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Fashola expresses confidence in power of children to actualise their dream

…As Miss Titilope Bamgboye emerges as Power Kid 2014

Miss Titilope Bamgboye of Ijaiye Ojokoro Junior High School on Tuesday emerged the Power Kid 2014 at the Lagos State Power Kids Awards Ceremony with the State Governor, Mr Babatunde Fashola (SAN) reiterating that the young ones have the power to be whatever they want to be by just dreaming it and working towards it.

The Governor who spoke at the Haven Events Centre in GRA, Ikeja said the role of the government would be to continue to hold the kids by the hands and guide their steps in the journey to the future.

“We have seen that from very modest beginnings, we can produce great scientists. I have seen the efforts to build a power crane, to build the motorized taxi, to build a blender from essentially scraps and it tells me that when we start producing the right kind of steel, the right kind of plastics and the petro- chemical plants are up and running, then there is nothing beyond you because you have the power to imagine and to dream”, he said.

Fashola affirmed that the initiative was already producing very obvious results of awareness about power adding that a similar initiative that was started about two years ago was also bearing fruits as products of the Samsung Academy in the State were graduating and were getting straight into work.

The Governor reiterated that the state was transforming challenges in the Power sector into opportunities and opportunities into prosperity adding, however that the Power Kids have a responsibility to protect the club so that it could be passed on to the next generation.

He said he could not belong to the Power Club because it did not happen in his own time but that there was nothing mystical about energy and electricity pointing out that it was all about education mixed with fun. He expressed joy that the initiative “is a message that is creeping across the state and hopefully across the country”.

“You have a responsibility to share what you know about this Club as you have done with kids in our riverine and semi- urban areas like Tomaro and we must do more of that and we must bring inclusion and the only way by which many more people can be included is by doing well in the school because this is a reward based club, so we are not going to give it free to anybody”. he stressed.

The Governor emphasized that the requirement for membership of the Power Kids Club would remain very outstanding school results and that all of those who are members are already showing that they can deliver outstanding school results which he is very proud of.

“Let me say that whether it is water or electricity or indeed the use of a telephone or petrol or diesel, the essential element that they share together is that they are limited resources that we must share”.

“Nobody should unilaterally open a tap and leave it running because not only are you starting a cycle of waste; you are also depriving others of the possible benefit of the same thing that you have used”.

“I wonder if anyone of you have thought about why our roads have lanes on them. It is because the road is also an asset that we must share, so apart from guiding motorists, the lanes also demarcates your share of the road when you are there and therefore it is unfair for you to stay or drive on the lane marking itself because it means that you are using two lanes when you should use only one”, the Governor explained.

Fashola expressed the hope that guests at the event would take away the lesson that all of the things that are not enough can still go round many more people if they are conserved and that the campaign continues about conserving energy and saving money.

He said if the people could conserve with telephones, it could be done with anything, adding that he is very much aware that in the process of conservation of credit units on the telephone, Nigerians have developed a language called “flash” that does not exist in any other parts of the world where cell phones are used.

“But what is essential about “flashing” is that people are conserving their credit unit and I hope we will take that sense of conservation into power, into water and into many other materials,  recycling, reusing and conserving” he said.

Speaking earlier, the Commissioner for Energy and Mineral Resources, Engineer Taofiq Tijani said the present Power Kids Club is made up of 1000 members and that with the performance of the kids, it is evident that power generation is no more magic.

He said the essence of the programme is to demonstrate that when the young ones know what it takes to generate power, they will find it easy to know about how to conserve energy as well.

Also speaking, the General Manager of the State Electricity Board, Mrs Damilola Ogunbiyi, said the Power Kids Club is made up of the 20 smartest students from each of the participating schools, adding that the kids have been enterprising with the individual inventions that they have come up with. She thanked Governor Fashola for driving to reality the dream that gave birth to the formation of the club.

The award for the best invention was won by Mr Shedrack Abodunrin of Imoye Junior High School, Amuwo Odofin who invented a Solar watering device and also got a cash prize of N250,000.00 to drive the invention.

The Power School Award was won by Girls Junior High School, Agege at the ceremony which had in attendance the Deputy Governor, Hon (Mrs) Adejoke Orelope- Adefulire, members of the State Executive Council including the Secretary to the State Government, Dr (Mrs) Ranti Adebule, Commissioner for Education, Mrs Olayinka Oladunjoye and several important guests.

Music star, Jude Abaga (MI) and Ice Prince also entertained the children with different performances at the event.

SIGNED

HAKEEM BELLO

SPECIAL ADVISER TO H.E ON MEDIA

MAY 27, 2014

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