The Senate has advised Nigerian children to see education as their right and not a privilege.
The Red Chamber, which gave the appeal on Wednesday at an occasion to commemorate the 2024 Universal Children’s Day Celebration organised by its Committee on Women Affairs in Abuja, urged children to make the best out of education.
Separate speeches made at the event by many of the serving senators centred on the need for children to make education their right and not view it as a privilege since the Universal Basic Education Act 2004 made basic education free and compulsory.
The chairperson of the Senate Committee on Women Affairs, Senator Ireti Kingibe (LP, FCT), while addressing children from eight different public schools in Abuja that attended the ceremony, said: “You are the future of this country. There is no Nigeria without you and therefore, we must invest our energy, time and resources in making sure that you are the best version of yourselves through quality education because you are the ones who are going to ensure that Nigeria is great again.”
Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan (PDP Kogi Central) pointedly declared that education is the students’ right and not privilege.
“The Universal Basic Education Act, 2004 made basic education free and compulsory, which must be followed with required enforcement by government at all levels.
“It is not enough to have an Act and not follow it up with required actions, policies and programmes, some of which are the establishment of schools in all localities, employment of enough qualified and well-trained teachers, as well as the provision of basic educational materials like textbooks and digital libraries for the students,” she said.
Other senators, including Adetokunbo Abiru (APC, Lagos East), Neda Imasuen (LP, Edo South), Banigo Ipalibo (PDP, Rivers West) and Anthony Ani (APC, Ebonyi South), who gave goodwill messages at the event, dwelt on the need for children to make the best of their education and the imperative for government to provide quality education for all children.