Mr Peter Obi, the Labour Party, LP's presidential candidate, has reaffirmed his commitment to ensuring that the education sector in the "New Nigeria" receives the substantial financing it needs to constructively transform the country.
His message included a resolution to observe International Literacy Day in 2022. He remained steadfast in his opinion that education is a vital component of any country's prosperity and that it is still the best investment any country can make in its people.
“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 per cent 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 fund our schools and educational institutions, with a view to building a very productive education sector that our nation deserves,” Obi said.
He remarked that in addition to inadequate funding, Nigeria's education system has long been plagued by a high degree of insecurity and weak governance. He emphasised how many areas of the nation have permanently closed their schools as a result of the severe security risks present there.
“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.
Every year on September 8th, people around the world commemorate International Literacy Day.