Seadogs Tasks FG on Quality Education for Nigerians
Blessing Ibunge in Port Harcourt
The National Association of Seadogs (NAS), Pyrates Confraternity, has urged the federal and state governments to renew their commitment to providing quality education for all Nigerians as a matter of rights and as a strategy of ensuring that every child reaches their full potential.
The Olympus Marino Deck, Rivers State Chapter 1 of NAS, made this call after donating training materials and books to primary schools in the Degema local government area to commemorate this year’s International Day of Education.
Speaking at the event, Mr Iche Wordu, Capoon, the Olympus Marino Deck, advised the government to invest in infrastructure, teacher training, and provision of educational materials, as well as addressing cultural attitudes and systemic barriers to education.
Wordu stressed that through cross-sectoral synergies and increased policy emphasis, Nigeria could build a future in which every Nigerian has access to education opportunities.
He noted that the government had sustained a low budget for the sector amidst strikes by teachers and other workers, inadequate and dilapidated infrastructures, insufficient research, shortage of skilled workforce, insecurity, and brain drain, among other challenges bedevilling the sector.
According to the NAS leader in Port Harcourt, the dearth of education at the lower level continues, although the first nine years of education in Nigeria are compulsory and free by Nigeria’s UBE Act.
He listed the several policy inefficiencies responsible for Nigeria’s education outcomes, including access to education, inadequate infrastructure, low quality of education, funding shortages and limited opportunities for girls.
Wordu explained, “A major obstacle to education in Nigeria is lack of access. Many rural communities lack adequate schools, while many schools in urban areas are overcrowded and under-resourced. As a result, many children, particularly those from marginalized communities, do not have access to education.”
He explained that many schools in Nigeria “lack basic facilities such as electricity, clean water, and toilets, making it difficult for children to learn effectively.”
Wordu pointed out that classrooms “are often overcrowded and poorly equipped, with limited access to instructional materials.”
