Rep. Bamidele Salam (PDP-Osun) has tasked the Federal Government to put in place necessary security measures to ensure adequate security for students in schools across the country.
Salam, also the Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Public Accounts, said this at the 2023 National Children Leadership Conference to mark the 2023 Universal Children’s Day in Abuja on Monday.
He said that with the prevailing security challenge in the country, students needed extra security to be in schools in some parts of the country due to attacks by bandits, insurgents and other criminal elements.
He said that lack of adequate security in schools had led to an increase in the number of out-of-school children in the country.
“It is not a cheering news that Africa’s largest economy, the biggest nation in the black world has a number of out-of-school children that is the most in all the countries of the world,” he said.
He said Nigeria had 13.5 million out-of-school children, adding that no nation would attain development and growth with this number of children out of school.
“We should be able to proffer solutions to this problem in a manner that will be sustainable to ensure that all stakeholders, government, civil societies , communities and religious bodies to put hands together to make sure that we take off the children from the streets,” he said.
He said lack of access to education remained the major cause of poverty and underdevelopment in any country.
The event was organised by Children of Africa Leadership and Values Development Initiative (CALDEV) with the theme “Rebuilding Nigerian Through Investment In Children’s Education, Welfare And Security”.
