By: Odeh Favour
The presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi, has decried the state of basic education in the country, emphasizing that education remains the ultimate cornerstone for sustainable national growth and development.
Speaking through a statement posted on his official X account while marking the International Day of Rural Women, Obi shared his shock after encountering several school-age children wandering around markets during official school hours.
The former Anambra State governor noted that during his visit to Sheda and Sheda Galadima communities located within the Kwali Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), he discovered that the children were out of school due to an ongoing industrial action by public school teachers.
Obi insisted that the rising tide of poverty across Nigeria is directly linked to prolonged neglect and inadequate investments in foundational sectors such as education and healthcare.
Highlighting the urgent need for a paradigm shift in national priorities, the politician urged government bodies and relevant stakeholders to immediately address the strike and return public school pupils in the nation’s capital back to their classrooms.
“Education remains the most important tool for development and nation-building. It has been proven that the more educated a nation is, the better it develops. It has also been proven that the developing and developed nations of today are those that have invested in education, healthcare and pulling people out of poverty,” Obi stated.
“Nigeria’s increasing poverty remains a consequence of not investing adequately in critical areas of development, especially education,” he said.
Recounting his experience during the field visit, he wrote: “Today, while observing the International Day of Rural Women, I visited Sheda and Sheda Galadima, in Kwali Area Council of FCT, where I was surprised to see a huge number of school-age children in the market environs on a school day”.
“In my conversation with the children, I was deeply shocked to learn that they had been at home for over two weeks due to the teachers’ strike,” Obi revealed.
Critiquing the current political landscape, he added: “So, while we are busy inaugurating campaign councils with pomp and pageantry and declaring economic miracles, our young children of school age are loitering in the streets because of a strike, in a nation with already over 18 million out-of-school children”.
“It is time to put our children and the future of our country back at the centre of governance and government decisions. Under our leadership, investment in health and education, as well as pulling people out of poverty, will be our priorities,” he affirmed.
Demanding immediate political action from responsible institutions, he noted: “The relevant authorities should immediately ensure that our children in public schools return to school in the FCT”.
