African Child’s Day: “Child Education Still Far From Being Given Attention In Nigeria”– Maximus Ugwuoke Hails FIDA Enugu Branch

*Calls For End Of The Varsity Strike

Ikechukwu Maximus Ugwuoke, candidate for Welfare Secretary of NBA has sent a message of commendation to FIDA Enugu Branch for this year’s celebration of Day of the African Child. His message reads:

“As the world commemorates the International Day of the African Child which was designed to create awareness campaign to highlight the importance of what it means to be a child in Africa and the need to educate the children of this country, my thoughts are with Nigerian students.

The event which is celebrated on the 16th of June every year dates back to June 16, 1976 when thousands of black students from Soweto, South Africa, protested the poor quality of their education and the discrimination against the black students by marching on the streets for a span of two weeks before they were subsequently shot by the security forces.

Hundreds of students were killed and the march came to be known as Soweto Uprising. The International Day of the African Child was created in 1991 to honour the people who participated in the Soweto uprising on June 16, 1976.

Many years down the line Child education is still far from being given a prime attention in Nigeria as our educational system is riddled with poor state of learning environment infrastructural decays and incessant Industrial actions.

Over tens of millions of children are uneducated around the world and half of them live in Africa, predominantly in Nigeria.

I charge the Government to prioritize education for Nigerian children and particularly urge them to tackle the ligering Industrial action that has crippled the university education in Nigeria for nearly have a year now.

I commend ENECHI FRANCISCA CHIKAODILI Chairperson heading Day Of African Child, FIDA Enugu Branch and the Enugu Branch FIDA chair person, Onyia Cecilia Ngozi for their event marking this years celebration Day Of the African Child themed “ELIMINATING HARMFUL PRACTICES AFFECTING CHILDREN: PROGRESS ON POLICY AND PRACTICE SINCE 2013”

There would have been no better choice for the guest speaker at this August event than Hon. Justice C. C. Ani (Ph.D.) an eminent jurist who knows his onions and would do justice to the topic. I wish all members of FIDA Enugu Branch and all other branches of FIDA in the country wonderful deliberations as they mark this event.