AKINWALE ABOLUWADE
The Smile Givers Charity Initiative, a non profit making organization threw party for the less privileged children at the Smile Givers Nursery and Primary School, a free school for the less privileged located at Babington First Gate, Bodmas Junction area of Ibadan, the Oyo State capital on Saturday.
The party that lasted about three hours had pupils of Smile Givers Nursery and Primary School, Ibadan, Triumph Nursery and Primary School, Bountiful Harvest Nursery and Primary School and Manna Nursery and Primary School, Ibadan in attendance.
A social development worker named Yemi Osanyin, during his speech at the event, urged Nigerians to channel their energy towards the education of the less privileged children in their environment for societal good.
Osanyin said, “Do that little that you can do. Note that people don’t give because they have but they have because they give. The principle of sowing and reaping; God says when you give, it comes back to you.
“That little money that we waste on frivolities, we can invest on the education of the children. They don’t have to be our biological children. If there is a child that is around you that you think you can help, bring such a child in and help. If we all do our bit, the life of our children would get better over time.
“If we look around, we would see that there are many challenges that the children are facing. A child is anyone who is under age 18. One of the problems faced by children is poverty. When there is poverty, there will be no food to eat. That is why some children take to crime. Another challenge is health issue. When we are sick, most of the time, there are no hospitals.
“Children face the challenge of insecurity. How many of us have heard about the Chibok girls? Some children are already hooked on achohol and drugs. Most of our schools are unsafe, so children get kidnapped.
“Lack of parental care is a problem and this is sad. When going to school in the morning, sometimes you would see children begging. A child is not supposed to be the one providing for the parents. Because there is no parental care, some children go on the street to beg and come back to give to their parents.
“Social media influence is another problem. Parents should ensure that they guide their children on the use of social media.”
Another speaker, Ibukun Olasemi, urged the children to put their trust in God, stressing that “The situation that you are passing through now should not determine your future. It is easy to blame parents and government, but know that you have a role to play. You have to be a serious student and you have to be good.
“It is not good not to put your mind on your education. You have to be serious. If you focus on your studies, you will be able to build a better future. Read, don’t use all your time to play. Read your school books and other books.
“Go through the school and let the school go through you. Be obedient and of good behaviour. When you do this, you have the building blocks for a better future.”
She urged parents to set good examples, noting that “It is not what we say that the children would follow most times but what we do. We have to be models for the children to emulate.
“With the little that we have, we can be able to give our children balanced diet. We can have a small garden for vegetables beside our house. Instead of buying biscuits for the children, we can buy them banana. One egg per day would enrich the child. At this period when it is cold, let us cover them well.
“Let us provide good environment around the child. Encourage your child to be the best. Let’s create quality time to be with them. You can ask them to discuss what they learnt from their story books. Let us have close relationship with them and ask them about what happened to them. By so doing, they would tell us what they are passing through. Above all, let’s pray for them.
Mrs Folusho Johnson, Programme Manager, Smile Givers Charity Initiative, said that the nation would be better for it only if the government could prioritize the interest of the child.
She said, “Smile Givers Charity Initiative is a vision that was set to take care of the under-privileged in our community. Some children lack love. We want them to be loved; we don’t want them to be isolated.
“Some of the privileged children go to Agodi Gardens and other high profile areas, but the ones here are unable to do that. You can see how many children that we have here. We want them to be happy.
“That is why this initiative was taken. We pray that the incoming government would show greater concern for the children. The children are the future of this nation. See those who were neglected in the past. When government makes the youth their priority, the nation would be better.”
In her goodwill message on Children’s Day, Mrs Adetutu Adegunju, Founder of SGCI, said that “As usual, Smile Givers Charity Initiative organizes series of programmes to give hope to the less privileged children.
Many of the children in attendance on the occasion lauded the initiative of SGCI, saying that the NGO made the season very exciting for them.
One of the children, Itunu Alaka, expressed joy on the occasion. Alaka, a pupil of Smile Givers Nursery and Primary School, Ibadan, said, “I am very happy that the school organised this programme for us. I want the government to provide for our needs.
Afolabi Obafunto from Triumph Nursery and Primary School, said that government should provide more schools. He also urged parents to make better provision for the children. “And, I want fellow children to be more responsible at home and in the society,” Obafunto said.
