NGO wage war on illiteracy
By Rita Okoye
Founder of The Goldfish Initiative for Illiteracy and Poverty Alleviation, Chimanma Rushworth-Moore has called on President Muhammadu Buhari and Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu, to raise the standard of education and also make the Nigerian child welfare a priority.
She gave the advice while addressing newsmen in Lagos on the forthcoming walk against child illiteracy. Rushworth-Moore charged the federal government to do the needful to make education the right of every child.
She stated that many children in the rural area cannot read or write due to circumstances they found themselves in.
“We are calling on President Buhari, education minister and minister of state for education to help raise the standard of education in Nigeria. There are a lot of children in the rural areas and villages who cannot read nor write in this technology age. Anyone who cannot read nor write does not exist because he or she cannot vote. Many children go to school half naked while many sit on the floor in rickety classrooms to learn. Many Nigerian children lack basic welfare. Children’s welfare and protection should be non negotiable and this is why Goldfish initiative is the voice of these children who cannot speak for themselves,” she said.
The founder of the NGO further explained that she and her team visited many rural areas in different parts of Nigeria. She explained that her chat with the Almajiri young people in the North was an eye opener on how many young lives with big dreams that are languishing in penury.
“Some of the Almajiri’s told our team they wanted to be doctors, lawyers and many other interesting professionals. But what got us thinking was the fact that majority wanted to be soldiers. Since they cannot read nor write no defence academy in Nigeria can accept them. It will be easy for anyone to lure these young people with dreams of being a soldier by just giving them arms and green t-shirt,” she stated.
She therefore called on the federal government to make things right by allowing money to flow through the right source to alleviate poverty completely.
The Goldfish Initiative boss stated that her target of getting rid of illiteracy goes beyond the shores of Nigeria. “We plan to reach every other African country but I am starting from Nigeria which is my father’s land”.