* Vows to champion well-being, protection of Kwara child, women
Stephen Olufemi Oni, Ilorin
Kwara state Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq has reiterated the commitment of his administration to championing the course of women empowerment, liberation, elevation, emancipation and the well-being of the Kwara child.
The Governor stated this on Tuesday in Ilorin, the state capital, at the inauguration of the Child Right Implementation Committee to ensure protection of children across the 16 local government areas of the state.
AbdulRasaq, who was represented by the Commissioner for Education and Human Capital Development, Hajia Saadat Modibbo Kawu,
charged the committee to fulfil its statutory mandate of coordinating the implementation of the Child Right Law, adding that it is disheartening to hear global news of social ills which are pointers to moral decadence and loss of value system.
He, however, advocated the need for parents and guardians to care for home, monitor the academic progress and behavioural deficiency of their children.
The UNICEF Child Protection Specialist, Kaduna, Doctor Wilfred Mamah, who commended the state government for inaugurating the committee after 17 years of the passage of the Child Rights law in 2006, lamented the high rate of Female Genital Mutilation, Out of School children and increase in the number of children at the Bolster Correctional Centres in the state, and therefore charged the newly inaugurated committee to network and protect the child rights by ensuring that all the problems identified are addressed urgently.
In her address of welcome, the State Commissioner for Women Affairs, Mrs Olaitan Buraimoh, noted that the state government is passionate about the welfare of women and girls which led to the inauguration of the committee to work in line with the UNICEF guidelines to ensure Child Protection Right in the state.
For her part, the State Commissioner for Social Development, Mrs Afolashade Oluwakemi Opeyemi, said her ministry would always work with the Ministry of Women Affairs to guarantee and protect Child Rights in the state.
The Attorney General of the State and Commissioner for Justice, Barrister Senior Ibrahim Sulyman, charged the Committee to make the interest of the children paramount for them so as not to allow the noble intention behind their inauguration to be defeated.
Also, the Chairman of Ifelodun Local Government Area of the State, who doubles as the ALGON Chairman in the state, Mr. Jide Asonibare, charged the committee to work with the Ministry of Justice for necessary laws to be enacted, adding that local government councils have put necessary machinery in motion to domesticate the committee in their respective councils.
The Olojoku of Ojokuland, Oba AbdulRasaq Adegboyega Afolabi, called for adequate funding of the committee for members to achieve their goals, stressing the need to also work with religious leaders, traditional rulers and other key stakeholders to sensitize and reduce Female Genital Mutilation in the state.
The First Makama of Ilorin, Alhaji Ibrahim Oniye also emphasized the need for the state government to fund the committee for it to guarantee the protection of Child Right.
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