Date: 2018-03-23

The General-Secretary, Commonwealth Scholars and Fellows Alumni Association, Nigeria, Dr. Biola Adimula, has described as sad the inability of many pupils to read and write in indigenous Nigerian languages.

Speaking during the Commonwealth Day celebration at the Borstal Training Institution in Ganmo, Ilorin, Kwara State on Monday, Adimula noted that it was important for pupils to be able to communicate effectively in their native tongues.

She urged parents to be personally involved in bringing up their children morally, educationally and spiritually for the good of the society.

Adimula said, "The Federal Government, as a matter of urgency, should work in synergy with the British Council, the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission in the United Kingdom and COSFN Nigeria to utilise invaluable skills and professional education of COSFAN members, especially in the education sector for the enhancement of education in Nigeria and injection of best educational practices already obtained.

Also, in another development, the Founder of the Home and Street Kids Welfare Initiative, Miss Funmi Omisope, described the rising population of out-of-school children in the country as worrisome.

Omisope, who spoke during a courtesy visit by the Ambassador of the Niger Republic to Nigeria, Mr. Alat Mogaskia, to her NGO, called for a joint effort by government, organisations and well-meaning Nigerians to get the children back to schools and out of the streets.

She said her NGO was committed to helping to rehabilitate abandoned street children, adding that all stakeholders should collaborate to address the menace and other societal challenges.

Mogaskia, represented by the Director in charge of Academic Affairs at the Embassy of Niger Republic in Nigeria, Mr. Ibrahim Ousmane, said the Nigerien Government was committed to the education and alleviation of the suffering of Nigeriens.

He said the government was not fully aware of the seriousness of the challenges facing many Nigeriens in Nigeria as some of them had no travel documents, noting that some of those with travel documents might have decided to use the opportunity of free movement offered to the citizens of all members of the Economic Community of West Africa.