNICEF’s Country Representative, Wafaa Abdelatef; Chief of Staff, Mr Ted Mary; Senior Adviser, Communication, Marlene Jensen, head of project Marline Serrano and Executive Specialist, Nabila Jamshed.
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