President Muhammadu Buhari has advised Nigerian parents to ensure their children are educated and not to take it as a joke.
Speaking during a panel session on Thursday at the Global Education Summit in London, he believes this is important as any child or ward who misses the opportunity of being educated has missed a lot.
The President noted that the size and population of Nigeria were challenges for any administration but despite this, the government and people realised that education was the starting point for success.
“You cannot succeed outside your educational qualification,” he was quoted as saying in a statement by Mr Femi Adesina, his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity.
President Buhari added, “Anybody who missed education has missed everything. Nigerians are acutely aware of the priority of education, and parents are making sacrifices to ensure that their children and wards get educated.”
On the panel with President Buhari were Presidents Nana Akufo-Addo of Ghana, Faure Gnassingbe of Togo, Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya, and Lazarus Chakwera of Malawi.
Each President spoke about the peculiarities of the education sector of his country, and how budgetary provisions would be increased to ameliorate the situation.
They all raised their hands as a sign of commitment to that resolution.
On Wednesday, President Muhammadu pledged to increase the budget for the education sector by as much as 50 per cent over the next two years – in a document titled, ‘Heads of State Call to Action on Education Financing Ahead of the Global Education Summit.’
In the long term, he promised that budgetary allocation to the sector would witness a progressive increase to about 100 per cent in the next four years.
“We commit to progressively increase our annual domestic education expenditure by 50% over the next two years and up to 100% by 2025 beyond the 20% global benchmark,” President Buhari had said.
He had departed Nigeria for the United Kingdom on Monday to participate in the education summit, and for a medical check-up.
