Teens Go For Gold Network (TGFGN), a learning community platform focused on engaging young people, has launched a new peace education manual titled Kojo and Friends to encourage peaceful coexistence among children and teenagers.

The unveiling ceremony took place at Eridan Spaces in Ikeja, Lagos, attracting more than 150 pupils from St. Francis Primary School, St. Agnes Primary School and Maryland Primary School, all located in Lagos State.

The event also featured education experts and stakeholders who participated in a panel discussion on practical ways children can promote peace within their communities. Representing the Executive Chairman of the Lagos State Universal Basic Education Board (LASUBEB), Dr. Hakeem Babatunde Shittu, Hon. Toroti Akin-Taylor delivered the keynote address.

Panelists included TGFGN Project Manager, Obisesan Tioluwanimi; Founder of Dreamsted School, Amb. Success; TGFGN Board Member, Dolapo Osuntuyi; LASUBEB Board Member, Mr. Ayo Omotola; and other education advocates.

Speaking at the event, TGFGN Founder, Dr. Pelumi Obisesan-Aina, said Nigeria’s growing security challenges make it necessary to instill values of peace in children from an early age.

According to her, young people possess enormous potential to drive positive transformation if they are equipped with the right values and guided toward peaceful living.

She explained that the decision to produce a peace education manual for children was influenced by the widespread security concerns affecting every geopolitical zone of the country.

Dr. Obisesan-Aina also pointed to the recent abduction of children, pupils and teachers in Oyo as one of the reasons peace education should become part of children’s learning experience, helping them develop values that encourage harmony and contribute to addressing insecurity.

“Peace education provides children with the values and comportment they need to foster a peaceful world. People want to go to school but not if they have to worry about being kidnapped. Insecurity affects how young people learn, the way they know the world and the way they evolve in it,” she said.

Designed as a storybook, Kojo and Friends follows the experiences of four young teenagers growing up in Lagos who are divided by ethnicity, language, religion and politics. TGFGN noted that the manual is particularly relevant as presidential elections approach, given the divisions that differences in ethnicity, language and religion can create, even among young people.

Reflecting on the organisation’s journey, Dr. Obisesan-Aina recalled founding Teens Go For Gold Network at the age of 19. Since then, she said the organisation has directly trained more than 15,000 young people in vocational skills, skill acquisition, business education and financial education.

” and here we are today because of that 19-year-old who only decided to rekindle the positive fire in her heart to make a difference. It’s amazing what children can do if they are educated on the importance of peace, this is why we are making this unveil”.

In his keynote address, Hon. Toroti Akin-Taylor described the peace manual as an important investment in the future of Nigeria’s young people.

“We are grateful to the Lagos State Government for endorsing this work and for its steady commitment to young people. That endorsement consolidates our belief that when you invest in young people, you invest in a more peaceful future for everyone. “And to our students, you are the reason we are all in this room.

We hope you take these lessons and run with them. Be curious. Ask the hard questions, even the ones that make your teachers pause. Today and the future belong to young people, who choose to lead with empathy, settle conflicts without fists or fear, and inspire the change they want to see,” he said.

Some of the pupils who attended the event also shared their thoughts with Sunday Telegraph. Ochulor Precious of Dreamsted School, Ajegunle, and Mathias Ogunsami of St. Agnes Primary School, Maryland, said they had learned that while Nigeria possesses strength, the country needs peace more than any other resource. They added that they intended to apply the lessons learned, beginning from their homes and extending to their communities.

Source: New Telegraph