A behavioral, developmental and child/young persons care professional, Kemi Olokode-Ayelabola has applauded President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on his initiative regarding the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), describing it as an initiative capable of giving hope to indigent demography in Nigeria.
Kemi who is the Chairperson and Convener of Asiwaju Renewed Hope (ARH’23) that mobilised and campaigned for President Bola Tinubu during the February 2023 presidential poll, also called on parents in every part of Nigeria to prioritize formal education for their children ensure good moral upbringing and as well protect the girl-child from being a victim of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence which has become prevalent in the society.
In a statement she made available to newsmen Friday morning from the Republic of Ireland, she noted that children that are deprived of good home training often create bigger problems to humanity, while also advising that such vicious circle should be stopped, adding that every parent must be saddled with the responsibility of making their children useful and productive vessels that can birth the country a prosperous future.
The statement reads in parts:
“The administration of President Bola Tinubu should be commended for the thoughtful introduction of NELFUND which is bound to ensure that financial challenges do not deny indigent students of quality education while knowledge acquired will be useful to the country.
“This initiative marks a significant milestone in our nation’s educational history, with 103,000 successful applications out of 164,000 registered between May 25 and July 17, 2024 and the figures are still soaring.
“This initiative largely underscores President Bola Tinubu’s vision and commitment to education as a powerful tool to combat poverty and insecurity in Nigeria.
On the issue of Gender-Based Violence and the responsibility of parents on moral upbringing of their children, Kemi berated cases of rape, drug abuse and other defiant and bad attitudes, stressing that those vices have become worrisome among the younger ones, hence the need for parents and other stakeholders to collaborate in the fighting against them should be more accentuated.
According to her statistics by the United Nations, one out of three Children one is likely to face gender violence worldwide. She called on parents to be more active in monitoring the movement of their children and disassociate them with the bad eggs. “What we saw during the last violent protest in Nigeria was reflective of poor parenting and a sharp decline in education. For the love we have for our country, such a dangerous trend must be nipped in the bud,” she said.
While calling on all stakeholders to assist in the crusade, she equally commended the effort of the First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu for her youths and women empowerment programmes.