The senator representing Bayelsa East senatorial district in the National Assembly, Sen. Ben Murray-Bruce, has decried the huge number of out-of-school children in Nigeria.
He made this known in a tweet via his verified Twitter handle on Sunday.
The vocal senator urged the government of the country to subsidise education instead of fuel.
Murray-Bruce added that failure to spend billions on keeping children in school now may cause security and other challenges that trillions will be unable to solve later.
He said, “There are more out of school children in Nigeria than the entire population of Benin Republic. If we don’t spend billions educating them today, I can assure this administration that we will have to use trillions to fight them tomorrow. Instead of fuel, let us subsidise education!“
According to United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Nigeria has 10.5 million out-of-school children – the world’s highest number. Sixty per cent of those children are said to be in northern Nigeria and about 60 per cent of out-of-school children are girls.
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), America’s top spy agency, stated that Benin Republic’s current estimated population stands at 11 million.
There are more out of school children in Nigeria than the entire population of Benin Republic. If we dont spend billions educating them today, I can assure this administration that we will have to use trillions to fight them tomorrow. Instead of fuel, let us subsidise education!
— Ben Murray-Bruce (@benmurraybruce) July 1, 2018