Founder of the British charity, IA-Foundation, Mrs Ibironke Adeagbo has called on the Nigerian government to establish an agency to tackle the country’s worrisome out-of-school crisis.
Adeagbo made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday about the out-of-school crisis in the West African country, where over 20 million are currently out of school.
On Sept. 2 2022, the United Nations agency UNESCO published a damning report that 20.2 million children in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation were currently out of school.
British-born Adeagbo, who has been leading an international campaign to end the out-of-school problem in Nigeria, argues that Nigeria must think outside the box to save the future of its children.
She lamented that the country might continue to be plagued by insecurity unless the government took urgent steps to bring millions of kids roaming the streets back to classrooms.
Adeagbo said that the new government, expected to be sworn in on May 29 must be decisive in ensuring that education was given its pride of place in Nigeria.
The top British civil servant said that she was disturbed by the huge army of hopeless kids, roaming Nigerian streets from day to day to make a living instead of acquiring education.
“I think the way out is for the Federal Government to set up an agency to tackle the out-of-school problem just like the government did in setting up a commission to handle issues in Nigeria’s Niger Delta.”
Adeagbo disclosed that the Foundation had picked up about 100 children on the streets of Nigeria and ensured that they were placed in schools to acquire basic education in various states in the country.
She also expressed worry that Bayelsa in the South-South had also joined the list of states in Nigeria with a high number of out-of-school children.
The IA-Foundation Chief Executive Officer said that the organization would engage various interests in the UK to assist Nigeria in ensuring that children got access to education as and when due.
On March 18, IA-Foundation organized its 4th annual charity event in London to raise funds and create global awareness of the out-of-school crisis in Nigeria.
Top Nigerian envoys, including a former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Alhaji Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, and the Nigerian High Commissioner to the UK, Ambassador Sarafa Isola participated in the event and voiced their concerns on the out-of-school problem in the West African country.
The resource-rich nation has been grappling with various problems, including persistent insurgency which has forced many children out of school, especially in the country’s north.
The dreaded Boko Haram sect has held sway in Nigeria’s expansive north, fighting to discourage Western education, killing people and destroying learning infrastructure.
