The northern governor’s forum ride from its meeting Thursday with a resolve to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic headlong to put an end to its spread.
The meeting was presided over by Chairman of the Forum and Governor of Plateau State Simon Lalong.
On Covid-19, the Northern Governors were happy with the level of awareness and testing particularly as all the States of the region now have testing centres.
They however resolved to sustain community engagement to prevent further spread of the disease particularly in rural areas.
The Economic Blueprint Committee headed by the Governor of Kebbi State Atiku Bagudu briefed the forum that a document has been developed encompassing the present economic situation of the region and highlighting how to harness its many potentials particularly during the post-Covid era.
The Governors also reviewed the success of the ban on Almajiri phenomenon in the North and concluded that it was a success as the children were evacuated to their States of origin to reunite with their families and guardians.
To further consolidate on this success and ensure that the children are given proper education and care, the Northern Governors received briefing from Mariam Uwais, Special Adviser to the President on Social Investments who explained that the Federal Government was willing to partner with the Northern Governors in the process of ensuring that the children are given a smooth transition from the Almajiri system to formal education.
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She said the plan is to ensure that proper data is generated so that the children will be kept in a school environment for about 6 to 9 months and be given intense basic education and skills to enable them fit into the new perspective which will prepare them for the classroom and formal school system.
She said those who are a bit older and may want to go into trade and other vocations will also be trained.
Minister of Women Affairs Paullen Tallen also addressed the Northern Governors on the girl child in Northern Nigeria where she stressed that educating the girl child is the best way to reduce the burden of the region be it poverty, illiteracy or disease.
She appealed to the Governors to fast track the domestication of the Child Rights Act in the region as ten States in the North are yet to domesticate the law, long after it was enacted at the Federal Level.
The Minister also called on them to do same for the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act which only few States have domesticated in order to tackle the rising cases of rape and other crimes against women
(Editor: Nkoli Omhoudu)
