Out of school children now a national task

Sir: It is doubtful if most Nigerian citizens give any thought to the issue of soaring number of out-of-school children, or whether it ever occurs to them that the issue is now a national task in which all well-meaning people must get involved. Every now and then, the sordid picture of how terrible the issue has become crops up, and it’s just as if everyone just views the news and then moves on as if it’s none of their business.

The reality of the situation however is that unless everyone starts to show genuine concern on the issue, it portends a clear future disaster and it’s not different from sleeping with a fire over one’s roof. Since the Nigerian government is already famous for his paper allocations without any real allocations which explains why almost every segment is comatose, what Nigerians especially those in their own houses and have little capacity need to do now is to pick at least one indigent child off the street by ensuring that they enroll in a school and are well accommodated.

Education solves a wide range of problems and denying it to anyone is a great disservice to humanity. With little assistance here and there, and the participation of many people, the narrative will soon begin to change, and Nigeria will be the better for it.

Religious bodies and organizations are also not let out since they are known to have more capacities for such venture than single individuals. Out of school children are those children found along the streets or market areas engaged in some economic activities or just walking aimlessly about at the time they ought to be in school. Since their population is estimated at about twenty million, the important step to take is that only about twenty millions volunteers are needed in a population estimate of more than two hundred million.

It is therefore a task that is actually achievable in a bid to rescue Nigeria from the time bomb that the out of school children represents. Let us therefore search them out and send them back to school
• Jide Oyewusi is the coordinator of Ethics Watch International, Lagos