Obi pledges full education funding if elected President.
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Peter Obi has reiterated his plan to prioritise and adequately fund education if elected President, to usher in his vision of a ‘New Nigeria’ in which both human and material resources are fully harnessed to build a country worth its name.
He made the pledge in a message to mark the International Literacy Day 2022, saying education is indispensable in the development of any nation and is the best investment any nation can make in 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 per cent budgetary funding for education is within the realm of possibility,” said Obi, who transformed Anambra when he was its Governor, a plank he uses in his run for the Villa.
“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.”
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Bad governance, poor funding, insecurity
Obi expressed regret that besides poor funding, education is burdened by a high level of insecurity and bad governance, per reporting by Vanguard.
In many parts of the country, he said, schools have been indefinitely shut down due to high security threats.
“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.”
The International Literacy Day is marked on 8 September every year.
