The Mayor of London will address the out-of-school children crisis in Nigeria with the diaspora community
The Mayor of the London Borough of Southwark, Michael Situ, has confirmed his desire to welcome members of the Nigerian diaspora community to the UK to address the out-of-school children crisis in Nigeria.
Situ offered to host Nigerians in the diaspora to show his support and solidarity with the activities of a British charity working in Nigeria, known as the Ibironke Adeagbo Foundation (IA).
In a telephone conversation with a journalist in Abuja on Sunday, Ms Adeagbo, the chief executive officer of the charity, said Mr Situ would host captains of industry, politicians, philanthropists, delegates and friends of the IA Foundation to launch the new after-school website.
She described the event as the charity’s latest initiative to draw global attention to the education crisis in Nigeria.
Ms Adeagbo said the event, which will take place early next year, will be held at Southwark Civic Townhall on London Bridge, overlooking the Thames.
According to her, the aim of the event is to showcase the work, impact and key findings of the foundation over the years and to bring attention to the Nigerian diaspora community in the UK to make a difference in the country.
Ms Adeagbo said the interaction would aim to mobilize the international community to build a shared vision and leverage resources to combat the menace posed by out-of-school children in Nigeria.
She confirmed that the event would also be attended by members of the British Parliament, British councillors, politicians, philanthropists, delegates of corporate organizations and other celebrities.
“The aim is to ensure that the international community plays a key role in the development of a robust and functional education system in Nigeria,” she said.
The IA Foundation, founded in 2019 by Ms. Adeagbo, an English-born Nigerian, has shown extraordinary passion in tackling the out-of-school crisis in Nigeria.
In 2022, the UN agency UNESCO said Africa’s most populous nation had an army of out-of-school children estimated at around 20.2 million – the highest on the continent.
But Ms. Adeagbo, who is a chartered accountant, continues to press on, using the foundation to draw international attention to Nigeria’s out-of-school crisis.
Last month, the foundation hosted a summit in Lagos that brought together prominent Nigerians and activists to discuss the after-school issue.
The foundation is also required to organize a donation drive in Lagos next March to enable the organization to get more children off the streets and back into classrooms.
President Bola Tinubu, however, assured Nigerians that his administration would bring Nigeria out of the woods and set the country on a glorious path in the education sector.
(IN)
