Stakeholders in the Oshodi area of Lagos State have sensitized students in the area on the need to be security conscious and shun all acts of lawlessness and immorality that could jeopardize their future.
This was at the Education Summit tagged, “Re-engineering Nigeria Educational Sector to Combat Security Challenge” organised by the Muslim Students’ Society of Nigeria (MSSN), Oshodi Area Council, at the weekend.
The summit had in attendance representatives of all security agencies, including the Lagos State Neighbourhood Safety Corps (LSNSC), and religious and community leaders.
The gathering, which took place at Oshodi Grammar School, was held for secondary school students with a view to sensitising them against vices while they are young.
The president of the MSSN in Oshodi, Engineer Abdulrauf Badru, said the summit was aimed at cross-fertilising ideas on how to further enhance security in all schools in Lagos, bearing in mind the recent kidnap of some school students.
Badru decried the increasing number of secondary school students being initiated into cultism, coupled with what he called the “alarming trend of drug abuse among young Lagosians.”
He said, “What is the essence of building a greater Lagos when those who hold the key to its future are immersed in cultism, drug abuse and other social vices?”
“This is why the Muslim Students Society of Nigeria, Oshodi Area Council, believes now is the time for all to join hands in tackling this menace for our collective future.”
According to him, bringing members of the community together to a roundtable would go a long way in unearthing those luring and initiating young students into cultism since, he argued, they live within the community.
“We must, therefore, carefully watch and report every odd activity in our neighbourhood to the appropriate authorities. Let me acknowledge the efforts of the Lagos State Government at improving security in all schools,” he said.
Also at the seminar was a life coach, Barrister Davies Abdullahi, who challenged the students to be agents of positive change in the society and shun all forms of activities he said were inimical to their future aspirations.