Parents of Abuja IDP school shut for seven years beg Tinubu to prioritise children’s welfare

“We are victims of ignorance. We are victims of illiteracy, and our children and grandchildren are now growing in ignorance and illiteracy,” a parent said.

News Agency of Nigeria • June 5, 2024

IDP kid and Bola Tinubu and wife (Credit: punch)

IDPs at Durumi camp in Abuja have appealed to President Bola Tinubu and the first lady, Remi Tinubu, to prioritise their welfare.

The camp coordinator, Idris Ibrahim-Halilu, made the appeal on Wednesday in Abuja during the commencement of the Second Quarter 2024 Health Initiative for Rural Dwellers (HIRD) programme of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC).

Mr Ibrahim-Halilu said the IDP phenomenon had metamorphosed into an industry and that if the president considered it an agenda, he would be remembered for impacting their lives.

He also appealed to the NYSC to send corps members to teach the children at the camp’s primary school, adding that the school had been closed since 2017.

“That is seven years since our primary school closed for lack of teachers. We are victims of ignorance. We are victims of illiteracy, and our children and grandchildren are now growing in ignorance and illiteracy,” Mr Ibrahim-Halilu said. “I want to believe that the national directorate of NYSC will help us to send a few corps members, so that we can kickstart the school again.”

He added, “We only have a nursery in this camp and this is the biggest camp in Abuja. We have about 18 camps scattered over the FCT, and this is the biggest with about 3,400 IDPs.”

Mr Ibrahim-Halilu also appealed to the scheme to consider its clinic without a doctor, adding that over the years, if it had received one or two doctors, many of the IDPs would have been treated there.

He thanked the NYSC management for the health outreach programme, adding that the scheme had been a uniting factor in the country.

“If not for the NYSC, a lot of things would have gone wrong,” he said.

The NYSC director-general, Yu’shau Ahmed, said that the programme aimed to reach at least 2,000 people has become a beacon of hope for many Nigerians.

Mr Ahmed, represented by the director of planning, research, and statistics, Ahmed Ikaka, said that the programme embodied the scheme’s commitment to complementing the government’s effort in providing quality healthcare, especially to rural dwellers.

(NAN)

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