Students Praise Rivers Old Boys, Girls 83 Set for African Child Day

Students of Government Comprehensive Secondary School, Borikiri in Port Harcourt, Rivers State have lauded members of the Rivers Secondary Schools Old Boys and Girls 1983 Set Association for organising the International Day of the African Child last weekend, at the school.

The commendation came as the body feted the students with talk shows, drama, and other entertainment to commemorate the day set aside by the United Nations Children Emergency Fund (UNICEF) and celebrated worldwide.

One of the students, Lawson Jackson, said he felt joy and motivated with the event, saying “It taught me a moral lesson,” he said, ” I need to be studious and stop bullying younger students.”

Another student, Wisdom George, stated that ” I learnt a lot today, adding that,’ this will make me focus on my career because I want to be a doctor”.

In his remarks, President of the body, Tubokomba Harry, said the Day of the African Child is commemorated to highlight challenges facing children in the continent and to find solutions to them.

Harry, who is also an Old Boy of Government Comprehensive Secondary School, Port Harcourt, stated that the association has taken it as a challenge for the second year running to mark the day in order to encourage young students on the need to focus on their studies and motivate them for future career.

With this, he assured that the African Child has great future and prospects once they are prepared to lead.

On his part, a former Chairman of Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) Port Harcourt Branch, Sylvester Adaka enjoined the students to be obedient and focused on their studies.

Adaka, who is also an Old Boy of the school, while highlighting the importance of the day, recalled that the event of June 16th in Soweto South Africa gave birth to the day.

Due to the plight of children who suffered during the uprising, the United Nations Children Emergency Fund (UNICEF) had to fix that day to showcase the world on why the African Child should be given a pride of place.

As a lawyer, he reminded them that early career choice will help them to be greater leaders and people of influence in the future.

The same view was expressed by the Chairman, Board of Trustees of the Association, Chief Hope Kuku, who emphasized that success stems from curiosity and creativity.

Chief Kuku, who is an Old Boy of the school, urged the students to “read books to become better persons, and not just to pass exams.”

Another member of the association, Ngozi Ajayi, in her speech reminded the students that they are leaders of tomorrow, who should be focused and committed to improving their society.

She maintained that the day afforded them time to reflect while harping on need for them to be self-confident and obedient to their parents and teachers.

Secretary General of the Association, Dr. Ibinabo Ogolo, in an interview with journalists, explained that the programme is one of the key projects of the association aimed at socialising with the various Alma Maters.

Furthermore, she said the annual celebration will be expanded in future with the engagement of both government and private sectors to improve the plight of the children.

The event witnessed the presentation of cash gifts to best students in Mathematics and English in the Senior and Junior sections and also donation of educational materials to the school by the Association.

 Drama and traditional dance presentations were showcased by the students.