13.2m kids out of school because states fail to access N67b UBE fund, says Falana

LAGOS lawyer Femi Falana (SAN) yesterday berated the 36 states for failing to access N67, 191, 745, 882 lying fallow in the Universal Basic Education (UBE) Account in the Central Bank as at April 30.

He said the development was reason why about 13.2 million children were out of school, adding that the figure was the highest worldwide.

Falana stated this in a statement issued in Lagos yesterday titled: “UBE fund: N86 billion not accessed by state governments”.

He added that of the 36 states and Federal Capital Territory (FCT), only Borno, Gombe, Jigawa, Kebbi, Lagos, Rivers and Federal Capital Territory have accessed the fund up to 2017.

Quoting statistics from UNICEF, Falana, who is also National President of Peoples’ Alternative Front (PAF), said 60 per cent of the children are in the North. According to him, majority are girls due to early marriage.

The rights lawyer said it was disturbing that education was not made a priority of any government and hence no state government has accessed the UBE fund up-to-date.

“Having failed to fund public education, the children of the poor are roaming the streets, hawking goods while the rich are educating their children in private schools at home and abroad. But to the detriment of the society, the abandoned children of the poor are being recruited to criminality by terrorists, kidnappers and other criminal gangs.

“The irony of the crisis is that a government, which claims that it lacks money to fund education is spending several billions of Naira to fight insurgency, kidnapping, armed robbery and banditry.

“To arrest the dangerous trend, it is high time the Nigeria Police Force embarked on the arrest and prosecution of parents and guardians, who refuse to allow their children and wards to acquire basic education,” he suggested.

He suggested that pressure should be mounted on the authorities of the FCT and the 36 state governments to access the N86.5 billion lying fallow in the UBE Account in the Central Bank.

The activist lawyer noted that the National Assembly enacted the Child’s Right in 2003 sequel to the ratification of the United Nations’ Child’s Rights Convention by the Federal Government in 2001.

Falana regretted that since then, only 25 out of the 36 states have adopted the Child’s Rights Act.

The rights lawyer noted that under the Act applicable in the FCT and each of the Child’s Rights Law applicable in the 25 states, which have adopted the Act, every child is entitled to free and compulsory basic education from primary to junior secondary school.

Falana added that while the 17 states in the South have adopted the Child’s Rights Act, eight out of the 19 states in the North have adopted it.

He regretted that government officials who opposed the Child’s Rights Law in the North on alleged religious ground are educating their children in private schools at home and abroad.

“In order to fund the basic education programme in the country, the National Assembly enacted the Compulsory, Universal, Free Education Act in 2004. To ensure adequate funding of the basic education programme, the Federal Government is required to allocate two per cent of the Consolidated Revenue Fund to the UBE Fund while the state governments and the FCT shall contribute counterpart fund to access the UBE Fund.

“It is further provided that parents and guardians, who refuse to allow their children and wards to acquire compulsory basic education are liable to be arrested by the Police and prosecuted.

“But as usual with other welfare laws applicable in the country, the federal and state governments have refused to implement the provisions of the Compulsory, Free, Universal Basic Education Act, the Child’s Rights Act and the Child’s Rights Laws. As if that is not enough, the said governments have refused to comply with the judgments of the ECOWAS Court and the Federal High Court,  which  have upheld the right of every Nigerian child to basic education”, he lamented.