Group hinges development, good leadership on knowledge

The quest to achieve a sustainable development and the elusive good leadership in the country can only be realised by a deliberate effort in ensuring inclusive education system directly targeted at the youths.

While the government must set the tone with enabling framework, the private sector operators, as corporate citizens, would take initiatives, as governments across the world have never succeeded in providing all the societal needs alone.Founder-the Special Foundation, Seyi Akinwale, while speaking with journalists, said the development of analytical thinking and public speaking skills, in addition to citizenship training of the youth is a sure way to reversing the country’s observed skills gap.

“True, economic development and good leadership can only be achieved by an inclusive educational system. When you educate young people, you are building the pillars of the society. I believe in nation building and that citizens must be catalysts of the positive change they want to see in their communities.

“We cannot look to the government for solutions to all the social problems we find in our community. This is the reason we created this platform to address specific societal ills in education,” he said.Akinwale said the foundation’s ambassadors have offered analytical and public speaking skills, in addition to citizenship training to young students in some select schools in the Federal Capital Territory.

He said the ambassadors are actively involved in proffering solutions to learning gaps in school curriculum in the country by training young students in creative writing, public speaking, critical thinking, leadership, patriotism and national values.Chukwuma Nwanze, an Ambassador of the foundation said: “These are tough times and there is no better time than now to join hands together to make the future brighter for every child. This is the reason why I ‘m joining forces with the special foundation and there is a chance for others.

“This is to encourage patriotism and nationalism from a young age, raise verbally confident children, ignite creative writing and critical thinking in children and most of all, to raise selfless leaders for today and tomorrow,” he said.

The foundation’s special summer is a yearly three-week programme aimed at improving the quality of education‎ received by children in Northern Nigeria, which has impacted over 300 children in the last three years.

It was also developed ‎to address the gaps discovered in the current public education received by children in the region, targeting no fewer than 100 children from disadvantaged communities that are out of school or currently attending public schools in Abuja and its surrounding in states.Thomas Zephania, a student of the LEA school in Zuba, who participated in the programme, lauded the initiative, attesting that it tasked his ability in critical thinking, public speaking and national values, among other things drawing and spelling in the lessons.Recently hosted 120 children out of the 350 applicants at Kuje, Abuja, they were given grade specific back-to-school packs, while three best performers were placed on scholarship.