By Daniel Karlmax
Stakeholders have emphasized the critical role of children’s education in reducing the number of out-of-school children and curbing the menace of street begging for sustainable socioeconomic growth and development in Nigeria.
This call was made during the graduation, speech, and prize-giving day ceremony of Al-Ihsan Balsuma Academy, a subdivision of the Al-Ihsan Charity Organization and Orphanage Home, located in Nasarawa, Kaduna State.
Speaking at the event, the Chairman of the Association of Orphanages and Home Operators in Nigeria (ASOHON), Kaduna State chapter, Mr. Ahmed Hassan Adam, stressed the need for government, corporate bodies, and well-meaning individuals to support home operators in their efforts to address the country’s pressing challenges.
According to him, the school faces numerous hurdles including inadequate accommodation, poor school facilities, feeding constraints, and a lack of critical infrastructure needed to ensure quality education and proper upbringing of vulnerable children.
He called on national stakeholders to prioritize children’s education, given its essential role in addressing insecurity, drug abuse, and other societal vices that pose a threat to national development.
In his address, Chairman of the occasion Comrade Mohammad Adamu Adangba congratulated the graduating students and urged them to hold firmly to education as the key to unlocking future opportunities.
“You may have started this journey with uncertainty, but today you walk forward with knowledge in your minds and dreams in your hearts,”
“Never stop learning, even as the world may try to define you by your past. You have the power through faith, hard work, and good character to shape your future and rise above limitations.”
In their separate remarks, traditional leaders from the area, the Mai Girma Hakimin Gundumar Gwagwada Alhaji Shitu Abdullahi , represented by Alhaji Abubakar, Sarkin Samarin Gwagwada and Alhaji Khalid Idris, Sarkin Sabon Garin Nasarawa, commended the children’s outstanding performance and encouraged them to make good use of their education.
Some of the students Sadia Umar and Saidu Abubakar expressed mixed feelings—gratitude for the opportunity to learn, but dissatisfaction with the current state of facilities.
They appealed to the public for support in constructing additional classrooms and extending the school to the senior secondary level for more effective teaching and learning.
Home operators in attendance, including Khadija Sani Abubakar and Reverend Comfort Idialor, emphasized that orphanages house has many untapped talents and should not be neglected.
A total of two hundred and twenty students cut across primary and junior secondary participated at the graduation ceremony that featured cultural dance, and professional display by students of the school among others.
Earlier, the stakeholders urged teachers, caregivers, supporters, and the entire Al-Ihsan family to continue nurturing the young ones with compassion, discipline, and a focus on education and moral values for national growth and development.
Daniel Karlmax
