Rural school children in Bugo Community of Paiko Local Government Area and their counterparts in Alukusu Community in Bida Local Government Area of Niger State, are calling on the state government, to as a matter of urgency, provide them with educational materials and basic amenities to enjoy teaching and learning, like their counterparts in the city.
The children made the appeal when some Non-governmental organisations, NGOs came up with children’s day activities in their communities.
On May 27, children across the country celebrated Children’s Day, especially in the cities and urban areas, leaving those in the rural communities out.
It is to give the children a sense of belonging and to carry them along that the NGOs organised a Children’s Day celebration for them in the remote communities of Bugo in Paiko and Alukusu, in Bida Local Government Areas.
Two of the children who spoke on behalf of others expressed happiness at being part of the celebration.
They also used the medium to call on the state government to provide them with additional blocks of classrooms, educational materials, roads, electricity, and potable drinking water, as opposed to the two hand-pump water points, which are not clean enough.
They further added that there is a river that is about 5 kilometres away and dries up during the rainy seasons.
There are two blocks of classrooms serving as primary and secondary schools.
The old block was constructed through community effort, while the new one was constructed by the government through the state’s Universal Basic Education Board.
The Project Coordinator, Solomon Niyi, said the programme is to give the children a sense of belonging.
He also used the medium to call on the government to always consider children in rural communities on special occasions, such as the Children’s Day.
The children who were happy to be part of the celebration engaged in different activities such as dance, egg games, sack races and chair dance competitions.
(Editor: Nkoli Omhoudu)
