The Federal Government on Thursday launched 40 million safety kits for school children in Nigeria.
The Ministry of Education launched the programme tagged “Children Accident Prevention Initiative” in collaboration with the National Union of Road Transport Workers on Thursday.
The ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Sonny Echono, disclosed that statistics revealed an increase in the number of school children involved in road-related accidents without any commensurate improvement in preventive measures especially the availability of first aid facilities to cater for the victims.
He said, “Kitting school children with reflective jackets to ensure visibility is very important.
“Manning the exit and entrance roads with road guards, the provision of road signages, modern zebra crossings, road infrastructures and training of teachers for increased uptake of knowledge therein are capital intensive.
“There is a need for extensive collaborations for the successful implementation of this laudable scheme. The government’s effort to ensure quality education for all should be complemented by endeavours to safeguard lives as parents strive towards achieving their wards academic potentials.”
The Minister of State for Education, Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, said the ministry was committed to creating an inclusive and safe academic environment for all learners.
He said, “We implore all interest groups, including local and international donors, to support this programme as a humanitarian act.
“The milestone in this launch is the free kitting of 40 million children with reflective jackets and arm bands in the first phase
“This is quite commendable. With the jackets, the learners are very conspicuous to road users and easily identified for security purposes.
Meanwhile, Nwajiuba disclosed that the Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, was absent at the event because he travelled “for medical reasons.”
He said, “Malam (the minister) had to travel for medical reasons, and he will be back next tomorrow.
“We said let us postpone this to wait for him, he said no, we have already agreed that this will be done on Children’s Day and today is Children’s Day.”
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