At least 50 orphans and vulnerable children are to benefit from the 2021 American University of Nigeria (AUN)’s Feed and Read programme.
The programme is sponsored by the university in collaboration with Friends of Nigeria, Adamawa State government and the Atiku Institute for Development.
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AUN President Dawn Dekle said the beneficiaries would be made up of 30 vulnerable girls and 25 boys.
She explained that in 2015, the Irish government granted the university $20,000 to support a Feed and Read programme for girls, as young girls who had also lost their parents were increasingly seen begging on Yola’s streets.
According to her, the university has struggled to support the young girls, but that more than 100 showed up daily for food and learning.
The Head of Atiku Centre and Administrator of Grants, Audu Liman, said the idea of learning by providing food to vulnerable children was to encourage them to come and study.
The proprietress of AUN Primary and Secondary School, Hajiya Ladi Atiku, said the programme was halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Free uniforms, school bags and books were given to the beneficiaries whose further education Hajiya Ladi promised to sponsor if they performed well in the programme.
A sum of N500,000 was donated to the vulnerable kids by the President of North-East Commodity Association, Sadiq Daware.
A parent, Malama Maimuna Lawal, applauded AUN’s effort to enrol her child, Halima Aminu, who was kicked out of a private school after the death of her father.
