By Kingsley Chukwuka, Jos
Senator representing Imo East Senatorial District at the 9th Nigerian Senate, and former governor of Imo State, Rochas Anayo Okorocha, has said out of school children are dangerous to our society.
The Senator said government must take urgent steps to address the alarming rate of out of school children in Nigeria which has hit 13 million, a figure equal to the population of over two countries in Europe.
Speaking with journalists on Tuesday in Jos, after the burial ceremony of late Sen. Longjan Dantong, Okorocha said his foundation can only admit 200-300 secondary school students each year, a number that is not enough to address the frightening figure of 13 million children that cannot access education in the country.
According him: Rocha’s Foundation is in 11 states of the federation with 13 schools, and these 13 schools can only admit 200-300 students in a year, approximately two to three thousand every year, which is too small to address the number of out of school children: but that is the much I can do.
“I like to contribute my own quota to the development of my country and Africa. The children in my foundation ordinarily wouldn’t have gone to school because they come from very poor backgrounds.
“Out of school children are dangerous to our society and that is why government must step up its game to address the frightening statistics of children who cannot afford education”, he said.
The former governor said Nigeria must change its educational system completely to make a positive impact in the economy.
“Education must be said to support the economy of a given nation. What we have as education in Nigeria does not support the take -off of industrialisation which impacts heavily on the economy of every nation”, he said.