The National Association of Seadogs (NAS), Pyrates Confraternity, Sahara Deck, has announced plans to sponsor more than 50 vulnerable children on Abuja’s streets for elementary school.
Mr Victor Ofili, Capoon Sahara Deck, Abuja City Centre, stated this at the NAS 2021 Feast of Barracuda Conference, which took place on Saturday in Abuja under the theme “Education in Times of Conflict: The Nigerian Experience.”
He stated that Nigerian education is currently in crisis due to insecurity in some parts of the country, which has affected many aspects of people’s lives.
Ofili stated that the association will contribute its quota in its own small way by alleviating the suffering of the vulnerable in the Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp in Abuja and watching how the children return to school.
“We are working to send some children back to school, but school is also not safe for now.” “We know that in Abuja, we still have children on the streets and children in the IDP camp who are not going to school.”
“We want to see how many of them we can touch their lives with; we’re thinking 50 and up to begin with; that’s what our ‘Save the Children and Adopt a Child’ project is all about.”
“We have a strategic plan of action to sustain this, we are looking at sustaining this for the next five years, and we are going to partner with international organizations like UNICEF and Plan International,” Ofili said.
Mr Abiola Owoaje, NAS Capoon, stated that the conflict in some parts of Nigeria, which he claims has battered and harmed many people’s education, is a major concern for the association.
He stated that many children have been forgotten as a result of the crisis, particularly those from the North-East and South-East as a result of the sit-at-home order, noting that many people are not permitted to attend school.
He stated that many children are missing out on necessary education, and that many of those who had this traumatic experience were also kidnapped, so some of them had vowed not to return to school as a result of their experiences.
“No one is providing these children with the care they need to overcome this situation,” he said.
Owoaje stated that the association would work to engage the government in developing policies that would address the vulnerable’s situation, the background of the crisis that led to their situation, and potential solutions.
He added that the association would also make recommendations to those in authority on the best way to care for the vulnerable, and that their policy would be presented to the government on paper.
Dr. Tochukwu Okeke, a Senior Lecturer in the Department of History and Diplomatic Studies at the University of Abuja, who spoke on the conference’s theme, admitted that school curriculum was becoming obsolete.
He advocated for a new curriculum in the Nigerian school system that would be in line with 21st century ideas, claiming that the current curriculum is keeping Nigerians in the dark.
“The essence of education is to provide people with the skills and capacity to function productively in society, so if we have a society of the twenty-first century with new realities, it is no longer necessary for us to continue applying ideas from the twentieth century.”
“This will not work; we need a new set of ideas enshrined in the curriculum to make it relevant to building a constructive and productive society in the twenty-first century.” “This is why I’m advocating for curriculum reform,” he explained.
Dr. Abdul-Majeed Dahiru, the conference’s keynote speaker and a newspaper columnist as well as a public affairs analyst, urged the government to ensure that the Nigerian education system is restructured to promote the country’s growth.
He claimed that Nigerian education is no longer seen as a vehicle for the country’s current aspirations for development.
He called for more resources to be allocated to the education sector in order to drive development, and he stated that the 6-3-3-4 system must be reviewed because it has failed the country.
Mr Agba Jalingo, a well-known journalist and activist, has urged the government to address the issue of bribery and sorting in the school system, which he claims has lowered educational standards.
He proposed ways to combat this menace by first discouraging parents from offering bribes and encouraging their children to do their best in whatever field they find themselves in at school.