Children’s Day: Corps member pays 30 students’ school fees

In a bid to cushion the burden of parents and take children off the street, a serving Corps member in Kogi State, Miss Oyebinpe Olofin has paid the school fees of 30 students and distributed over 180 books as well as writing materials to some schools in Lokoja under the auspices of Omoloye Foundation, Our Kogi State Correspondent reports.

The schools that benefited from the community development service project initiated as part of activities to mark this year’s children day celebration includes: Muslim Community secondary School Phase 1, Lokoja and Crowder Memorial College, Lokoja.

While presenting cash, school uniforms and other writing materials to some less privilege in the schools, Miss Olofin observed that every child is a star ‘if we invest in them’.

“It is important that as good citizens of Nigeria, we should help make the child and parents dream come true by ensuring that they are in school and not on the street," she opined.

The corps member noted, “while interacting with these children recently, I realized that some of them want to go to school, some cannot afford to be in school while they are still in school. Every child is a star in their own way; it all depends on what you invest in them, if you give them something good, they will give something good in return."

The Principal of Muslim Community Secondary School, Lokoja, Yakubu Aliyu Danladi while lauding the initiative of the Foundation, said some of problems in the society today, especially Lokoja the Kogi State capital is traceable to government lip service to education.

“Most of the children, who are supposed to be in school, are not in school because of many factors. Sincerely, if these issues are not nipped in the bud, things will get out of hands. It is already a problem, because, we have criminals all around, burglary, when you are at home you can't sleep with your two eyes closed in the night, this is not far from this children not getting proper education,” the educationist averred.

In her submission, the Kogi State Coordinator of the National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, Mrs. Nwantarali Ngozi Doratti represented by Mrs. Paul Susan described the gesture as timely, adding that NYSC encourages community development service which is one of the cardinal points of the scheme.

Two of the beneficiaries: Liman Habibat and Abdulganiyu Abdulhamid thanked Miss Olofin on behalf of others, urging other serving Corps members to emulate the gesture.

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