Sultan of Sokoto, Zulum commend Osinbajo’s commitment to education of children in N/East

By Matthew Eloyi

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has been praised by the Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammadu Abubakar, and Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno State for his commitment to the education of underprivileged children in the North-East.

On Monday in Abuja, the two spoke at the fifth anniversary of the North-East Children’s Trust (NECT) School, also known as the North-East Learning Centre.

The vice president established the center in Maiduguri, Borno, with the goal of providing educational and extensive-care support to 10,000 children orphaned or displaced by the Boko Haram insurgency in the North-East.

Abubakar praised the vice president and everyone else involved in the scheme, calling it a fantastic initiative.

In his words, “I will like to thank you, the vice president for your commitment and concern; pursuing such projects not only to start, but being maintained and even marking the fifth anniversary having taken off in April, 2018.

“I will like to thank the Governor of Borno for your total commitment and selfless service to humanity.

“In the last three years, we have been seeing what you are doing; definitely, with your support, this project, NECT is gaining strength and strength; because it is very important for us as religious leaders, you know the importance of taking care of the orphans and the less privileged.

“We want to thank the initiators of this project; and all those who have had a hand one way or the other to see this fifth anniversary of NECT becomes a success.

“It is an excellent initiative.’’

On his part, Zulum lauded the vision of the vice president in establishing NECT in Borno.

According to him, Borno has about 39, 311 orphans; and a total of about 50, 000 widows.

“These are official figures; the unofficial figures are more than this; and therefore, establishing this learning centre, particularly in Maiduguri, will go a long way in reducing the number of out-of-school children in Borno State.

“One very important aspect of this learning centre is that it is critical to development.

“In addition to providing intensive literacy and numeracy to the children, this school also offers strong technical and vocational education to the pupils; it offers strong digital literacy to the students.

“And I think, this is the type of education that we are looking for; because it will make the students to become self-reliant,’’ he said.

In his remarks, Osinbajo, just before cutting the anniversary cake, went down the memory lane and paid tributes to former Governor of Borno, Kashim Shettima, for the role he played in setting up NECT.

According to him, Borno has been possibly one of the luckiest states in this country; just going by the leadership that the state has been having.