By Lukman Olabiyi
Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu yesterday offered scholarships to two underage girls found roaming the street during school hours.
The governor said, he was shocked when he saw the two girls on the street around 11:00 am when they were suppose to be in school.
Sanwo-Olu revealed this while urging individuals and corporate organisations to join hands with his government to give hope to the vulnerables in the society saying there was need to also train the girl child to give them the future they deserved.
He stated this at the official launch of the Social Welfare Integrated Programme Initiative (SWIPI) on Thursday.
The governor said he saw the two girls identified as Amarachi aged nine and Suwebat, twelve while coming to the event at Anthony area.
Sanwo-Olu said “Chidima said she is in a private school in Lagos and was sent out of school because her parents could not pay her school fees that is why she is out of school ,and I wondered there are many good public schools in Lagos State , yet her parents refused to send her to one. Suwebat told me her parents just arrived in Lagos from Jigawa State and there are no plans to send her to school. ”
Speaking earlier, wife of the governor, Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu said her office through the graceful ladies had partner with SWIPI’s Initiative to put smile on the faces of children in orphanages, elders and less privileged across the state by giving them gifts as well as meeting their needs.
The First Lady who was also made the Grand Patron of SWIPI for her supports said the event marked a mile stone in bridging gaps of social welfare in addressing
the plights of the downtrodden,
infrastructure gap, education, healthcare, training, improve the value of lives of the people in orphanage homes.
SWIPI’s Initiative Chairman, Dr. Kolawole Ajayi, said the gesture was to bridge some major gaps identified in the infrastructure and administration of welfare of orphanages and homes for the elderly through the collaboration and support of some government parastatals and corporate organisations as a function of their corporate social responsibility.