Michael Olugbode in Maiduguri
One hundred and fifty-four students orphaned by Boko Haram have graduated from a Special Learning Centre in Maiduguri.
The students were trained in areas like coding and artificial intelligence towards advancing their education.
President Muhammadu Buhari inaugurated the Learning Centre Maiduguri in April 2019.
The North-East Children Trust Fund manages the school. The federal government recently set it up to cater for vulnerable kids.
Officials at the school said the learning facility is “to create an ecosystem for homeless children orphaned by the conflict in the Northeast of Nigeria that will echo the lives of a normal child growing and thriving in a family.”
The centre, which comprises a nursery, primary and secondary sections, currently has 525 vulnerable children who are mostly orphans from Borno, Adamawa and Yobe States in the troubled Northeast region.
Executive Secretary and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Trust, Mariam Masha, speaking during the graduation, said the centre has 337 boys and 188 girls.
The centre currently has 472 pupils at the primary level and 26 at the secondary level.
The 154 pupils advancing to secondary school took lessons in coding and programming and web design and programming.
The highlight of the graduation ceremony was the demonstration of robotics, coding, and Artificial Intelligence by the pupils.
Masha, who commended the students for learning so fast in a short time, said, “the learning centre is more than just a school.”
She said the centre was “a place to nurture, empower and renew our children and I believe right here before us, is proof that the North-East Children’s Trust can deliver on that mandate.”
She said at TLC, the teachers and caregivers serve “are not just knowledge transfer instructors but are facilitators of knowledge.”
“They have supported your learning and growth in very innovative ways, which have unbundled the uniqueness in every one of you,” she added.
Vice-chairman of the centre, Prof. Hauwa Biu, called on the pupils “not to forget all the lessons you have learnt at the centre.”
Biu further stated, “As you resume secondary school, make sure you take care of each other. Always remember that you are part of a large family and network of people who invested in your growth and success and are always willing and ready to support you.”
The Borno government said it had an official figure of over 54,000 children orphaned in the over 12 years of the ongoing Boko Haram insurgency.
