By Emeka Ejere

The federal government has established a direct link between giving the Nigerian children access to quality education and the future prosperity of the nation, regretting that a large number of the children are at risk of deprivations of basic social amenities.

Olumide Osanyinpeju, deputy director and head, Child Rights Information Bureau at the federal ministry of information and culture, made the observation at an on-going two-day media dialogue to promote equity in education for children, holding in Kano.

The event is organized by the Child Rights Information Bureau, CRIB, of the federal ministry of information and culture in collaboration with the United Nations Fund for Children, UNICEF.

Osanyinpeju said there is growing evidence that investing in education and protection of the most disadvantaged and vulnerable children and addressing educational inequality would guarantee sustained growth and stability of any nation.

According to him, there is need to integrate children, especially those in difficult terrain and other excluded children and focus on equitable distribution of opportunities now, as it is a giant stride towards the realisation of the human rights of children.

For Nigeria to attain measurable success in this regard,  it has become necessary to involve every relevant actor, including government, media, bloggers, civil society organisations, communities among others, he said.

He said, “Let me emphasise that the media, this time around the bloggers are expected to drive the campaign here, to bring to public awareness the utmost importance of education for children.

“The media may not be successful in telling people what to think, but are definitely successful in telling people what to think of.”

“I wish to commend UNICEF for their contributions, unyielding support and partnership with the federal government of Nigeria, and for the consistent effort being made to ensure the wellbeing of the Nigerian child.

“We commend UNICEF for all activities being carried out to ensure that the rights of Nigerian children are upheld through equitable distribution of opportunities, especially with regard to disadvantaged children and children who are at risk of exclusion.”

Earlier, in her welcome remarks, Eliana Drakopoulos, chief of communication at UNICEF, commended the participants for their presence and interest, urging them to work diligently as partners in achieving the lofty objective of securing a good future for the children and Nigeria at large.

It is in the public domain that about 10.5 million Nigerian children are out of school due to poverty, ignorance, culture, religion and other primordial reasons.

– Oct. 30, 2018 @ 12:19 GMT |