By Olasunkanmi Akoni
Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State at the weekend handed over an ultra modern crèche to the Catholic Women Organization, CWO, of the Church of Annunciation in the Abraham Adesanya Estate, Ajah as part of events to mark his 47th birthday.

The governor also used the event to urge his well-wishers not to place congratulatory adverts for him but to donate such funds to homes and needy people spread across the state.

Fashola, who personally donated the structure along with his wife, Mrs. Abimbola Fashola, hoped that the crèche would have meaning for the children that it is expected to cater for.

Wondering why people celebrate their birthdays, Fashola said: “If the arrival of any child is considered momentous in the lives of certain people, the best way to continue that momentous occasion is to use what we have to also make it momentous in the lives of so many other people.”

…appeals to CWO

The governor appealed to members of the CWO to ensure that everybody within the estate had access to the crèche and enjoy its usage subject to conditions that they may set.

He said the Ministry of Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation,  would maintain a supervisory role over the crèche in dealing with issues of women and children.

Fashola said the measure became necessary in view of the fact that some people in the name of managing institutions like crèche and orphanages use them to perpetrate crime and engage in trafficking of children.

He said by setting non-discriminatory entry and exit conditions for the usage of the crèche that the society could be integrated by allowing the children of a Permanent Secretary and the child of a driver to grow up together.

His words: “This is the way we can unify society. This is why it is important to continue to invest in public schools because they are the equalizers and stabilizers of the society.

“When the child of the high, the low and the medium grow together, the child of the rich sees poverty on one side while the child of the poor sees prosperity on the other side and is inspired to work hard.”

He said this represented the only way to eliminate class and caste system in the society because when children grow up together they inevitably become lifelong friends irrespective of their backgrounds.

Commissioner lauds Fashola

Speaking earlier, Commissioner for Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Mrs Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, commended Fashola for always using his birthdays to put smiles on the faces of the underprivileged and the needy.

In his welcome address, the Parish Priest of the Catholic Church of Annunciation in Abraham Adesanya Estate, Ajah, Rev. Father Cosmas Mordi, expressed the appreciation of the church to the governor for the gesture and wished him many more years in good health.