- 60 graduating wards receive vocational tools
MRS Bolanle Ambode, the wife of the executive governor of Lagos State, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode, with the Commissioner for Youth and Social Development, Mrs Uzamat Akinbile-Yusuf, has commissioned a newly built Correctional Centre for Junior Boys at Birrel, Sabo, Yaba.
The centre, which has been abandoned since 13 years, was rebuilt by the state’s Ministry of Youth and Social Development as a reformatory and training centre for boys.
Mrs Ambode, who spoke briefly before flagging off the new building, remarked on the significance of “secure environment” in ensuring the overall development of children. She also enjoined wards to leverage the facility for self and national progress.
Speaking she said, “This project is a fulfilment of a core promise of the administration, which is to develop and promote the wellbeing of children. It will ensure a more secured environment for the children and improve service delivery by the staff.
“Our state is not immune to social challenges, but the government is always doing the needful to get the right focus for the children and the youths. I, therefore, urge them to make a good use of those tools and make the best use of the opportunity to explore their full potential. Let me add that the government will continue to promote the wellbeing of children, especially the less-privileged.”
About 60 graduating wards, trained in various vocations, were presented with basic start-up tools and equipment for their trade.
The wards comprised young people rescued from the streets and bad parenting in the state.
Speaking also, the Permanent Secretary, Mr Hakeem Muri-Okunola, said “the essence of projects was to provide modern infrastructure to support the rehabilitation process and reintegration of delinquent and less privileged children across the state.”
And in her address, the Commissioner for Youth and Social Development, Mrs Uzamat Akinbile-Yusuf, said that “Majority of the wards have been exposed to social vices due to their interactions with criminally minded adults on the streets and faulty parenting, before they were rescued and placed under the care and protection of the state government.
She said that “The presentation of these basic starter tools to these wards is a step in the right direction as it will get them started on the right path in life and engender success in their respective vocations.
Akinbile-Yusuf also urged parents to be alive to their responsibilities in order to arrest the social challenges in the state.