Rose Ejembi, MakurdiRose Ejembi, Makurdi
As part of activities marking the 2018 Global Hand Washing Day, the United Nations Children Education Fund (UNICEF) has organised quiz competition in schools across the 23 local government areas of Benue State as well as in the eight internally displaced persons camps in the state.
The event which was organized with funding from Department for International Development (DFID) and tagged “Clean Hands, a Recipe for Health”, according to the representative of UNICEF, Oscar Godwin, is to further raise the awareness about the benefits of hand washing in food hygiene.
“Every child should know that before and after eating they should wash their hands well. UNICEF will be supporting the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) and Benue State Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency (BERWASSA) to hold quiz competition in schools and in the eight IDP camps in Benue after which winners would be recognised with school materials.
Godwin explained further that, “this would enable students to be better educated to know the importance of hand washing before and after meals. The target is more on children to better internalize the culture of hand washing. Target is on the children because they are the most effective agents of change.”
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Meanwhile, pupils drawn from ten primary schools in Oju local government area of the state demonstrated their intellectual understanding of the importance of hand washing in a quiz competition on Monday.
The participating school included, Ibilla Center, Ikachi, Umoda, Obusa, Ayun Center, NPS Ichakobe, Obohu, Oju Center, Ebenta, and Achimogbo Primary schools.
Declaring the event open, Education Secretary of the local government, Mr. Isaac Unegbe commended UNICEF for the audible effort of ensuring healthy living through regular hand washing even as he encouraged the pupils to date with the global handing washing to prevent diseases and ailments associated with bad hygiene.
On her part, the Quality Assurance Officer from SUBEB who was part of the monitoring team to Oju, Mrs. Janet Anmiem maintained that although, the children had already inculcated the habit of regular hand washing, this year’s event was taken a notch ahead to test their intellect about sanitation.
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“The pupils have been practicing the wash day before now but this year’s event is a little bit different because they are going to be tested intellectually based on wash. We are here to test their intellect about sanitation in order for them to maintain a healthy environment.”
Also speaking, Desk Officer (Health), Oju Local government area, Comrade Peter Ike while commending UNICEF and the state government for the program, charged health masters from various schools to ensure that the program carried out in their various schools saying sanitation breeds good health and safety.
