Guardian

A HUMAN rights advocate, Dr. Otive Igbuzor, has said that about 10 million Nigerian children of school age are out of school. This trend, he said, must be addressed for Nigeria to attain its full potential in terms of development.He also canvassed for an increase in the funding of public schools to enable Nigeria curb the increasing challenges of poverty and illiteracy in the country.

Dr. Igbuzor stated this in Abuja at the sixth anniversary and award of scholarships to some less privileged children by Emoeferotu Foundation.

He said that successive governments in the country had not done much to give education the priority it deserves, as a key factor in measuring real development. Igbuzor, who blamed the increasing rate of poverty in country on lack of access to quality education and bad leadership, emphasized the need for increase in girl child education, which he said is key to curbing child and maternal mortality in the country.

‘‘Education is a key factor for measuring development. The right to education is an enabling right for every child. There is correlation between education and health. So, the more educated a person is, the higher the possibility for him to have a better health. Also there is a correlation between education and maternal mortality rate. If a woman is educated, the possibility of dying from avoidable death is reduced. That is why girl child education must be encouraged,’’ he said.

The Foundation was set up in 2007 to uplift underprivileged rural and semi-urban children to enable them contribute positively to their families, communities and the nation at large.