Nigeria can tackle the menace of out-of-school children, OSC, if well-meaning citizens and corporate bodies would cultivate the habit of adopting at least one of such children to help them stay in school and continue their education.
This, according to Rotarian Sola Akinsiku, the incoming President of the Rotary Club of Ikeja, Lagos, is in line with one of the focal areas of Rotary Club which is to make basic education and literacy affordable and available to all.
Akinsiku stated this in Ikeja while speaking on his plans when he assumes office next month as the President of Ikeja Rotary Club.
"The theme for the Rotary Year 2022/ 2023 which begins in July is "Imagine Rotary." It is to make us imagine whatever is good and take appropriate steps to make them become realities. Imagine a world with no out-of-school children, imagine a world with no war or crisis. Some OSC could not go to school because there are no enough classes to accommodate them.
"In Rotary Club, while we are not saying we want to take over the responsibility of the government or the parents, our interventions have helped a lot. We build classrooms, renovate school buildings and provide facilities. We do these things because we believe that when you develop the mind, you develop the man and when you do that, you develop the community," he said.
Explaining other areas of focus of the club, Akinsiku listed water and sanitation, peace and conflict resolution, the environment, economic empowerment, vocational and skills development.
On how projects to be executed for any community is determined, Akinsiku explained that a needs assessment is always conducted to know the needs of each community.
