Education

Out of School Children to Heighten Insecurity says Obasanjo

Published

11 months ago

February 22, 2022

Former President, Olusegun Obasanjo says children out of school could become a potential security threat in the nearest future if nothing is done to restructure the educational system.

Obasanjo stated this on Monday while speaking as the Chairman of the 2022 annual lecture of the Murtala Muhammed Foundation with the theme, ‘Beyond Boko Haram: Addressing insurgency, banditry, and kidnapping across Nigeria’.

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He said, “The Nigerian population today is about 215 million and 15 million children are not in school; it doesn’t matter how we deal with insecurity, either by stick or carrot approach. Those children are the potential Boko Haram 10 years from now.

“If we don’t do anything about those children, we are already nurturing the Boko Haram of tomorrow. We need to look back and reinvent. When you look at some of the things we are doing, then you wonder why we are not succeeding. This is because we are doing the same thing all the time.

He explained that the lack of employment and access to education has fueled insecurity in the country hence poverty and illiteracy must be eradicated in the country. Obasanjo also held responsible the current insecurity on easy access to weapons.

He said: “The insecurity in the country was caused by the ease of access to weapons after the civil war, and since then, we have been unable to address the issue; it keeps getting worse.

“What I feared at that time seems to have been happening. At that time, Boko Haram had not many external connections; the ones they had were Nigerians who had resources abroad, who were helping them. My fear then was whether we would be able to keep them away from Al-Qaeda and other international terrorist organizations.’’ He lament.

Education

JAMB Registers 1.8 million Candidates, for 2022 UTME

Published

10 months ago

March 28, 2022

Gift Wada

Joint Admission and Matriculation Board, JAMB, on Sunday said a total of 1,837,011 candidates were successfully captured in the registration for the 2022 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) and Direct Entry (DE) programme

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An estimated revenue of a total of N8.6 billion was generated. Out of the lump sum, a total of 776 computer-based test centres that took part in the exercise will share an estimated amount of N1.3 billion at the rate of N700 per candidate registered by each of the centres.

The Board also pledged support for the CBT centre owners over the sudden increase in the prices of diesel and the erratic power supply suffered nationwide recently.

Education

National Association of Academic Technologists Embark on Strike

Published

10 months ago

March 21, 2022

Onyebuchi Aniekeyi

National Association of Academic Technologists Embark on Strike

Author: Ramona Salim, Abuja

Members of the National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT) have been directed to embark on a two-week warning strike with effect from today, 21st March, 2022.

The association said, the strike is as a result of the failure of the federal government to implement the 2009 agreement. This was contained in a statement signed by the NAAT President, Ibeji Nwokoma.

The association has therefore directed its members to close all laboratories, workshops, studios and farms for as long as the warning strike last. YOU CAN FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK

According to NAAT this decision follows a virtual National Executive Council meeting where 97.8 per cent of its branches voted for the strike.

The association has accused the federal government of failing to abide by the memorandum of understanding it signed with its members.

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Education

Reps Urge States to Implement UBEC, Child’s Right Acts

Published

11 months ago

March 18, 2022

Onyebuchi Aniekeyi

Reps Urge States to Implement UBEC, Child’s Right Acts

Author: Eunice Johnson, Abuja

The House of Representatives has urged the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory to implement the provisions of the Universal Basic Education Commission Act, 2004 and the Child’s Right Act, 2003.
The House urged the Minister of the FCT, Mohammed Bello, to ensure full compliance with the provisions of the UBEC Act and the Child’s Right Act in the territory, while urging the UBEC to liaise with state governments, which had adopted the Child’s Right and the UBEC Acts for the enforcement of the laws.
The motion, which was moved by a member of the House, Bamidele Salam, at the plenary on Thursday, was titled, ‘Need to reinforce the provisions of the compulsory, Free Universal Basic Education Act, 2004 in the Federal Capital Territory and other parts of the country’.

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Salam made reference to a report by the Federal Ministry of Education in 2021, which stated that the estimated number of out-of-school children in Nigeria was 10.1 million, while the United Nations Children’s Fund put the number at 13.2 million.
The lawmaker said the figure appeared to be on the increase as the ministry had stated that there had been an increase of more than three million in the figure from 2020.
“The House is worried about the report from UNICEF that Nigeria has the highest number of out-of-school children in sub-Saharan Africa and in the world,” he stated.
While citing Section 18 of the 1999 Constitution, Salam stated that Section 15 of the Child’s Right Act provided that every child had the right to free, compulsory and universal basic education, and it shall be the duty of the government in Nigeria to provide such education.
According to him, the section provides that every parent or guardian shall ensure that his or her child or ward attends and completes primary and junior secondary school education, while any parent who fails in this duty commits a punishable offence.
He noted that 27 out of the 36 states in Nigeria had adopted and domesticated the Child’s Right Act.
Salam also cited Section 2 of the UBEC Act, which provides that every government in Nigeria shall provide free, compulsory and basic education for every child of primary and junior secondary, and that every parent shall ensure that his or her child or ward attends and completes primary and junior secondary school education.
The lawmaker further stressed that Section 2(3) of the Act compelled stakeholders in education in a Local Government Area to enforce the provisions of the section, thus ensuring that every parent or person who had the care and custody of a child sent such child for primary and junior secondary school education.
Salam stated, “The House is concerned that the provisions of the UBEC Act and Child’s Rights Act are not being implemented, considering the statistics of the out-of-school children in Nigeria and the presence of children on the streets hawking, begging and undertaking all other activities during school hours in the Federal Capital Territory.
“The House is also concerned that the neglect of children puts their future and the future of Nigeria in jeopardy, as they are exposed to getting recruited into kidnapping and robbery gangs, drugs and other crimes.
“The House is worried that the number of out-of-school children in the country is on a rapid increase and no arrest of defaulting parents or guardians are being made.”