Akwa Ibom committed to children’s well being –Akpabio

Governor Godswill Akpabio has reiterated his commitment to ensuring the well-being of every Akwa Ibom child through formal education.
He stated this yesterday during a low-key Children’s Day celebration at the Uyo Township Stadium. He said: “We congratulate and celebrate with our children today and to let you all know that we love  you and we are ensuring the protection of your future by improving facilities in schools and in the health sector.
“We would continue to provide textbooks, pay fees for the registration of NECO, WAEC and SSCE examinations. We would also provide equipment for laboratories in higher schools and increase the number of boarding schools in our state, among others. And I believe that you all would be a pride to the nation.”
He advised the children to be disciplined, studious urging them to know that they were not going to school for their parents but for themselves in view of the fact that the greatest thing a child can get from his or her parents was education.
Governor Akpabio was later presented with the, ‘Most child friendly governor’ award by Akwa Ibom children.
In an address to the occasion and read by Governor Akpabio, President Goodluck Jonathan congratulated all Nigerian children, stressing that the Nigerian child is precious and angelic,which every Nigerian child is the first priority of his administration.
Jonathan who paid tribute to the Chibok girls who were abducted by the Boko Haram group, sympathized with the parents of the Chibok girls, pledging that the Federal Government would protect them from violence and bring this insurgency to an end.
The President condoled with Nigerians who lost their families to Boko Haram attacks, stressing that the act was a heart rending moment for him and the entire nation, which he said that Federal Government has put in adequate machinery for a secure environment and would not rest till the girls are found.
He then called on Nigerians to unite for peace and for the children, calling on all security agencies and Nigerians to work together to ensure security in the society, disclosing that terrorism attacks are now targeted to schools thereby trying to thwart the plans of the future leaders and disclosed that the Federal Government has recently inaugurated a national joint task force for the prevention and fight against sexual abuse on children.
President Jonathan called on parents not to be discouraged or deterred by the Boko Haram insurgency but endeavor to send their girl-child to school for a sustainable future, calling on all Nigerians to embrace the culture of peace, patriotism and to see themselves as one Nigeria without ethnic sentiments.
Also speaking, the state Commissioner for Women Affairs, Mrs. Glory Edet, stated that children represent the future of the country and that the children of the state have benefitted from many friendly policies of Governor Akpabio administration.
Edet, who said that it was disheartening to note that most children are abused by adults who are supposed to protect them, lauded the Governor’s wise decision and that of the Akwa Ibom House of Assembly for domesticating the Child Rights Act, calling on all Nigerians to contribute their quota to the advancement of the children’s rights and the protection of the Nigerian child.
The Speaker of Akwa Ibom State Children’s Parliament, Miss Roshah Anietie Idok, said the entire children of the state would have been happier if the Chibok girls were released, but prayed that God would facilitate their release.
She also thanked the State Governor for the free and compulsory education, health care and the Child Rights law and also thanked the Governor’s wife, Unoma for the care given to all Akwa Ibom children.