Osinbajo details FG’s plans for vulnerable citizens

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo says a nation will be measured ultimately by how it treats its most vulnerable citizens.

Osinbajo expressed this view in his special address at the At Risk Children –Programme (ARC-P) Summit on Thursday, February 10, at the State House Banquet Hall, Abuja.

He said that in 2019, President Muhammadu Buhari made two crucial policy statements — first was the plan of government to lift a hundred million Nigerians out of poverty within a decade.

The vice president said that the second was the strict enforcement of the laws on free and compulsory education for all children at the primary level.

“In 2016 the rule of law advisory team was established in the presidency.

“One of the team’s main tasks was to ensure that, following the Violence Against Persons Prohibition Act, there is an effective coordination of responses to cases of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV).

“Since then, the team has supported the establishment of SGBV Response Teams across the country.’’

Also Read:

Also Read: Osinbajo reveals reason for delay in signing of Electoral Amendment Bill

Osinbajo said that in 2021, on the advice of the Presidential Economic Advisory Council, the president inaugurated the National Poverty Reduction (NPRGS) Committee.

He said that the omnibus term of reference of the committee was implementing any other effort that would enhance attainment of the objective of lifting 100 million people out of poverty in 10 years.

“So the At-Risk-Children Programme ARC-P, domiciled in my office, is one of the independent initiatives of the NPRGS Committee, it is an important component of the variety of government interventions designed to complement and support existing initiatives of our administration in dealing with the problems of vulnerable children and young  people.

“The programme will provide a safe space for the mentoring and training of these children with a specific emphasis on basic literacy and numeracy, health and nutrition, entrepreneurial skills, digital skills, sports and life-skills among other skills.

“At the heart of the At Risk Children Programme is the idea that every Nigerian child counts.

“A nation will be measured ultimately by how it treats its most vulnerable citizens; we recognise that we cannot make progress as a people while a significant population of our children – those to whom the future belongs – are left on the margins of society, deprived of  the opportunity to discover and fulfill their potential,’’ Osinbajo said.

According to him, ARC –P is aimed at giving a new lease of life to millions of children, who through no fault of theirs, have found themselves without hope or support.

He commended state governors who had so far signed up for the ARC-P particularly the governors of the pilot states, Borno, Sokoto, Gombe, Kaduna and Ekiti.

Osinbajo said that the Federal Government would continue to provide the leadership, support, finance and logistics needed to ensure that this Programme achieves its goals.