Out-of-school children: Nigeria risks potential criminals, reps warn

Lawmakers in the house of representatives say Nigeria is at risk of potential criminals if the issue of out-of-school children is not urgently addressed.

The lower legislative chamber dedicated Thursday’s session to a debate on how to address the problem of out-of-school children.

During his ministerial screening, Adamu Adamu, who is now the minister of education, had said there were 10 million out-of-primary-school children and 14 million when added to those out of junior secondary schools.

Following a motion introduced by Omowumi Ogunlola from Ekiti state, the house said many of the children not in school are either beggars, involved in menial jobs or are victims and perpetrators of crime.

It said the number of children out of school in Nigeria is evidence of a “national crisis of severe proportions”.

The house added that unless urgent action is taken to address the challenge, Nigeria is at risk of a “lost generation of young people”, and of “potential criminals and insurgents”.

While the debate is still ongoing, the house asked its committee on basic education find out the current number of out of school children in Nigeria and to confirm the total federal government expenditure on basic education over the last ten years.

The committee was also asked to find out the status of all ongoing capital projects by the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) across the country.