Kunle Adelabu
Dr Shamsideen Olalekan Allison, Permanent Secretary, Office of the Special Adviser on Education, has revealed that Lagos State has achieved 83% literacy level but much still need to be done to achieve the 97% target.
He made the revelation while speaking with THE IMPACT at a One-day stakeholders meeting on acceleration of second chance education for women and girls in the state held at the Adeboruwa palace in Igbogbo, Igbogbo/Bayeku Local Council Development Area (LCDA), Ikorodu Division, Lagos, Southwest, Nigeria, on Thursday, January 16, 2020.
The programme, tagged ‘Spotlight initiative’ and being facilitated by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) in partnership with the Lagos State Government and other bodies, is also aimed at eliminating violence against women and girls in the state.
“The literacy level in the state has improved and we still hope to make it better. Our target is to achieve 97% literacy level in the state but right now, we are at 83% literacy level and we still need to do more” , Dr Allison stated.
“This is a programme aimed at complimenting the efforts of the Lagos State Government in empowering our women and girls.
“Government is working towards eliminating any form of violence against women and girls and such programme would help in educating our women and girls to know their rights and make the issue of abuses minimal if not totally eradicated”, he stated.
“When a woman knows her rights, she will be able to defend herself and one of the key tools to empower the women is education”.
Dr Allinson stated that the programme will afford people without education another chance to be literate and empowered.
“This programme is aimed at giving second chance to women and girls that do not have the opportunity to be educated and we believe that it would go a long way in empowering them. Through this too, the government will also be able to deliver good governance as well”, he stated.
Speaking on how the government is monitoring the performance of participants in the mass literacy program, Dr Allison stated:
“We have mass education centres and facilitators across the state and we have been having lots of programmes and we do monitor our trainees through assessments and over the years, we have achieved tremendous success.”
Dr Stephen Onyekwelu, the UNESCO Representative, in his address, stated that the project, which is aimed at giving educationally deprived women and girls second chance, is targeting 200, 000 women and girls nationally and 20, 000 in Lagos.
“The programme is aimed at providing second chance for women and girl-child, particularly in Ikorodu Local Government.
“The project is designed at reaching out to 200, 000 women and girls nationally to make them acquire formal education by returning to school ‘, he stated.
“In Lagos State, our target is to reach out to 20, 000 women and girls and ensure that those willing to go back to school are returned and others not willing are trained with skill jobs which will be provided by UN Women”.
He appealed to traditional rulers and other stakeholders to assist in mobilizing and sensitizing community people to participate.
“We are appealing to the community leaders, people and women to come out en masse and embrace the project.
“I want us to seize this opportunity to bring our women and young girls who have not been opportuned to go to school to take advantage of this programme. Some of these people are giving out in marriage early, some are unable to acquire education because of poverty while others could not due to one problem or the other. These are the people that we are looking for to come and enroll.
“The programme is free and all that you are required to do is come out and enroll. You will also be provided with materials for the programme”, he stated.
Mrs Oluwakemi Kalesanwo, Director, Lagos State Agency for Mass Education in her own remarks, said that:
“Spotlight initiative is a project from the UNESCO with five states, which include Lagos, selected for the project in Nigeria.
“Through this project, Lagos State will be training women, girls and of course, boys. We are going to give them second chance in learning how to read and write and we are kick starting the project in Ikorodu Division and Mainland and subsequently moved to other parts of the state.
“What Spotlight Initiative is doing is to assist Lagos in what we are already doing because we have our own literacy centres across the state but they are going to add more literacy centres, pay the facilitators and give us the opportunity of training more people, especially women and girls, to make them literate and skilled”, Mrs Kalesanwo stated.
To make the programme reach the nooks and crannies of the state, the Director for Mass Education stated that the agency will be embarking on more vigorous sensitization and campaign in communities to encourage more people to participate and have second chance in life.
The host royal father and Adeboruwa of Igbogbo Kingdom, His Royal Majesty, Oba Semiudeen Orimadegun Kasali, while commending the initiative, stated that:
“The purpose of the pprogramme is to give those that did not have the opportunity of going to school and those that dropped out another opportunity at literacy and to be empowered.
“The Ikorodu Division Council of Obas and Chiefs are resolute at partnering with any programme that will emancipate our people, especially youths”, Oba Kasali stated.
Oba Ajibade Bakare Agoro, the Ranodu of Imota, also speaking at the programme, stated that:
“We cannot over emphasized what is happening here today (Thursday) because when you educate women, you are educating the nation”, Oba Agoro stated.
“If you educate women and girl-child, you are invariably educating the whole family.
“We need to aid women most and empower them if we are to have good home and society”.
Like his Igbogbo counterpart, Ranodu also assured of the support of the traditional institutions in the Division for the programme.
His Royal Majesty, Oba Bashir Sotonwa, the Sekumade of Ipakodo, who commended UNESCO and Lagos State Government for bringing the programme to Ikorodu Division, also added in his goodwill message that:
“It is meant to give our women and girl-child another chance. The programme will help in eradicating violence against women since they will be empowered”.
Hon. (Chief) Mrs Adebimpe Akinsola, former acting Commissioner for Tourism and Special Adviser to the Governor on Tourism, Arts and Culture, commended the government for pursuing the education for all gender which, according to her, is part of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu administration’s six-point agenda.
She pledged the support of her group, Women of Substance in Ikorodu Division, in mobilizing and sensitizing women and general public to participate in the mass education programme.
Mr Gbenga Odunniyi, President, Igbogbo Youths Coalition, Hon. Comfort Olafare, Lagos State Representative at the Nigeria Youth Parliament (NYP) and Comrade Samson Bisiriyu, Executive Director, Ikorodu Division Youth Initiative Movement, also spoke on behalf of the youths in the division at the event.
