The Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Prince Clem Agba, has called for the inclusion of compulsory community service in the curriculum of secondary and tertiary schools in the country.
The inclusion, Agba noted, would make the younger generation to value the essence of charitable and volunteer works and encourage them to practise such.
The junior minister made the call in Benin City at the 5th graduation ceremony, 6th Matriculation and 9th-anniversary ceremony of the Centre for Edo Delta Development Initiative, CEDDI.
Agba who was represented by his Special Assistant, Dr Philip Ugbodaga, Agba said the activities of the centre and other similar initiatives were needed to accelerate President Muhammadu Buhari’s plan to lift 100 million Nigerians from poverty in the next ten years and commended CEDDI on its enlightenment programs on diabetics.
“There is the further need for more collaboration between the Government and all NGOs operating in Nigeria so as to organize our people, create awareness in them and make them development-oriented and problem solvers,” he canvassed.
According to him, due to the complementary roles community service and voluntary work play in national development, it would be good for students to complete a certain number of hours in community service before graduation from secondary school or at the tertiary level.
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“These activities must be an integral part of our culture and should be included in the educational curriculums at all levels of education in Nigeria,” he further suggested.
Also speaking at the occasion, a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state, Mr Kenneth Imansuagbon, urged stakeholders in the state to take a cue from the state governor, Godwin Obaseki “in ensuring that the youths of the state are engaged in productive ventures by the provision of skills and vocational centres in the state.”
Imansuangbon, who was the chairman of the event, lamented that the situation of unemployment in Nigeria and around the world is worrisome, adding that any initiative aimed at keeping the people off the streets should be supported by well-meaning individuals.
He commended the CEDDI initiatives, which started as an itinerant concept where healthcare and vocational skills such as Cosmetology, Catering, Beauty care etc are brought to the doorstep of the people who are among the not-so-privileged.
This was just as the Speaker of the Edo State House of Assembly, Marcus Onobun, assured that the legislature would always be supportive of the programme whenever the need arose.
Welcoming dignitaries to the occasion, the initiator of the programme, Chief Sam Igbe, the Iyase (Prime Minister) of Benin, urged the graduates to always keep the flag flying by ensuring that they put to good use all that they learnt in the course of their training.
Minister calls for compulsory community service in secondary, higher schools curricula