The federal government says it’s committed to eradicating the menace of out of school children and improving the wellbeing and living standard of the thousands of out of school children across the country.
Special Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on Social Investment Maryam Uwais stated this in Sokoto during the inauguration of 1,050 facilitators training under the At-Risk Children Project (ARC-P) in Sokoto state.
She says the government will to right ARC Project returned the out of school children back to school and also equipped them with the requisite and knowledge that will empower them to be used members of the society
The challenge presented by Out of School Children in Nigeria is enormous and according to security experts, is a ticking time bomb that government at all levels that must be addressed.
They posited that the out of school children are a ready made pool of resources for evil minded people who certainly abound in the country that the Government must do something to empower them and ensure they are positively engaged.
The Out of school Children however according to Economic experts are a direct result of the Economic Situation of the country that has seen over 60% of Nigerians fall into poverty over the last few years.
The poverty level according to them will be a major hindrance in reducing the number of out of School children though the government currently operates some initiative to help in remedying the situation.
Nigeria is reputed to currently have over 12 Million Children who are out of the formal education system which is a ready made pool for Bandits, Terrorists, Armed Robbers, Drug Peddlers and Other unsavoury Characters.
Vices such as Sex Abuse, Gender Based Violence, Sodomy and even ritual killing are some of the crimes that out of school children have been exposed to.
