Following UNESCO report which put the number of out of school children in Nigeria at approximately 20 million, Ogun state based publication, Inside Ogun Magazine, has launched an initiative, in support of the determination of The Universal Basic Education Commission in it’s quest to return the children of school age back to the classrooms.
According to the UNESCO report, children between the ages of six and eleven of its about 200 million population in the country are not enrolled in school.
To this end, Inside Ogun Magazine in what it tagged: Let the kids breadth, is set to give necessary school items like school bags, notebooks, pencils &pen and socks among others, to primary school children in the 20 local government in Ogun state.
The publisher of tabloid, Oluwafisayomi Ajibola speaking at the unveiling of the exercise in the state capital, Abeokuta, said though the initiative has been on for close to five years in only a local government, Ado/Odo Ota Local Government, it will now be available in all the 20 local government in the state with about 500 kids benefiting in each local government.
“Back in the days, we experienced free education that involved free gifts of all necessary items to make going to school interesting, but it’s sad now as children who are supposed to be in school now roam the streets aimlessly or hawking.
We at Inside Ogun Magazine thought of extending our giving back to the society by visiting all the 20 local governments in Ogun state, distributing items like school bags, notebooks, pen & pencils and socks” Ajibola explained.
He added that this initiative cannot be achieved alone, hence, the call on kind hearted individuals and corporate organizations to collaborate with the news outlet, by donating the required items.
“We are calling on kindhearted individuals and corporate organizations to donate items like school bags, notebooks, pen & pencils and socks which can be branded to your choices and we will distribute it judiciously to lacking school children in the state.
” Also we are accepting monetary support as low as N2000 from the general public to aid in purchase of these items. We are embarking on the exercise throughout the first term of the school session” he pleaded.
Inside Ogun Magazine is a prominent online news platform with concentration in happenings around the gateway state and also a weekly radio program on selected radio stations across Ogun state.
