By Silas Nwoha
Two Nigerian charities based in the UK are to submit a report on the current security situation in Nigeria to the UK Government and Parliament on March 19.
The report was developed by academics at King’s College, London.
It is to be presented at the UK Parliament by the two charities, Ibironke Adeagbo Foundation (IA-Foundation and the International Organisation for Peace Building and Social Justice (PSJ), UK.
The Chief Executive Officer of IA-Foundation, Mrs Ibironke Adeagbo, told newsmen in a telephone interview in Abuja on Saturday that the report was meant to keep the UK Government abreast of the current security crisis in Nigeria.
She said that the report had detailed and analyzed “the nexus between education and insecurity in Nigeria’’.
Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation and a former British colony has been at the receiving end of relentless abductions of school children in mainly northern Nigeria.
On March 8, some 287 school children were kidnapped in a school in North western Kaduna State and 15 more were abducted in neighbouring Sokoto State days later.
The recurring abductions which started since 2014 have forced about 20.2 million children out of classrooms, disrupted homes and forced millions out of their farms.
Adeagbo said that the report entitled: “Illiteracy and Insecurity-an Unholy Marriage’’, highlighted and appraised the relationship between education and insecurity across Nigeria’s 36 states and the FCT.
“Education has been a key sector hit both directly and indirectly with direct attacks on learning institutions and student populations with kidnappings, killings, destruction of infrastructure and sowing of fear.’’
She said that the report would also be presented to Nigerian envoys and diplomats in the UK, to make them to have better grasp of the security issues at home.
Adeagbo, who has been at the forefront of tackling Nigeria’s out-of-school children crisis, said that the report was being presented at a time Nigeria and the UK had renewed their Security and Defence Partnership Pact.
According to her, the pact seeks to address and eliminate all forms of terror and insecurity in Nigeria for the long-term benefit of the West African country and its former colonial master.
She said that the report presentation was also coming at a time when the Federal Government showed resolve to tackle the problems with the appointment of retired Gen. Ja’afar Isa as the Executive Director of the Alamajiri and Out-of-School Children Commission.
Adeagbo said that government was beginning to act on the recommendations made by the foundation on how best to tackle the out-of-school children crisis.
Also speaking, the Chief Executive Officer of PSJ UK, Mr Ayo Adedoyin, said that the report also looked at the causes, trends and implications of the high rate of insecurity on the development of education at all levels in Nigeria.
According to him, the absence of peace has been a national tragedy and, particularly so in the northern and middle belt parts of Nigeria.
He said that the development had caused severe disruptions in various sectors of the Nigerian economy, including agriculture and transportation.
“This must be tackled comprehensively now otherwise, it will mess up our collective future,’’ he added.
Adedoyin said that the two charities would develop a “Draft Action Plan’’ to be presented to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office and the Office of Nigeria’s National Security Adviser for implementation.
The Chief Executive Officer of Halogen Group, Mr Wale Olaoye, is also scheduled to make a presentation on the insecurity challenges in Nigeria during the report presentation.
