The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Youth and Gender Issues, Dr. Peter Osagie has said that the ministry will only deal with Clubs, Non Governmental Organizations , NGO’s and Associations that are registered.
The PS who disclosed this during a visit by the members of Teenage Care Centre International to the Ministry noted that before they can be recognized as a stakeholder with the government they should have done the minimum of fulfilling the requirement of registration.
According to him,” the ministry has laws that guide and resolve issues, such as the Violence against Persons law which is very important. If you do not know about the law, you will not be able to solve those problems of children , both the boys and girls.
“We also have the Childs Rights law. There is so much you can do if you continue to collaborate with the Ministry. We want to see more in your referral system which needs to be stronger.
“ Since you deal with children and teenagers you were suppose to register with the Ministry of Social Development and Gender Issues then, but the Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki has just saved you because the Ministry you registered with is now with the Ministry you should have registered with.
“As a result of that we can say go and sin no more, because in the wisdom of the transformation office, the two Ministries have been put together which now gives you a one stop opportunity instead of having distraction where to go for registration. If it was still Ministry of Youth and Humanitarian, your visit would not have been effective,” he added.
The Permanent Secretary advised them to improve their scope of collaboration to be able to get donors for their activities and to always have evidence of their activities
“We have eighteen local governments and there are people within your age bracket that the government want to reach as much as possible. Our objective is to bring the next generation to a position where they will be self reliant and self assured. We do not want to build the next generation with so much uncertainties around them,” he noted.
The Director of Gender Issues, Mrs. Joy Ihensekhien commended the Teenage Care Centre led by the founder, Comrade Prescious Oghafua for coming to the Ministry noting that as a government not much can be achieved alone that is why the Ministry need such collaboration.
“But going forward, always invite the Ministry when you are embarking on your programmes and activities and report to us on a quarterly basis. We need pictorial evidence of what you are doing in your report. Since you are just two years old spread out to other local governments and seek for donors,” she advised.
The founder of Teenage Care Center Int. Comrade Precious Oghafua earlier disclosed that the NGO was founded two years ago dealing with teenagers with the aim of teaching and helping them achieve their dreams in life.
“We help them build their confidence, teach them skills that will empower them, build leadership qualities in them and we have been doing all this because of the passion that we have for the teenagers,” she added.
