UK urges Tinubu to invest N500b monthly savings in social programmes
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Invest money saved from the removal of fuel subsidy in education and other social programmes to uplift the lives of citizens, the United Kingdom has implored Bola Tinubu.
The President announced last week N1 trillion had been saved since the removal of fuel subsidy on May 29, translating to N500 billion savings a month.
UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) representative, Ian Attfield, made the plea in Abuja at the end of the Inclusive Education project In Nigeria – Supporting Mainstreaming Inclusion so all can Learn Equally (SMILE).
“For the next five years or so, I’m certain we won’t be having discussions about how we can mainstream some of the inclusive education elements.
“There are many major economic changes taking place, such as the changes in fuel subsidy. It should start being deployed to support the human development of Nigeria to build education and services, among other things, that young people need,” Attfield said.
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Importance of inclusive education policy
Sunday Isiyaku, Country Director of Sightsavers Nigeria, a nonprofit, stressed at the event that inclusive education is the bedrock of national development, per reporting by Vanguard.
He urged government at all levels and communities to ensure children with disabilities are included in planning education and future prospects.
In his view, inclusive education helps develop human capital, and the positive impact on children with disabilities and their families cannot be overemphasised, because it is a powerful tool for sustainable development.
Taking the process forward
“We have trained many people, we have so many champions now that could take this process forward in different places in Nigeria and that is our dream and our hope,” stressed Liesbeth Roolvink, Sightsavers Global Team Inclusive Education Technical Director.
Jake Epelle, Chief Executive Officer and Founder, TAF Africa and Convener, Disability Inclusion Nigeria, one of the panelists at the event, stressed the need for awareness creation and funding.
He also advocated for a holistic education policy that jettisons the idea of special schools for persons with disability and emphasises school premises that would impact them positively and make it easy for them to integrate into society.
“When it comes to inclusive education, there is the need to increase the awareness because it is not many people that know about it. Many parents, especially parents of persons with disability, are hiding their children at home,” Epelle said.
“How do we go to them to ensure that they are aware that these children they are hiding in their homes need education?”
Special schools do not make the desired impact on the education of children with disabilities, he added, because the children find it difficult to integrate into society.