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Lawrence Bajah
The Federal Government of Nigeria has gone into partnership with Nasarawa State by signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to facilitate the coordination and implementation of its At-Risk-Children Programme, ARC-P in the State.
Nigerian Tribune newspaper gathered that, under the agreement, Nasarawa State Government is among other things expected to provide the infrastructure such as land for agriculture and setting up of community hubs for the training of the vulnerable children, as well as supply relevant data needed to identify and map out those in the State that need to be supported.
For its part, the Federal Government through the office of the Special Adviser on Social Investments, shall among other things facilitate the coordinating framework, comprehensive strategy and funding required to address the multiple and cross-cutting deprivations of the rights of Children at risk in Nasarawa State.
The MOU is coming in response to the Federal Government’s efforts to ease the engagement process and define the roles and responsibilities of both levels of government towards the smooth and successful implementation of ARC-P, which was initiated as part of strategies by the Federal Government to address the cross-cutting concerns of out-of-school-children across Nigeria, thereby giving them a life of hope and dignity.
The document was signed on Tuesday in Lafia during the closing ceremony of a 3-week capacity building Programme for Youth facilitators under the Federal Government’s At-Risk-Children Programme, ARC-P in Nasarawa State, where a total of 650 youth facilitators drawn from the 13 Local Government Areas in of the State participated in the 3-week training programme held at the Special School in Lafia, the State capital.
Signing the MOU on behalf of the Federal Government of Nigeria, Special Adviser to the President on Social Investments, Mrs Maryam Uwais, who is also the National Coordinator of the At-Risk-Children Programme, ARC-P, thanked the Nasarawa State Government for its decision to Sign up on the Programme which according to her, would go a long way in addressing the menace of out-of-school-children and child poverty, not just in Nasarawa but the country in general.
“May I sincerely express my profound gratitude to the Government of Nasarawa State. There is no way we can execute this Programme without the State Government led by His Excellency, Engineer Abdullahi Sule. The Governor was quick to embrace ARC-P to the point where he even promised to commit his funds to ensure that the Programme is successfully implemented in Nasarawa. We also appreciate the efforts of the Commissioner for Women Affairs in Nasarawa as well as other team members working on this project in the State”, Mrs Uwais said.
The Presidential aide also commended the Youth facilitators on the successful completion of their 3-week intensive training programme designed to empower them with the requisite knowledge and skills that will enable them to provide the needed guidance, mentorship and support for the vulnerable children who will be assigned to them.
Mrs Uwais said the youth facilitators who were trained on several skills including basic literacy and numeracy, sports and life skills, vocational and digital skills, mental health, psychosocial support as well as basic monitoring and evaluation, are expected to use the knowledge gained to empower the primary beneficiaries of the Programme.
“As youth facilitators, you have deliberately been chosen, having been exposed to some level of education, to engage parents and gatekeepers to convince them to accept the importance of education and other empowerment initiatives to improve the lots of their children and wards.
I appeal to you to take this task seriously because there is no way a child can successfully grow without having mentors that will guide and help them survive a society such as ours”, Mrs Uwais added.
Declaring the training programme closed, the Governor of Nasarawa State, Abdullahi Sule, thanked the Federal Government for Introducing the ARC-P initiative to the State, noting that the Programme is in line with his administration’s policy thrust geared towards protecting the rights of children and young people in the State.
Governor Sule, who was represented by the State Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development, Aisha Rufai Ibrahim, said to further demonstrate the Government’s commitment to the well-being of Children in Nasarawa State, Executive order 21 has since been signed to speed up the implementation of the child’s right act to protect and guarantee a better future for children in the State.
He commended the youth facilitators for their active participation in the training and urged them to discharge their duties towards the children with the utmost sense of responsibility and patriotism.
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