Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party for the 2023 election, Mr Peter Obi, has restated his resolve to ensure that the education sector in the ‘New Nigeria’ receives the robust funding it needs to productively transform the nation.
This resolution was revealed in his message to mark the International Literacy Day 2022. He maintained his unwavering belief in education as a critical contributor to the development of any nation, noting that education remains the best investment any nation can make for its citizens.
“In rescuing our nation from the doldrums, we will give education the priority attention it deserves, with respect to funding. We will pursue the global best practices and standards within available resources. Certainly, in the medium and long terms, 14% budgetary funding for education is within the realm of possibility.
“We will strive to be globally competitive by increasing funding and ensuring that more resources are committed to robustly funding our schools and educational institutions, with a view to building a very productive education sector that our nation deserves,” Obi said.
He regretted that in addition to poor funding, education in Nigeria has continued to be burdened by a high level of insecurity and bad governance. He pointed out that in many parts of the country, schools have been indefinitely shut down due to high security threats prevalent in the areas.
“Nigeria now has about 20 million out-of-school children, according to the latest global data on out-of-school children from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO). We cannot possibly hope to soar on the wings of progress with such a staggering army of out-of-school children roaming our streets. We must, therefore, create the enabling environment for our children to return to school, and provide wider access to education for more children, so as to escape the current crisis,” Obi submitted.
The International Literacy Day is celebrated on September 8 every year.