A report by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), has put the number of out of school children in Nigeria under President Muhammadu Buhari at a whopping 20.2 million.
The report published on Thursday on the website of the United Nations agency, noted that out of an estimated 244 million out-of-school children around the world, Nigeria alone accounts for over 20 million of the total, which is above 10 percent of the entire figure.
According to the figure, Nigeria has more out-of-school children than war-torn African countries like Ethiopia with 10.5 million out-of-school children, Congo with 5.9 million and drought-ravaged Kenya which has only 1.8 million out-of-school children.
An accompanying statement by UNESCO’s Director-General, Audrey Azoulay, noted that sub-Saharan Africa remains the region with the most children and youths out of school, with a total of 98 million children with Nigeria churning up about 47 percent of the figure.
“It is also the only region where this number is increasing: out-of-school rates are falling more slowly than the rate at which the school-age population is growing.
“Important data gaps have been filled in countries that have large out of school numbers but where no administrative data of good quality has been available for over a decade, such as Nigeria which has an estimated 20.2 million children and youth out of school, Ethiopia (10.5 million), the Democratic Republic of Congo (5.9 million) and Kenya (1.8 million),” the UNESCO chief said.
“In view of these results, the objective of quality education for all by 2030, set by the United Nations, risks not being achieved. We need a global mobilization to place education at the top of the international agenda,” Azoulay added.
By Isaac Dachen
Friday, September 2, 2022
More children out of school in Nigeria than in war-torn Ethiopia, Congo
Thursday, September 1, 2022
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The Nigerian government says it's deploying more security personnel to protect schools, hospitals, and infrastructure across the country. This follows a recent threat by terrorists to attack national assets and infrastructure. But experts want the government to go beyond increased deployment of troops and use other means to address the threat of terror.
Dubai's Emirates to resume Lagos flights after Nigeria releases funds
Emirates will resume some flights to Nigeria this month after the Central Bank of Nigeria released a portion funds the Dubai airline had earned in the country but had not been able to repatriate.
An airline spokesperson said flights to Lagos will resume from Sept. 11, though it is not possible to resume flights to Abuja in September because resources had already been stood down.
"We continue to engage with the Nigerian authorities to ensure the repatriation of our outstanding and future funds may continue without hindrance," the spokesperson said, welcoming what it said was the central bank's move to release a portion of its blocked funds.
The airline did not say how much money had been released or how much remained blocked.
The state-owned carrier last month announced it was suspending all flights to Nigeria from Sept. 1 after it said it had made no progress with local authorities to access its funds.
Nigeria's Central Bank later said it had released $265 million to airlines to settle outstanding ticket sales.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA), the largest airline group, had said that by July Nigeria was blocking airlines from repatriating $464 million in revenue.
By Alexander Cornwell
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Nigeria displaces South Africa as Korea’s biggest African trade partner
Nigeria has displaced South Africa as the major trading partner of the Republic of Korea on the African continent, Director, Korea-Africa Foundation, Lyeo Woon-ki has said.
Lyeo, who disclosed this in Abuja at a media parley, explained that trade between Nigeria and Korea was two billion dollars in 2021 but that the present figures indicate that the trade volume for 2022 has reached over $1.5 billion as of June this year which surpasses the trade volume between Korea and South Africa.
“The trade volume between Nigeria and Korea is bigger than between Korea and South Africa. In 2021, the figure was around $2 billion and by the half of this year, the figure has gone beyond $1.5 billion. All of these happened despite the COVID-19 pandemic and limited trading. We are sure it will be about two billion dollars by the end of the current year. The balance of trade between both countries is almost equal,” he stated. He added that the Korea-Africa Foundation was established to foster business and cultural cooperation between Korea and the continent.
Lyeo lamented that while Koreans are eager to come to Nigeria for business and cultural activities, the news about the country that is available to the Korean public is unpalatable.
He said: “Unfortunately, the news out there about Nigeria portrays the country as a dangerous place to live. However, my experience is completely different from what I read before coming. I have met a lot of Nigerians these last few days since I came into the country and I can say they are warm and receptive people. Nigeria needs to do a lot more to portray the image of Nigeria abroad.”
Lyeo disclosed that the Foundation will collaborate with the Nigeria Chamber of Commerce and Industry with a view to deepening trade cooperation between the two countries. On his part, the Ambassador of Korea to Nigeria, Kim Young-Chae, described Nigerian youths as vibrant and technology savvy.
“Last year, the embassy here in Abuja sponsored some children to Lagos to interact with Korean companies such as LG and Samsung to see first-hand what they do. We want Nigerian youths to understand our culture while their counterparts also understand the culture of Nigeria. This will foster understanding and cooperation between the people of both countries. We are going to replace that this year as part of efforts to showcase what the embassy of Korea is doing here in Nigeria,” he said.
Young-chae revealed that Nigeria and the Korean Republic are working on signing a military pact to boost the security of Nigeria. He said: “Korea has emerged as one of the strongest military formations in the world. The feat was achieved basically as a survival strategy because of the nature of our existence. I think it will be good if Nigeria and the Korean Republic strike an agreement on military cooperation. Indeed, the Nigerian Minister of Defence had paid a visit to Seoul recently in that regard. I hope this is done very soon as Nigeria continues to battle Boko Haram and banditry.”
By Collins Olayinka
At least 1 dead, many feared trapped, after multi-story building collapses in Nigeria's Kano State
At least one person was killed after a multiple-story building collapsed in the northwestern Nigerian city of Kano Tuesday, which left "many" others feared trapped inside, according to the local fire service.
Eight people had been rescued from the rubble so far, including a person who was declared dead at a local hospital, Nura Abdullahi, the local coordinator for the country's National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), said Tuesday.
One person was critically injured, he said. Six others were taken to hospital and then released.
"The building was under construction but the ground floor was occupied," Abdullahi told CNN, adding that it is believed that people were shopping there when the building collapsed.
The building is located at the Beirut GSM market, popular for shops selling mobile phones and related accessories.
Three excavators were at the scene assisting with the rescue operation, Abdullahi said. It was unclear how many people are feared to be trapped inside the rubble, he added.
Building collapses are a worryingly common occurrence in the country.
Last November, at least 5 people were killed after a multi-story building collapsed in the capital, Lagos.
And in 2019, the collapse of two separate buildings in Lagos, including one housing a school, left dozens of people dead.
An expert told CNN at the time that more than 1,000 buildings were at risk of collapsing in the capital.
By Sugam Pokharel
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