| TO further contribute to the development of youths in the country, New Era Foundation, a brainchild of the former First Lady of Lagos State, Mrs. Oluremi Tinubu, is set to commence the New Era Youth Camp in Lagos State to inculcate in youth the spirit of teamwork and leadership skills.
The Foundation, which was set up to provide youth development centres as well as organise intellectual, physical and social competitions to foster the all round development of young ones, promote public awareness on environmental health and protection and sensitise people to the importance of volunteering and community service is also celebrating its tenth anniversary.
Besides, the 50 acres piece of land located in Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos, which in its first phase of construction work currently houses the administrative block, the Asiwaju Bola Ahmed classroom blocks, Sir Kensington Adebutu home science laboratory, Computer laboratory, Kafaru Oluwole Tinubu Senior Laboratory for science, Mabel Oye Williams Junior Laboratory, Sir Molade Okoya Thomas Classroom block, Stella Okoli Dinning Hall and Solomon Adebayo Ayoku clinic all donated by philanthropic individuals and corporate organisations.
Addressing journalists at a pre-10th anniversary dinner press conference and facility tour of the camp recently, President of the NGO, Mrs. Tinubu, who is a passionate campaigner for youth development in the country, spoke on series of activities so far carried by the Foundation to respond to the plight of the vulnerable in the society, especially women and children.
In fulfilling the objectives outlines by the Foundation, she stated that the Spelling Bee competition designed to encourage reading habits in public secondary schools has been effectively running since 2001 with the winner of the competition each year acting as Governor of Lagos State for one day.
The incentive, which has so far stimulated healthy rivalry among public secondary school students in the state has grown to become so popular and a keenly competed event that different schools work hard to distinguish themselves in order to produce the one day governor in their schools.
While the impact of the competition cannot be overemphasised, she proudly announced that all the One Day Governors are doing very well in the pursuit of their academic and professional careers as the Foundation has made it a point of duty to continuously monitor their progress and encourage them to aspire for excellence in life.
A special highlight of the Foundation's contribution to student's performance, especially in the public school system according to her will be the launch of a special edition of the Spelling Bee kit in the form of a dictionary to serve as a valuable resource for improving the vocabulary of young children.
On further insight into funds raised for the youth camp, she said the camp has to date eleven buildings in its first phase, which is not yet ideal for the magnitude of activities and plans the management has for the camp to officially kick off.
She said " I have a lot of concern to put the right things in place before we welcome our first set of students. We are planning to give Nigerians the best of quality comparable with what is obtainable in other parts of the world. What we want to give our children the best as well as encourage them to come and learn new experiences. We want to introduce them to things we consider a necessity and not luxury like riding of bikes. We want to give them ample time to develop and grow, we want to merge informal education with formal education and introduce them to a future that is globalise and computerised."
Responding to questions on how prepared the Foundation is for the task ahead, Tinubu gave assurance that the Foundation is adequately prepared to cater for students both boys and girls between the ages of 7-17 with the facilities to accommodate about 240 students at a time while also attributing the success made so far on the project to the grace of God.
" If not for God we wouldn't have come this far, what is holding us back is the hall of residence so that we can be able to take in the first set of campers. We are a Foundation that is very good at fund raising and with no time we will get the furniture's and other facilities t take off effectively. That is why we want to instill in the youth the act of giving back to the society. We want to teach young Nigerians to be responsible citizens."
On the 10 years anniversary celebration, she said the event is to show the public that the Foundation is committed to its vision as well as celebrate distinguished personalities and organisation that has supported and contributed to the success and actualisation of the various projects being organised by the foundation.
On some of the activities to be undertaken by the camp, she said, "the youth camp is to be used all year round for holidays and weekend including special programmes for young mothers to keep their children in a safe and conducive environment. Activities in the camp will be an all round experience where they will be exposed to public speaking, computer training, summer enrichment in Mathematics and English Language, Home Economic. We intend to teach table manners, cookery and a host of other activities that would enrich young minds to be effective team players. We also want to impact on these young minds as well as bring in youth volunteers and university graduates who can become big buddies for these children."
Tinubu, while commenting on her zeal to impact on the youths said: "It pains me when people are not rising up to take responsibilities. We cannot do everything but we can do something and it is that little something that I want to do to ensure my vision comes to life. Every person have something to give, it could be time, skills or money. We also want to encourage well meaning Nigerians to participate and partner in any aspect they can to help the children. We can do with a lot of partnership in any form."
Listing other successful programmes being organised by the Foundation such as the Maggi Junior Chef cooking competition in partnership with Nestle Nigeria Limited to promote awareness of local foods as well as encourage healthy eating habits and the New Era Wheelchair Tennis Championship in partnership with HITV and Yinka Folawiyo Group, she said the Foundation sees every individual as a very valuable and important members of society.
"Apart from organising various seminars and enlightenment programmes on HIV/AIDS and environmental sanitation, the Foundation has produced several publications, including Grassroots and political change in Nigeria' sponsored by Ford Foundation and My earth is your earth' sponsored by the Lagos State Ministry of Environment. Another of our publication is a collection of essays, poems and drawings by primary schools on the theme Who is God' she said.
Two ideas also proposed by the Foundation, which is currently being adopted and implemented by the Lagos State Ministry of Education, include the 30-hour compulsory community service for Senior Secondary Schools and the Alternative High School for Girls in Ojo Local Council to give girls who drop out of school a second opportunity to obtain higher education.
Member of the Board of Trustees of the Foundation, Sir Molade Okoya Thomas, described the initiator of the Foundation as a lady of many parts who while even in office started programmes that has impacted greatly on the society.
"I visited the camp when it was bare ground and I am happy to see the level of development on ground. I want to commend her for the time, effort and money she is committing into this project."
Also, Mrs. Opral Benson said, " We are here to support what Mrs. Tinubu has been doing and what the Foundation has been doing in Nigeria. I was born in Liberia and I can testify to what she has been doing not only in Nigeria but also in far away Liberia. She went to Liberia and saw the devastation caused by the war, came back and raised funds and came back where she visited orphanages and other homes to donate clothings and other items. She built schools for the people of Liberia and for that the people of Liberia really appreciate her. How many people visit places of devastation and contribute to that society but she did it. She has touched the lives of women and children and I consider her a very special woman who needs all the support she can get." - The Guardian |
