Nigerian Senate has resolved to hold a national summit aimed at tackling the increasing issue of out-of-school children in the country.
Gatekeepers News reports that this resolution came on Tuesday following a report presented by Lawal Usman, the chair of the committee on basic and secondary education.
According to a 2022 report from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), Nigeria has the highest number of out-of-school children globally, with an alarming figure of 20 million.
In his presentation, Lawal emphasised the urgent need for collaborative efforts between federal and state governments to effectively address this crisis.
Senator Solomon Olamilekan, representing Ogun West, echoed these concerns, highlighting that state governments have not done enough to confront this significant challenge.
“The federal government is doing a lot on universal basic education, but the sub-nationals are not providing their counterpart funds,” he said.
“It is a menace we need to tackle but we need to do more at the sub-national level.
“We should not put all the problems on the doorstep of the federal government.”
On his part, Barau Jibrin, deputy senate president, said stakeholders should come together in addressing the challenge.
“This is a ticking time bomb and when it explodes it will consume us, especially the northern part of this country,” he said.
“Islam does not allow the roaming of children on the streets. Reorientation needs to commence immediately. Stakeholders should sit down and find solutions.”
Adamu Aliero, senator representing Kebbi north, said there should be a national conference where the federal government could engage with sub-nationals in looking for lasting solutions to the problem.
“Nigeria is the only country in the world where we have over 20 million out-of-school children. I agree there should be a national conference on it,” Aliero said.
The report was adopted after it was put to a vote by Senate President Godswill Akpabio.
