20m out-of-School children: Another ‘B’Haram’ looms – Obasanjo

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo declared yesterday that Nigeria's 20 million out-of-school children was another Boko Haram waiting to happen, if they were not put back in school urgently.

He said the number constituted 10 per cent of the country's population which should not be ignored.

Obasanjo, who spoke as a panelist at the National Summit on Tertiary Education Reform, with the theme, "Re-imagining Tertiary Education in Nigeria: Issues, Challenges and Solutions,'' in Abuja, said: "The greatest resources we have in this country are the people. How many are we today? We are about 216 million and that is a great resource. 

''Tertiary education is very important but education, particularly education that has left 20 million of our children out of school and those twenty million have no access to education. ''They cannot be effectively part of nation building because they have not had the opportunity to develop their innate capacity to the extent that they can be useful to themselves, to their families and to their community, let alone their nation, let alone Africa.

''Now, tertiary education is important and my emphasis is on education properly, because the five points I have taken from your speech are zeroed on education in general, although we have the issue of ASUU and the government.  That would be unending. 

''In my time, we had it. And if any government had done anything for ASUU, my government did. They all started buying cars and building houses. Even primary school teachers were buying cars. But we must find a solution.

"So, what are the issues? The issues to me are that we are cutting more than we can chew. Who is looking at our population ahead of time, five years from now and ten years from now, and what can we do about it? 

''Apart from food, which is very important, who are the people thinking about that and working on that. After food and health, the next important aspect of our life is education. Now, if this is the position and these are rights that we must have, what do we do?  We know that if we continue the way we are going, by the year 2030, 2040, 2050, what would our population be?. We have to think about it and how we would sort it out.

"I believe, that you ask where did we miss the road? We missed the road when the whole world is talking of free education. Education for all. And we did not follow that. It was bad news. 

''Today, we have 20 million out-of-school children, almost 10 per cent of the population. We continue to miss and we are still missing. That is a very bad one. Can we do anything about it? I believe we can. 

''Those 20 million children that are out of school, we can get them back to school. If we do not get them back to school, we are preparing for Boko Haram of tomorrow. It will happen as sure as daylight. 

''What can we do? Where are these 20 million children? Where are they located? Can we have schools in the morning and afternoon to get them in, at least, for six years. In the period of six years where this is happening, we would prepare for the transition from primary school to secondary school. 

''Iif we are able to do that, we have started the process of lifting education, an instrument of nation building.''

Also speaking, the Minister of State for Education, Goodluck Nana Opia, said increasing population was affecting the funding of education, adding that universities had misused their autonomy.

He said: "Tertiary Education Trust Fund, TEFUND, had released over N2.3 trillion to the various institutions to create more infrastructure, support research and improve documentation but with the increasing population, there was not much impact.

"On behalf of the Federal Ministry of Education,  I extend all my sincere appreciation to the the Speaker, House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabimila and his team for passionately intervening in the face- off with ASUU and organising this summit which I believe is a continuation of the speaker's commitment to ensure that the legislature contributes to creating stable environment for our tertiary education sector.

"As more universities were established to improve our access to the growing population, the dwindling economic realities made it difficult for government to sustain the adequate funding, to maintain the quality of teaching and learning, infrastructure as well as maintain the structures necessary for attracting global talents needed to sustain intellectualism.''

In his address, speaker of the House and chief host, Femi Gbajabiamila, cautioned that if the right measures were not taken, there might be another ASUU strikes.

He said:  "For eight months this year, students of federal tertiary institutions sat at home due to a litany of unresolved issues between the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, and the Federal Government of Nigeria.

''These university strikes are almost perennial and preceded this government.  The recent one was not the first and may not be the last unless we are determined to make it so.  The end of the strike was a relief to all; it meant the resumption of academic activities and a return to routine for students.

''However, the end of the strike did not mean all the issues of funding, education standard, and student and staff welfare had been resolved.  At the time, I called for the government, universities, unions, and citizens to see the moment as an opportunity to begin the critical conversation about the future of public tertiary education in the country.

"This National Summit on Tertiary Education Reform (NSTER) is the manifestation of our commitment in the 9th House of Representatives to engender a national conversation to consider bold ideas and radical innovations to restructure and reform public tertiary education in Nigeria.

''How do we ensure that every child born in Nigeria in this generation and hereafter can compete favourably in an ever-changing world?  This is the defining issue of our age,” the Speaker asked.

Culled from Vanguard