During a virtual meeting organised by the Reach Out Africa Charity Initiative (ROACI), U.S.-based Atim Tolbert, a child rights’ and abuse advocate, called on the Nigerian government to provide free basic education for children; this she said will reduce the rate of poverty in the country.
Ms Tolbert, who is also a domestic violence expert, said education, being the bedrock of every nation, is capable of closing up poverty gaps and giving equal opportunities to children across every group and class.
“Education is paramount in closing poverty gaps, and a plug for social capital development. With free education, there are equal opportunities for every child, which brings about togetherness, and a peaceful co-existence.
“This automatically means all children have the same opportunities, and the poverty cycles in most families in Nigeria will drastically be reduced,” she added.
Ms Tolbert further stressed that if children can be given quality education in their early stages, most societies and communities won’t have to worry about societal vices like banditry, armed robbery, and internet crimes, amongst others.
She stated, “I am speaking from experience. In my time, the then Governor of Lagos State, Babatunde Fashola, gave us free education. We didn’t have to worry about anything; we also had food in school; everything was provided; you just go and learn.
“If we set them up in their early stages, we would have positively empowered them to channel their knowledge into good quality lifestyles and moral standards.
“I urge the government to look into some policies that would correct the menaces surrounding our children. Nigeria is our country, and we need to come back home.”
This surely is a good step towards the eradication of poverty considering that in some developed countries, children, especially indigenous children, receive free education at their early stages. That also used to be the case with some previous administrations in the nation: the government provided free education for the children up unto the Tertiary level. The late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, buying rhe proposal, which came through the late Prof. Stephen Awokoya, introduced the free education Policy in Nigeria.
However, decades down the line, the policy was technically overturned. Hopefully, the Nigerian government will consider this recommendation,and have a review.
