…tasks govt to initiate volunteerism in addressing out-of-school crisis

…calls on good-spirited Nigerians to help return girls to school

By Joseph Erunke, Abuja

2023 presidential aspirant under the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, and two-term former governor of Imo State,Owelle Rochas Okorocha,has called on the government to declare free education for children in the country, saying such step was necessary to let every child, especially less privileged children access to education.

The APC chieftain also called on the government to initiate volunteerism as one of ways of tackling the country’s out-of-school crisis.

This was as he tasked good-spirited Nigerians to step forward to assist government return girl child to school, saying the responsibility should not be left only in the hands of government,given that it has so many other responsibilities it is handling.

The philanthropist,who is the Founder of Rochas Foundation,spoke in Abuja during an event organised by the foundation to commemorate the 2024 International Day of the Girl Child.

Regretting that the country has a whooping 13 million out-of-school children, the frontline politician explained that his intervention which covers only 40,000 children cutting across all countries in Africa is “a drop of water in the ocean.’

He said:”It is on record that today, Nigeria has over 13 million out-of-school children and out of these 13 million out-of-school children, 70 percent of of them are girls. For some cultural reasons, these girls are not given opportunity to discover who they are ,and education is like a catalyst that acts upon the potential of every human being, to make you understand who you you are and make the best use of yourself.

“Rochas Foundation is like a drop of water in an ocean, trying to contribute little to these over 13 million out-of-school children.

“We have close to 40,000 children, but you can see comparatively to 13 million, it is nothing, that is why I call on good-spirited Nigerians to please help out in this regard, to help put the girl child back to school, especially the less privileged ones and the ones that are orphaned and the ones that have no one to help them.

“Government alone cannot remedy this situation because there are other challenging issues like health, agriculture, food and all that. So, it should be a collective efforts by all and sundry.

“Take for instance, youth corps members offering to teach the younger ones who are not going to school. So volunteerism is the way to go. Wealthy men contributing resources towards helping these kids. housewives who are graduates sitting idle at home, should say I will take no salary, let me go and teach these kids something.

“It should be a collective responsibility, it’s something we must do, because education is no longer a privilege, it is a right. It’s a right for every child to go to school. In other words, if a child has no right to go to school, then you have destroyed the future of such a child for ever. So it’s a must do, it’s not negotiable.

“Education must be made free so that the children of the poor and poorest can go to school, it must be free. So volunteerism is the way to go and I think the government should initiate volunteerism. Nigerians are good people, we have such heart and are kind people. We can help.”

Speaking further, Okorocha said,”Here, I have 40,000 that I am contributing to since 25 years. You can see how it’s running at arithmetical progression, imagine where we have 1,000 doing what we are doing here, the illiteracy will be a thing of the past and children will discover who they are.”

He suggested a shift from teaching children using only English language, saying adoption of local languages could make school children comprehend effectively what they are being taught by teachers than English.

Hear him:”Education is not English language. What I call the neocolonialism in Africa, particularly Nigeria is this English approach to education, where there is the belief that once you can speak English, you are educated.”

“But there are many people who are illiterate but who speak English. So English is just a language like the Igbo language. There is no different between English language and the Igbo language. My argument is, if you must make English language compulsory before one gets to university, for God’s sake, make Igbo language compulsory for those from the South East for example, because when a teacher teaches you in a foreign language, the ability to comprehend and catch up is quite difficult than when he uses your local language.

“When people say 2x+x=6, what is x? That question x is still a problem but if my mathematics teacher can tell me what is x in Igbo, no one can beat me in mathematics, so I urge that Nigeria should see English language as a language and not education. But when you don’t speak good English, they laugh at you, when you speak good English, they will say ‘he is educated. ‘ That is simply being educated in another man’s language and not education,”he added.

Former president of Sierra Leone, Ernest Koroma,who was a special guest at the event, thanked Owelle Rochas Okorocha for the great work he is doing in Africa through the foundation, saying the initiative was in line with the vision of African union.

“My whole thinking of the foundation changed from what I have heard, about the spread of reaching out and the opportunities that have been given to children of this foundation, whom I will call beneficiaries of the foundation.

“Let me thank Senator Okorocha for the great and wonderful opportunity provided for the children of Africa, I feel very honoured to be part of this celebration.I am now inspired to come again and spend more time to engage the future of Africa,”he said

Koroma,who congratulated the students of the foundation for being lucky to be beneficiaries of gesture of Rochas Foundation,tasked them to strive to excel in their careers so they can give back to Africa as a whole in future.

“As you celebrate, you have to challenge yourselves,as you celebrate, you have to know that you have been given a unique opportunity to network. We have 22 countries that are participating in with over 40,000 beneficiaries.

“While you celebrate,it is a moment for you to reflect and make a commitment that in the next 30 to 40 years, you would also be in positions to provide funds and facilities for a foundation like we are now having. You will be in positions to unify Africa’s greatness, because the networking now will strengthen the African unity,”he added

On her part,Director-General, Rochas Foundation, Uchechi Rochas, explained that the event was organised as one of the ways of enlightening female students on their strength as women.

“We are trying to enlighten them on their strength and the power that lies within them. So I’m very excited to celebrate this day,”she said

She tasked them to change the narrative that women are vulnerable species.

“To all the women and girls out there, my message is that they should change the narrative. Often times in our society, we portray the girl child as a vulnerable specie that needs to be protected, that needs to be helped. Today, I want to remind them that in the world, statistics have shown that every time you deny a child education, you are causing the Sub-sahara African region almost 152 billion dollars, so they have a lot to offer, so they should walk into every room, walk into every office, walk classroom knowing that they contribute a large quota of the economy.

“Statistics also show that women often give back 90 percent of their earnings back to their communities, unlike men who give 30 to 40 percent. So, they are not a vulnerable specie, they are the bedrock of the economy of every society,”she added