Dapo Abiodun, Governor of Ogun State, has identified qualitative education as a means of preventing citizens from engaging in criminal activities such as banditry and kidnapping, among others.
“Education of our children is not only a parental duty, it is also a sacred one, ordained by God,” Abiodun said at the official flag-off of the National Campaign on Out-of-School Children, held at the Oba’s complex, Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta.
As a result, Abiodun urged all stakeholders in the state’s education sector to view children’s future as a collective responsibility.
“Sound education, to some extent, keeps citizens away from criminal tendencies such as banditry and kidnapping,” he said. We must all work together to ensure that more of our children attend school”.
The governor stated that well-educated citizens create economic potentials for personal growth and socioeconomic development of the community as a whole, and that the critical role of education in engendering development in all sectors of people’s social lives must be recognized.
He stated that his administration’s massive investment in the education sector was bearing fruit, claiming that the rate of school enrollment in the state increased from 1,446, 522 to 1,707,580 between 2019 and 2021.
Opiah pointed out that the country had the highest number of out-of-school children in sub Saharan Africa, saying it was imperative to find solutions to the issue. The Minister stated that the Ministry was aware of the effort of the State government in providing a conducive environment for teaching and learning, adding that it would not hesitate to exchange ideas on ways of putting an end to out-of-school children in the country.
“We are about to launch our education trust fund, which will enable us to start intervening in addition to what the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) is doing. Education is the future of any country and certainly, in Ogun State, we want to be proactive in dealing with this situation, for every child who is of school age, we must ensure that they stay in school”.
Earlier in his remarks, the Minister of State for Education, Rt. Hon. Goodluck Opiah, praised Governor Abiodun’s administration for taking giant strides to position the state in the rightful place for national and global competitiveness, noting that his efforts were highly commendable.
Opiah stated that the country had the highest number of out-of-school children in Sub-Saharan Africa, emphasizing the importance of finding solutions to the problem.
The Minister stated that the Ministry was aware of the State government’s efforts to provide a conducive environment for teaching and learning, and that the Ministry would not hesitate to exchange ideas on ways to end out-of-school children in the country.
