COAL Newsletter, April 2025
“I love learning and I will tell my friends to come to class so they can learn too”
— Wikki, 7-year-old learner in Bassa LGA
Wikki’s words reflect a child’s natural optimism and desire to learn, but for many children in Plateau State and across Nigeria, safety is fragile.
DearHello,
On 14th April, armed men attacked the villages of Zike and Kimakpa in Bassa LGA, killing at least 54 people. This was less than two weeks after a similar attack in Bokkos LGA claimed 52 lives. According to Amnesty International, between December 2023 and February 2024, about 1,336 people have been killed in Plateau state, displacing more than 29,000 others, many of them children who have had to abandon school.
Violence threatens not only lives but the right to education. Tragic events like these remind us that education is one of the most powerful paths to a peaceful and prosperous society, but it requires committed individuals and partners like you.
The 2025 Grassroots Accelerated Education Fund (GAEF) Is Now Open
COAL is seeking to collaborate with grassroots education changemakers to accelerate learning for vulnerable and underserved communities in Plateau State.
The GAEF micro grant offers up to ₦2 million in funding, tailored capacity-building, and ongoing support to scale impact. We believe deeply in locally-led solutions and want to partner with educators and nonprofit initiatives doing transformative work at the grassroots.
👉 Join our info session on April 26 at 10:00 AM to learn more about eligibility criteria and how to apply.
In March, we concluded the pilot of the Grassroots Accelerated Education Program with a stakeholder engagement and advocacy forum. The forum fostered commitments to advancing locally-led solutions that address formal and informal educational inequalities. See highlights below.
Leadership update
We’re excited to welcome new members to COAL’s Advisory Board. Their expertise and passion will strengthen our mission to empower communities through alternative education and creative arts.
Coming Soon: Art for Life Anthology
In collaboration with the Avoidable Death Network, University of Leicester, and SEVHAGE Literary and Development Initiative, we launched the Art for Life Campaign to mark the 2025 International Awareness Day for Avoidable Deaths (IAD4AD).
With over 100 submissions across Sub-Saharan Africa, we’re proud to announce the upcoming release of the anthology “Held Too Briefly”—a prized anthology on Avoidable Disaster Deaths. This powerful collection brings together poetry, flash fiction, and visual art, spotlighting the human stories behind public health disasters caused by drowning, maternal mortality, silicosis, and snakebite. In case you missed our winners and honourable mentions, watch highlights below.
Support our Bookstore
We’ve launched a new Instagram page for COAL’s bookstore! Please follow the page and spread the word! Every book purchase helps fund education for children in need.
👉 Follow and shop on Instagram
Thank you for standing with us in our mission to protect the right to learn even in the most difficult circumstances.
Best wishes, From all of us at COAL