A former Kwara state governorship aspirant, Pastor Engineer Sunday Adebayo Babalola, has urged the Federal Government to give education a sufficient share of N47.9trn 2025 budget.
He added that the 20 million estimated for the number of out-of-school children in Nigeria by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is an unpleasant development.
In his goodwill message while receiving an award as The Outstanding Philanthropist 2024 by The Progressive Magazine in Abuja, Babalola said that all tiers of government, corporate organizations, donor agencies and other philanthropists should be committed to reducing the number of out-of-school children in Nigeria.
Stating that the menace posed security and developmental challenges, he added that it became more heartbreaking when considering that the out-of-school children in Nigeria, about 10.5 million of them, aged 5-14 years are not in school as recorded by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in 2020.
He said that the situation presents a breeding ground for more insecurity in the country.
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“It is debilitating that Nigeria has the highest number of out-of-school children in the world, making up one in five of the world’s out-of-school children and that the situation is particularly challenging in the North of the country, where the net attendance rate is only 53%.
“There must be concerted and collaborative efforts to address this ugly development as education is the bedrock of societal development and no country can develop without functional, efficient, quality and accessible education.
“I call on the three tiers of government as well as corporate organisations, donor agencies and philanthropists to be more committed to educational advancement in Nigeria.
“We should address poor remuneration of educational staff and personnel as well as insufficient instructional and learning materials in the schools/institutions.
“Some pupils and students still study under dilapidated environments, even under shades. Such must not be allowed to continue to exist in this nation.
“May I call on the federal government, the National Assembly, the 36 states in the country, the federal capital territory and the 774 local governments in the country to provide more budgetary allocations to the education sector.
“I particularly call on the National Assembly to ensure that sufficient budgetary allocation is accorded to the education sector in the N47.9 trillion budget of the federal government for 2025”.
Also speaking, the Editor-In-Chief, The Progressive Magazine, Idris Jibril, called for reawakening of reading culture among Nigerian youths.
He said that reading is essential for societal development.
“If we look clearly at our demography in Nigeria, our median age is roughly 17. We are a young population. Most of these young populations are GenZ.
“They do not read papers. They read from their phones. How do we bring these people on board to read? That is what started the online platform where we dish out news that will be appealing to this particular generation”.
Other award winners included: Dr. Fatima Zanna Gana; Queen Halima Adenike Tejuosho; Hajiya Ummusalma Isiaka Rabiu; and Dr. Bello Buhari Ibrahim. The event also featured presentation of prices to the winners of Seyi Tinubu National Essay competition.
Successful pupils and students who participated during the October 2024 essay competition received awards. N500,000 price was announced for the winner: Miss Maryam Bashir of University of Abuja; N300,000 for first runner-up, Miss Happiness David from Akwa Ibom and N200,000 for the second runner-up, Mr. Segun Adeleye from Lagos.
NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
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