- As AI Foundation solicits support for out-of-school children
By Adeola Ogunlade
A human rights activist, Femi Falana has said that 20.2 million children in Nigeria who are out of school is unacceptable and calls for greater investment and the government’s commitment to take out-of-school children back to school.
Falana said this at the A I-Foundation Annual Charity Event 2024 Lagos held recently at the Lagos Civic Centre, Lagos, Tagged: Panacea to a Menace
He said that the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) disclosed to our utter embarrassment as a nation that the country has not less than 20.2 million children out of school, the highest in the world. For me, it is a sad development having regard to our enormous resources.
He noted that the task before all of us is to intensify efforts to remove those children from the street and have them enroll in schools. Every state in Nigeria has enacted the child rights law, including the federal capital territory. The law provides or stipulates that every child in Nigeria shall be given free and compulsory education up to the junior secondary school level.
“The law is there and our duty as parents and journalists to ensure that the law is enforced. The disclosure that #68 billion is lying fallow in the account of Universal Basic Education (UBEC) because the state governors have refused to pay their counterpart fund to access the money to educate the children of the poor is rather unfortunate”.
Falana posited that we are compelling the state and the federal government to ensure that out-of-school children are taken out of the street. AI Foundation is alerting and challenging all of us to take the education of our children seriously, particularly the elite and rich, and if we fail to do so, the children of the poor will continue to harras us in what they are doing today in the guise of area boys and terrorists.
In her words, the Chairman, Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), Abike Dabiri-Erewa; appealed to Nigerians in the Diaspora to follow suit on what the IA-Foundation’s founder is doing for the betterment of the country.
She said the theme of the event is very apt and the timing is highly auspicious, as all hands must be on deck to offer solutions to the multitude of problems confronting the country.
According to her, this initiative is highly commendable and should be supported as a means of complementing government efforts aimed at addressing this problem and ensuring that out-of-school children have access to quality education.
Earlier, the CEO, of IA Foundation, Mrs. Ibironke Adeagbo solicited support as she believed that the children are the future of the country.
She also stated that returning them to school would alleviate poverty, reduce insecurity, and result in enhanced skills that could be used to power the economy.
According to her, the Foundation pursues an ideology where they give opportunity to all, especially those under depriving circumstances, to benefit from the potential transforming power of education.
“The situation is escalating to a dangerous position; we need to begin remedial actions.
Ibironke also said there is a need to plan and design solutions based on collaboration, create strategies, and have accurate data, noting that this led to the launch of IA-AP.