CHILDREN'S DAY CELEBRATION : NIGERIAN CHILDREN DESERVE A SAFE LIVING, LEARNING ENVIRONMENT . . . DAME JULIE OKAH – DONLI.

By Mike ALADENIKA.

As Nigeria celebrates the children in the year 2021 children's day celebration, a call has gone out to all strata of government to, as a matter of urgency, "address the deplorable conditions an average Nigería child is exposed to in his quest to attain Education"

The Chairman, Board of Trustees of the United Nations Voluntary Trust Funds for Victims of Trafficking and the Executive Chairman, Roost Foundation, DAME JULIE OKAH-DONLI  in a statement issued on her behalf by Martha Adegbe called for "a secured learning environment and domestication of all necessary laws that will grant peaceful living and learning environment for Children in the Country".

DAME JULIE OKAH-DONLI who is also the immediate past Director General of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) expressed displeasure "over the spate of child abductions and kidnapping in  the school environment in some parts of the Country describing it as a major threat to the future of the nation".

 DAME JULIE OKAH-DONLI who stated this in Abuja while Speaking with newsmen at the celebration organized  for  children as part of the activities lined up to mark this years Children Day Celebration at the Corporate Headquarters of Roost Foundation said “I have mixed feelings concerning this years celebration. In the first place, I celebrate with our Children on  Children’s Day. They deserve to be celebrated, especially when viewed against the backdrop of series of life threatening situations in the last one year, one cannot but thank God and also celebrate our real heroes who are the Children."

“On the other hand, I feel pained in my heart that our Children have continued to learn under an unsafe environment with escalating hostilities. It is a known fact that the present security challenges across Nigeria have taken a pitiable toll on the education of our children.

DAME JULIE OKAH-DONLI was also quoted as saying  “Many of them have been caught in the crossfire of unfortunate unrest, some have lost their parents while others have dropped out of school. The prevailing tension – soaked academic calendar in the Country is unhealthy and capable of truncating the desired future of our children. 

She said “I therefore call for an improved peaceful learning environment for our children. The bandits must know that our innocent children are not the cause of their grievances, as such, they must be spared from killing and kidnapping, while I also call for the unconditional release of those children still being held in captivity by their captors.

“Urgent steps must be taken to ensure nationwide domestication of the various laws that will guarantee peaceful learning and living environment for our children”, 

The former DG of NAPTIP however disclosed that "as our gift to our children , The Roost foundation has launched the first animated movie series for children on gender based violence which can be downloaded from our website www.roostfoundation.org.

Roost Foundation is an internationally acclaimed  Non- Governmental Organization unveiled  few months ago and has been making tremendous impact in the areas of massive sensitization, awareness creation, advocacy as well as rescue and rehabilitation of vulnerable victims of human trafficking, rape and other forms of violence against persons across the Country.

#SPARKNEWSNAIJA(SNN)

+2348180442222(WhatsApp only)