Nigerian NGO empowers pupils in schools on financial literacy

Junior Achievement Nigeria (JAN), an NGO, on Wednesday trained young pupils, especially girls, from four schools in Victoria Island, Lagos, on the importance of financial literacy.

Simi Nwogugu, JAN executive director, told the News Agency of Nigeria, (NAN) that the workshop was to celebrate International Women’s Day.

NAN reports that the schools were the Federal Housing Primary School, Awoyaya Primary School, Ansarudeen Primary School and Victoria Island Primary School.

Nwogugu said JAN was an organisation that equipped young people between the ages of five and 27 with the necessary mindset to succeed in life.

“We educate young ones, with special emphasis on the girl-child on how to appropriately manage financial resources,” Nwogugu said. “We distribute materials to several of the pupils teaching them about the importance of saving for rainy days.”

She said more than 30 successful women, across all spheres of life, had volunteered to support the workshop as part of International Women’s Day celebrations.

“We are happy to have different successful volunteers as supporters because it is not every day these pupils get to see people that inspire them to succeed in life,” she said.

Amaka Agbakoba-Onyejianya, an entrepreneur, commended JAN for the initiative, saying “a lot of people do not know how to spend within their means of income”.

“Meanwhile, empowering these children with the knowledge will help them become financially independent,” she said.

Ifemena Oji, managing partner at HALDANE law firm, said that reaching out to children at this tender age on financial literacy was important.

“Aside that it establishes stability in their future, when they know how to save and account for money at this tender age, it will prepare them to handle precarious financial situations in future.

“A lot of people these days live from hand to mouth because they don’t know how to manage their salaries properly,” she said. “So, we are trying to make sure this is not the case for the future generations.”

JAN is part of Junior Achievement Worldwide (JAWW) and has reached over 660 000 students in over 750 schools in 29 locations across the country with the support of over 2 000 volunteers and teachers.

– African News Agency- News Agency of Nigeria

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