Children Day’s: We Can End Child Poverty In –Osinbajo

Children Day’s: We Can End Child Poverty In –Osinbajo

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has said that child poverty could be eradicated in the country, with the convergence of political, religious and cultural resources. Osinbajo said this yesterday while speaking at the presentation of the Situation Analysis of Children in Nigeria (STAn) held in Transcorp Hotel, Abuja. 

According to him, the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration has made significant strides in improving child welfare across the country, adding that more could still be done to safeguard the future of every Nigerian child. He said: “I believe that we can in this decade permanently end child poverty in Nigeria.

The key task is to bring the political, religious and cultural wills to the resolution of this existential challenge. We must not rest until the future of every child in Nigeria is guaranteed.’’ The event was jointly organised by the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning, UNICEF, collaborating Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and development partners. Proffering further measures to improve child welfare nationwide, the Vice President emphasised access to education, especially for the girl child, quality healthcare, and improving nutrition. Highlighting the significant steps taken by the administration in this regard, Osinbajo noted that, “every child that fails to live up to their potential because they did not have access to basic education and the tools needed to rise to the stature of their dreams, indicts every one of us and takes away from the sum of who we are as a people. “And this is what has driven our commitment to lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty within the decade and to safeguard the future of every Nigerian child.

“Sustainable solutions to these challenges require interplay between poverty reduction, the digital economy, health and employment, and a multi-stakeholder approach to tackling them.’’ Some of the FG’s intervention programmes include the National Poverty Reduction with Growth Strategy aimed at creating decent livelihoods for millions; the At-Risk Children’s Program, ARC-P, which combines formal education, skills and health as a multi-faceted community intervention led by the States and coordinated by the Federal Government, among others.