The Wife of the Enugu State Governor, Mrs Nkechinyere Mbah, has launched two major initiatives aimed at empowering, equipping, and safeguarding pupils in public primary and junior secondary schools across the state.
The initiatives  the Little Vanguard Initiative (LVI) and the Little Vanguard Movement (LVM) – were formally inaugurated on Thursday in Enugu. The programmes are being implemented through her Custos Care Foundation in collaboration with the Office of the First Lady of Enugu State.
Speaking at the launch, Mrs Mbah described both programmes as “very close to my heart” and said they represent a vision carefully nurtured to support the holistic development of children in public schools.
“For a long time, we recognised the vast potential within our public primary schools but failed to provide the tools needed to unlock them,” she noted.
She explained that the Little Vanguard Initiative is an empowerment programme designed to equip pupils with practical vocational skills such as cooking, tailoring, and basic repair work. In addition, it includes life skills training in effective communication, critical thinking, emotional intelligence, empathy, character building, and leadership development.
“By learning these skills early, we are planting seeds of entrepreneurship, creativity and self-reliance,” she said. “We understand that education goes beyond textbooks and examinations it is about preparing our children for real-life challenges and opportunities.”
On the Little Vanguard Movement, the governor’s wife said the initiative was developed in response to increasing concerns about violence and abuse affecting school-aged children.
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“This is a school-based child protection group that will turn our young vanguards into advocates and watchdogs for child safety. They will serve as the eyes, ears and voices within their schools to ensure that every child feels safe, valued and protected,” she said.
According to her, trained members of the movement will act as Behavioural Change Agents (BCAs), peer advocates, and guardians of child protection. They will be mandated to report cases of physical, emotional, sexual and psychological abuse, trafficking, bullying, exploitation, and neglect.
“Their reports will follow a specially designed protocol developed in partnership with school authorities and child protection agencies, to ensure swift and appropriate response,” she added.
Mrs Mbah called on development partners, stakeholders, and well-meaning individuals to support the two initiatives to ensure their sustainability and wider impact.
Earlier, the Programme Manager of Custos Care Foundation, Mrs Egodi Igwe, described the dual initiative as an innovative effort to promote the wellbeing, rights, and safety of children in Enugu State.
Igwe revealed that selected schools from the 17 local government areas of the state had been chosen for the pilot phase, with 680 pupils inaugurated to take part in the programme.
