October 22, (THEWILL) – In a bid to reduce the growing number of out-of-school children in Abeokuta, the Olowu of Owu, Oba Saka Matemilola, has rolled out a school feeding programme under the “Olowu Hope Initiative” to feed 1,000 pupils in three primary public schools in Abeokuta North Local Government Area of the state.
The monarch equally unveiled plans to engage and support 200 women operating Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) with Microcredit loans to cushion the effect of economic hardship on their businesses
Ọba Matemilola, who disclosed at a press conference on Monday marking the Odun OMO Olowu Cultural Festival, said that children of the three schools – Abeokuta North Local Government Primary School and Ansar-Ud-Deen Primary Schools 1 and 2 in the Gbagura community, would be given free meals for the entire academic year
He divulged that the initiative when commenced would encourage school enrollment and reduce the rate of school children, insisting that no child in Owu community should be deprived of education due to hunger and hardship occasioned by fuel subsidy removal.
The traditional ruler urged parents and guardians not to give up in the face of the current hardship in sending their children to schools to acquire educational knowledge, saying that he was determined to increase the number of pupils that would be benefiting from the programme from 1,000 to 5,000.
“We aim to ensure that no child in our community is deprived of education due to hunger or financial hardship, this programme will help create a brighter future for the young generation”, he added
In another development, the Olowu also said that about 200 women from the ancient community would be granted microcredit loans to aid their Small and Medium Enterprises(SMEs) noting that in three years the number of beneficiaries would have grown to 1,000.
He maintained that the loan would be accounted for, thus breaking the women into 10 to 15 groups so that the community band in charge of the disbursement would be able to arrange the loan distribution accordingly.
“The group members will serve as guarantors for each other, ensuring that loans are repaid. We believe this will create a sense of responsibility and foster the values of integrity in our community”, the monarch stressed.
