A young writer and aspiring author, Miss Mercy Nmachukwu Mere has called on President Goodluck Jonathan to consider the plights of talented children whose talents may die because of lack of inspiration in Niger Delta region.
She pleaded with the President to set machinery in place to identify such talents in order to award scholarships and provide other incentives to them.
The Imo State-born Mere made the call shortly after her nomination, along with two others, to represent the African Youths for Democratic Movement in the forthcoming children writing contest in Ghana.
The 11-year-old Mere, who presented her previous works, which mostly dwelled on kids upbringing, got the nods of the judges for the contest.
Speaking with Niger Delta Report after her nomination at MicDon Hotel Port Harcourt, the JSS-2 student of Randolph Secondary Port Harcourt, was ecstatic. She said she did not expect to be nominated considering her background and the works of other children.
She said something urgent must be done by the government to ensure that young talents were not allowed to go to waste on the street, adding that 90 per cent of children of the poor have no confidence of becoming something in future.
"I have an unpublished work entitled: The future of the Nigerian Kid. We are suffering; the government should come to our aid. I want the President to award scholarship to talented children in Niger Delta.
"Nigerian children are happy that our father is the president of this country; we want the wife of the President who is our mother to push our problem before the president and if possible add it during his independence speech.
"I am very happy today for being nominated among 55 children who came to this programme. It is a great privilege and an opportunity to thank my parents. I want to, especially, thank AYDM for sponsoring this event and I promise to represent Niger Delta very well."
Some of her unpublished works include: The Reward of Good and Evil; Nkechi and Her Wicked Life; The Kind Princess and Bad Mother, which was well-received by the guests.
