By SADIQ ABUBAKAR, Maiduguri –
The Borno State Governor, Babagana Zulum has declared open a 3-week At Risks Children Programme (ARC-P), which is a training programme for 968 youths facilitators selected from the 27 LGAs of the state.
Declaring open the training programme in Maiduguri, Zulum said the programme and other federal government social investment programmes were in line with his administration’s 25 Years Development Plan.
Represented by the State Commissioner of Women Affairs and Social Development, , Hajiya Zuwaira Gambo, the governor commended President Muhammadu Buhari for introducing various social investment programmes geared towards the betterment of the lives of the citizens of the country, particularly, the vulnerable youths, women and children affected by the Boko Haram insurgency.
The governor said the social investment programme was about investing in people, which was part of the 10-year agenda of the APC government in the state, stressing that, his government has already executed many projects which are aimed at strengthening the resilience of the people affected by insurgency.
Zulum also reaffirmed his government’s support and collaboration between the state government, federal government and other international donor agencies. He also advised the trainees to concentrate on the training in order to acquire the proper knowledge required to change the future of the children in the state.
On his part, The Assistant Director, Federal Ministry of Finance and Research Consultant , Mrs Grace Obi Okpabio, who is also a resource person and coordinator of the programme, said the training which is organized and coordinated by the federal government on At Risks Children Programme (ARC-P) is expected to train 968 youths facilitators which will further impact on over 50,000 vulnerable children within various communities for a period of 90 days.
She added that the 968 youth facilitators are expected to mentor selected vulnerable children in their communities as beneficiaries of government’s efforts to address the high number of out-of-school children on the street in the state and at large in the North East region.
According to her, the training Programme has aims and objectives which the youth facilitators must abide by and ensure successful Programme is achieved at the end of the training period.
She noted also that ARC-P is an ambitious and strategic designed initiative of the federal government under the office of the Vice President and led by the Special Adviser to the President on Social Investment, Hajiya Maryam Uwais.
Opkabio further explained that the programme is a solution to the prolonged and well-documented vulnerabilities of children who lacked social protection and the luxury of basic formal education.
Earlier, the Special Adviser to the President on Social Investment, Hajiya Maryam Uwais represented by Ms Titlayo Adeyomo, the Special Assistant to the Special Adviser to the President, said federal government was concerned about the plight of the At Risks Children, especially the out-of-school children, who are more than 20.5 million, hence the introduction of ARC-P to reduce the number of the vulnerable children and women.
Represented by the Deputy Director, Budget and Planing, Mrs Grace Akpabio, she said the main objective of the programme was geared towards reducing risks associated with youths, children and other vulnerable women through education, health, empowerment of youths and children.
“This 3-week training in Borno is an opportunity to familiarize with the youths with ARC-p, provide basic tools on mentoring and guidance, recognize the different skills of the trainees and areas of comparative advantage, standard training syllables as well serve as feedback mechanism,” Grace said
On his part, Alhaji Lawan Wakilbe, the Commissioner for Education, said that out of the 20.5 million children that are out of school across the country, 1.8 % are in Borno State and the state has 56,000 orphans and 49,000 while the number of the widowers are yet to be ascertained, including the physically challenged persons.
He attributed the high figure to the 13 years of Boko Haram insurgency in the state.
Meanwhile, the Borno State Coordinator of ARC-P Borno State, Hajiya Inna Galadima, appreciated the federal and state government for their initiatives and support, while commending the efforts and concern of the coordinating federal ministry and resource persons as facilitators of the training programme.
Hajiya Galadima, further, noted that the training programme is a continuous one as another set of youths would be engaged also as trainees for same exercise with the support of the state government.
She also reiterated Governor Zulum’s commitment towards alleviating the sufferings and hardships of the most vulnerable persons in the society.
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