By Angela Onwuzoo
Over 2,000 Nigerian youths drawn from across 10 states in the country including the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, have presented petitions to their governors, parliamentarians, policymakers and other influential persons in a mass effort to draw attention to the need to act on commitments to increasing access to safe and quality education for all children in Nigeria, especially girls.
The petitions seek to secure commitments from national and state governments to prioritise children’s rights to education in their governance agenda, including through budgeting, in their states and at the national level.
The action, supported by UNICEF, comes as the world celebrates the Day of the African Child, commemorating the day in 1976 that hundreds of students were shot in Soweto, South Africa, while demonstrating for their right to quality education.
According to a statement from UNICEF on Sunday, the Nigerian campaign for access to quality education will hold the newly-elected government officials at all levels accountable for their campaign promises to provide equitable access to free, safe and quality education for every child, especially the girl child, in Nigeria.
The 10 states participating in the mass actions are Bauchi, Niger, Katsina, Kano, Sokoto, Zamfara, Kebbi, Gombe, Adamawa, Taraba and the FCT, which UNICEF said have about eight million children out of school children and an average enrolment rate of only 57 per cent.
The global theme for this year’s Day of the African Child, marked every June 16 is : “Child Rights in all situations, including during humanitarian crises.”
Demanding that urgent attention be paid to girl-child education, UNICEF in the statement expressed worry that in Nigeria today, over 10.5 millions children were unable to access safe and quality education, including due to the ongoing crisis in the north-east, which had left schools destroyed, teachers unavailable, and parents terrified to send their children to school due to insecurity – especially for girl children, who have been the victim of kidnapping while at school.
Available report shows that the security situation in the North has in the recent years worsened the plight of the failing education sector in the region.
Evidence further shows that insecurity in some parts of the north is now a threat to girl-child education as some parents are scared of enrolling their female children in school and some who were already in school have been withdrawn.
This, UNICEF says is gradually hampering its efforts to promote and encourage girl-child education in the North.
UNICEF Representative in Nigeria, Peter Kawkins, in the statement said: “Schools should be a safe place for children – one in which they can get a quality education that will put them on the path to a secure future.
“Sadly, the demand for quality education by children in Soweto, South Africa in 1976, is still valid today, in too many countries around the world. The youth actions we are seeing today across several states is a wakeup call for leaders to act on their commitments to provide quality education for all children, in all situations.
“This engagement creates an opportunity for Nigerian youth to advocate to policy and decision makers and urge them to commit resources to education, without which the substantial number of out-of-school children in Nigeria will not be reduced.”
The action of the 2000 youths is calling for improved school infrastructure, a massive enrolment campaign to bring all children to school, and targeted investments to ensure an uninterrupted 12 years of schooling for girls.
In addition, it hopes to extract a commitment for a 10% increase in budgetary allocation and release of funds for education, with 50 percent of the total budget to basic education, recruitment, deployment and provision of incentives for 1000 female teachers per year and recruitment and deployment of 1000 qualified teachers per year, especially to rural areas, where they are most needed.
According to the statement, the action comes as the world celebrates the 30thanniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child .
The Convention is the most widely-ratified human rights treaty in history, and stipulates that every child has the right to education. It has helped to transform children’s lives; inspiring legislative changes to protect children and enabling them to participate actively in their societies. Nigeria ratifified the CRC in 1991.
As part of the commemoration, the statement says UNICEF has released a “Passport to Your Rights” – a copy of the CRC in child-friendly language, in pocket format.
UNICEF aims that every child in Nigeria has a copy by 2030 – the deadline for achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.
The CRC ‘passport’ is also available in Hausa, Igbo, Yoruba and Pidgin languages, helping to ensure access by millions of Nigerians.
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