The Founder and President of Children of Africa Leadership and Values Development Initiative (CALDEV), Bamidele Salam, has said that out –of-school children is part of issues to be discussed at the ongoing National Children Leadership Conference.
The Conference with theme “Rebuilding Nigeria through Investment in Children’s Education, Welfare and Security”, is organised by CALDEV, an NGO that teaches and mentor children and young adults on leadership and life values.
According to Salam, the increasing number of out-of-school children in Nigeria is a serious national issue that must be addressed by all stakeholders in order to secure the future.
He noted that the welfare and security of citizens, especially the Nigerian child, cannot be guaranteed now or later, if the menace of out-of-school children is not addressed.
He said discussions and deliberations will centre on causes and make recommendations on how to tackle challenges facing the education, welfare and security of the Nigerian child.
“It is so unfortunate that Nigeria has the largest population of out-of-school children and this is part of our discussions at this conference.
“We believe strongly that one of the ways through which we can tackle this problem is to create awareness and advocate for sensitization on the conscience of parents and government.
“They will talk to everyone that has a duty to ensure that we gradually begin a process of reducing the number and have a zero number of out-of-school children in Nigeria.
“We are going to have more children who will act as advocates to access education for their fellow children in every part of Nigeria.
“I believe that having this number of voices everywhere on the team will help to address this emergency ,” he said.
Salam explained that sections of the conference were based on issues affecting children, as most conversations at such conferences were built around policies and programmes that do not engage deeply with the context of children.
“He said the event was organised to provide a national convergence platform to give Nigerian Children the opportunity to express their God-given talents and innovative skills and give their suggestions in nation building.
He said young Nigerians who have displayed excellent feat in their careers will be given awards at the conference.
Miss Adedolapo Ogunbayo, a participant said: “I have learnt that in life things do not just come easy, you have to make sacrifices, and also that winners never quit and quitters never win.”
Joshua Agboola, a 14-year-old programmer, who was nominated to receive an award at the conference , said : “ I am happy to be here and I think all children should be entitled to free education because it is very important for their future.
The conference has in attendance over 300 children between the ages of 12 and 17 from over 24 states of the federation.
It features leadership training,children parliamentary session, children’s dialogue on values, national unity and patriotism, as well as children’s financial literacy session. panel discussions, quiz competition, children’s films and books exhibitions, art exhibitions, books presentation and awards.