Children
By Ibukun Emiola
Ibadan, July 1, 2018 (NAN) The initiator of Blooms Development for Youth Foundation, Miss Tope Ajisebutu, has urged Nigerians to impact positively on children by nurturing them early in childhood.
Ajisebutu told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Ibadan that with the various challenges facing children in the country, parents, religious organisations and the society need to do more to protect them.
“Government should please invest more in children’s education; a lot of older people in the society lack self confidence and this can be traced to their warped foundation.
“All hands must be on deck to build virtues and good character in children through education and other innovative means, ” Ajisebutu said.
She said societal impediments and the country’s economic challenges had been preventing parents from performing their responsibilities to their children.
‘’When I moved into Mokola area of Ibadan, I discovered that children on reaching the age of puberty are either pregnant or have become drug addicts.
“ Some of them dropped out of school while others resort to vocational training.
‘’I then took it upon myself to correct some of these anomalies and this gave birth to Blooms Development for Youth Foundation where we catch them young, identify their skills and talents as well as train them for excellence in life.
“We usually have quarterly programmes which many of the children have benefited from and it has changed the downward trajectory of this area because the foundation encourages them to aspire to be the best in life, ” Ajisebutu said.
According to her, every child is great if well nurtured and the culture of good attributes and foresight is instilled in them.
“We intend to impact on the lives of children in Mokola area through various training initiatives that would help them in self discovery, defence mechanism and other techniques to cope with stress and other challenges in life,” she said.
NAN reports that the foundation, which was inaugurated on Oct. 28, 2017, had since been holding quarterly meetings where children are trained on vocational and life skills. (NAN)
IBK/AOS/OJO
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(Edited by Bayo Sekoni/Mufutau Ojo)