The Holy Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him and his progeny) said: “I am the city of Knowledge, Ali is the Gate to the City”. “The greatest Wealth is Education and the greatest Poverty is ignorance” Imam Ali (a.s).
May 27th each year is a historical day dedicated to the celebration of Children all over the world. The importance attached to their welfare, protection and education cannot be over emphasized in view of their role in nation building.
Children are the leaders of tomorrow, they are our hope and the future our great Country, Nigeria. Therefore, it is pertinent for government at all level, parents, and the society at large to place issues affecting the lives of our children on the front burner.
Education is the process of facilitating learning, or the acquisition of knowledge, skills, values, beliefs, and habits. Our Children needs qualitative education, and the need to acquire progressive skills and knowledge that create a solid foundation for their future and propel them to take leadership position in the future.
The first agents of children’s education and the number one guidance to children’s success in life are the parents. The parents must ensure our children are well guided, they must ensure they are not allowed to be influenced by the ills of the society, and not exposed to acts that endanger their lives and future. Children are our treasure, we as parents must sacrifice time to listen to them, care for them and guide them to achieve their desirable goals.
As we celebrate our gifted treasures today, let’s make out time to educate them on the need to be self discipline. Discipline is the practice of making people obey rules or standards of behaviour, and punishing them when they do not obey.
Therefore, in order to be successful in life, you need to behave in a strictly controlled way and obey rules and regulations of your parents, teachers and guidance. You must respect the elders and take your studies seriously.
Avoid drug abuse, stealing, lying and truancy. You should also be disciplined spiritually, understand the existence of God and imbibe the fear of God in your lives at all time.
Our Children are our hope, they form an integral part of our political, social and economic development, hence, their lives must be protected. We condemn in strong terms all form of child abuse or domestic violence against children, we will continue to encourage girl-child education and take steps to improve in our school enrolments programs.
Ladies and gentlemen, it should interest you to know that, government have done tremendously well to promote education of our dear children.
Recently, we gave out scholarships to children that distinguished themselves in their academic performance and rewarded those that made us proud in the last National Mathematics quiz competition.
These and many more interventions from the government that are geared towards educational development of our children. I want to sincerely thank the organisers of this event, you have ones again created an avenue to interact with our children and rekindle their hope that qualitative education remain the panacea to a successful life.
May God Guide and Protect our Children (Ameen). Happy Children Day Celebration!
Signed:
Mallam Abdulrazaq Muhammad
Administrator, Okene Local Government Council.
