Worried by the alarming 20 million out-of-school children in Nigeria, the Senate on Wednesday asked the judiciary in all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, to take steps towards setting up mobile courts for the enforcement of the Universal Basic Education, UBE, Act.

This was even as the Red Chamber enjoined government, at all levels, to implement targeted intervention programmes that would address all factors militating against free access to quality and basic education, particularly multidimensional poverty and insecurity.

Similarly, the Senate mandated its Committee on Education (Basic and Secondary) to engage the Federal Ministry of Education to pay attention to the issue of out-of-school children with the ultimate goal of drastically reducing the number.

The Senate also urged the ministry and its related parastatals and agencies, like the UBE stakeholders, to come up with a new strategy to effectively deal with the problem. The Senate further asked the ministry and its allied agencies to set a time limit of two years for the diligent implementation of the UBE Act, as stipulated in Section 2(2).

These resolutions were sequel to the consideration of a motion, titled, “Compelling Need to Tackle the Challenge of Out-of-School Children in Nigeria,” sponsored by Senator Idiat Adebule (APC, Lagos West) during plenary on Wednesday.

Presenting the motion, Adebule, noted that: “[The problem] has become worrisome, given the 2022 report of the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, UNESCO, that about 20 million Nigerian children are out of school, which represents 10 per cent of the estimated Nigerian population of 200 million people and also represents the highest number of out-of-school children from any country globally.”

She said: “Though the Federal Ministry of Education has disputed the figure, it’s generally agreed that whatever the real figures, the issue of out-of-school children has become an albatross on the neck of the Nigerian State that must be dealt with as a matter of urgency.”

The lawmaker listed the social impacts of having about 20 million out-of-school children in the country to include the impediment to achieving some of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, especially Goal Four, which is to ensure inclusiveness and equitably quality education and promotion of lifelong learning opportunities for all; and providing an easy pool for recruitment into criminal gangs, banditry and terrorism, which have been the biggest issues in the country for many years.

According to her, the achievement of national economic justice and inclusiveness would further be jeopardized and many more Nigerians may become ill-equipped to climb out of the poverty bracket if the situation persists. She also mentioned gender inequality, early or child marriage and general socio-political instability as other problems that might arise from the menace.

In their contributions, senators Mohammed Monguno (APC, Borno North), Ahmad Lawan (APC, Yobe North), Adams Oshiomhole (APC, Edo North), and Simon Lalong (APC, Plateau South), described education as a vehicle to lift people out of poverty.

They lamented that lack of education remains a social problem that provides grounds for the recruitment of criminals.

On his own, the Deputy Senate President, Senator Jibrin Barau, said education is the bedrock of development, lamenting that many states in the North are the ones facing the calamity resulting from out-of-school children

While stressing the need to collectively address the menace, he affirmed that “untrained children are the ones who are now bandits, terrorists, kidnappers, etc.”

He urged every parent to take care of their children by providing education, shelter and other things that would make them succeed in life.

In his remarks, the Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio, recommended the policy he introduced as Akwa Ibom State governor for all 36 states and the FCT, whereby the Child Rights Bill was passed into law with six months imprisonment for offenders.

The law, he disclosed, covers free and compulsory education for all children of school age.

He, however, commended the Federal Government for the school feeding programme, noting that it is capable of attracting children to school.